Words: 421. Reading time: 1 minute 24 seconds.
When people choose to feel stressed most also become very black-or-white in their thinking.
Things become either wholly one thing, or completely the opposite and, if people are feeling stress in a negative mind frame, they tend to focus much more on what may go wrong or what they might lose.
However, the standard response of rushing from pillar to post in an effort to cover all the bases, cramming more and more into every available minute, is unlikely to prove effective.
Is hurrying, accompanied by a constant sense of urgency, really the outcome we desire?
Apparently, engaging in these “roadrunner days” can lead to an increase in the cortisol levels in our blood. And because cortisol shuts down learning it is just about the least effective reaction we can have when faced with change and uncertainty.
The ability to learn and learn fast is exactly what we need to retain when confronting challenges.
The fourth lesson is: slow down to get there faster. In particular:
1. No hurrying through conversations. The most important conversations in our lives deserve our attention. You won’t know how important any conversation is unless you take the time to stop and listen (see Aural Communication).
2. Slowing down means not missing the treasures in life that we don’t notice when we’re hurrying. This may be the delight of a child, birdsong in the morning, or the awkward, halting, but heartfelt gratitude of someone we’ve helped.
3. We can slow down without necessarily dawdling. Instead we can now do the right things, at the right time, in the right way, at the right pace. The time needed will come from eliminating all the effort previously spent in looking busy and harassed, while being largely unproductive. Who’s benefit did that truly serve other than our own?
There’s a lovely little story on just this point.
A farmer had a wagon full of apples. He stopped a man on the side of the road and asked how far it was to market.
The man replied, “If you go slowly it’s about 3 hours away.”
However, the farmer was in a hurry. He didn’t want to spend 3 hours getting to market, so he decided to go much faster and thus arrive sooner.
But the road was filled with ruts, potholes and pebbles. The faster he went the more of his apples bounced out of the wagon.
By going faster he made sure that the journey lasted all day, because he had to keep stopping to pick up his apples.
When people choose to feel stressed most also become very black-or-white in their thinking.
Things become either wholly one thing, or completely the opposite and, if people are feeling stress in a negative mind frame, they tend to focus much more on what may go wrong or what they might lose.
However, the standard response of rushing from pillar to post in an effort to cover all the bases, cramming more and more into every available minute, is unlikely to prove effective.
Is hurrying, accompanied by a constant sense of urgency, really the outcome we desire?
Apparently, engaging in these “roadrunner days” can lead to an increase in the cortisol levels in our blood. And because cortisol shuts down learning it is just about the least effective reaction we can have when faced with change and uncertainty.
The ability to learn and learn fast is exactly what we need to retain when confronting challenges.
The fourth lesson is: slow down to get there faster. In particular:
1. No hurrying through conversations. The most important conversations in our lives deserve our attention. You won’t know how important any conversation is unless you take the time to stop and listen (see Aural Communication).
2. Slowing down means not missing the treasures in life that we don’t notice when we’re hurrying. This may be the delight of a child, birdsong in the morning, or the awkward, halting, but heartfelt gratitude of someone we’ve helped.
3. We can slow down without necessarily dawdling. Instead we can now do the right things, at the right time, in the right way, at the right pace. The time needed will come from eliminating all the effort previously spent in looking busy and harassed, while being largely unproductive. Who’s benefit did that truly serve other than our own?
There’s a lovely little story on just this point.
A farmer had a wagon full of apples. He stopped a man on the side of the road and asked how far it was to market.
The man replied, “If you go slowly it’s about 3 hours away.”
However, the farmer was in a hurry. He didn’t want to spend 3 hours getting to market, so he decided to go much faster and thus arrive sooner.
But the road was filled with ruts, potholes and pebbles. The faster he went the more of his apples bounced out of the wagon.
By going faster he made sure that the journey lasted all day, because he had to keep stopping to pick up his apples.
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