Being slow and deliberate is a gift and not a flaw. How being slow in business provides an opportunity + a caveat.
I was thinking about starting my business around 2010/11 and was also exploring small side hustles like selling handmade jewellery on Etsy.
That's when I started learning about online business and putting in a plan to quit my job.
I quit my job three years later in 2014.
During these years, there were a lot of things I had to learn, heal, overcome and figure out. There were multiple times (so many I can't even count) where I burnt out, questioned myself, looked for full-time employment, cried, had zero $$ months, etc.
I definitely could have had an agency or a bigger business by now. But I'm generally quite slow and it's taken me a long time to get here.
Of course I wished I was faster, made different decisions and did the things I actually wanted to do but was too afraid of.
We all have some form of regrets, right?
We all have different timelines.
Move within your own bandwidth and find different ways to do so without burning out.
Point is: We all have our own timelines.
I'm not asking you to be as slow as me. Or to go as fast as someone else.
Being slow became an opportunity that directly benefits my clients.
I personally feel that my "slowness" has made me a better coach.
I've taken so much time to test and do things that I know what works and what doesn't. This really helps my clients compress their timelines way faster than I did for my own.
Because they come to me with a problem and I can immediately see what exactly the solution looks like for them.
Because those were lessons I learnt over and over again.
Choose to see it differently.
I choose to see my slowness as an opportunity rather than weakness.
Because I always had this regret of being slow and deliberate. I wish I moved much faster than my peers.
And I always associated slowness with not being smart or even lazy.
There is a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, about how “some of the world’s fastest animals are actually some of the slowest when their movements are averaged throughout their lifetimes.”.
In the fable of the tortoise and the hare, the hare went really fast and then decided to take a nap because he saw how slow the tortoise was going. He was confident that even by taking a nap, he could beat the tortoise. However, when he woke up from his nap, he realised that the tortoise was way ahead of him.
In your business, do you want to go slow and steady while at the same time enjoying the scenery and living life, or go so fast that you don’t notice life passing by?
There’s no right or wrong in both cases.
Personally, I’ve tried both scenarios. In the beginning, I was going so fast that I burnt out multiple times, and quickly. I started to resent my business and my clients.
I never wanted to expand my business because I simply had too much going on to even think about it. Thinking about having to deal with more things, was more than I could handle. In that sense, I limited myself without even realising it.
Now, I’m moving at a slower pace. I’m more intentional with my goals. I know what I want. And even if I’m not clear, I take time to figure it out. I know where I can get support, whether it’s through my coach, a course or people around me.
This in turn also creates more space for more energy and mental capacity, where I can serve my clients better.
Being slow and deliberate is a gift and not a flaw.
When we're rushing to a destination, we often don't notice what's happening on the side.
I’m not saying that fast is bad. It’s a personal choice. What’s most important is what feels most aligned to who you are.
As an introvert, slow feels way more aligned to who I am. Anything that goes too fast, gets too loud, becomes too crowded, gives me lots of anxiety.
This is what sustainability in our business looks like.
What’s sustainable to you may not be sustainable to someone else. Slow is sustainable to me.
In fact, we discuss a lot about slowing down in our coaching program.
The reason why my clients get results fast is because we slow down to see what's actually happening, not just on the surface, but on the inside of your mind.
We're deliberate with taking actions that align with who they are and their energy.
Slowing down is an intention and a strategy in our coaching program.
We learn and practice all these skills in our coaching program together.
Now there's a caveat around being slow and it's pretty interesting. I noticed this about myself as well.
Are you being slow and intentional or are you using it as an excuse?
I've used being slow as an excuse because I was scared to be more visible in my business.
So I deliberately kept myself small in some parts of my business and told myself I was just taking my time.
By doing so, I ended up capping my skills, abilities and potential because it felt safe and comfortable to be slow.
Nothing wrong with safe and comfortable by the way. Most importantly, you need to be happy with your choice (which I wasn't).
Here's a journal prompt you can use to explore to find out if you're being slow and intentional or being slow as an excuse.
There's nothing wrong with either. We simply want to know why so we can make a positive change for ourselves.
Journal Prompt
Apply this to a goal, dream or situation.
Why am I being slow and intentional about [goal/dream/situation]?
If you feel like it could be an excuse, write down why you think it is.
Then write down why and how you can also go fast with this [goal/dream/situation].
I hope these prompts help you think about things in a different perspective and challenge your mind to think of how things can happen for you in different ways.
Being slow, or fast, is not who you are.
It's simply the speed you choose depending on your mental and physical energy, your emotional capacity and your situation at any given point in time.
This gets to change whenever, depending on situation, feelings, experiences, etc.
You get to choose and do things differently.