Small business owners and entrepreneurs are always trying to be one step ahead. Pushing boundaries, wanting to excel and experience that next step in success instantaneously. In a fast-paced and hectic world, this has become the norm. We fill our schedules to capacity and move from one task to the next as quickly as each can be completed.  Multi-tasking is required to keep up. We speed, text while driving and e-mail and tweet while out with family and friends.

All in the name of productivity. The more we do more, the more we have… more friends, more money, better jobs (or at least it appears we do) right?

I would argue the opposite, this mindset and lifestyle is counterproductive.

Ghandi said, “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”

If our goal is to create and have quality outcomes, then rushing is not an effective way to work. Maybe its time to slow down and focus more. Rushing causes errors and oversights.  In our distracted state, our attention is never focused long enough on one thing to produce anything of value.

Author and speaker Natalie Goldberg said, “If you’re having difficulty coming up with new ideas, then slow down. For me, slowing down has been a tremendous source of creativity. It has allowed me to open up — to know that there’s life under the earth and that I have to let it come through me in a new way. Creativity exists in the present moment. You can’t find it anywhere else.”

Quieting your mind by slowing down opens your mind to new creative possibilities and profound thinking. It is a matter of changing your mindset. Allow yourself to come to the realization that life is better when you move slower. Think at moving at a meandering stroll, instead of a sprint. Think about accomplishing one thing each day, instead of cramming your day so full to the brim that it becomes an overflowing mess of unfinished projects.

Think about it…

Is a book better if you skim through and speed read, or if you get lost in the pages?

Does food taste better if you shovel it in, or if you savor each bite?

Is work more successful if you try to do multiple tasks at once or if you tackle one at a time, and put in the effort to complete it to the best of your ability?

If we can slow down and learn to appreciate life a bit more you will have….

1. Better Focus. Slowing down enables you to focus, which is challenging when you rush around.
2. Deeper focus. Rushing keeps you at surface level of life; you never have time to dig into things. Slow down and discover what you can truly accomplish.
3. More appreciation. When you take the time to slow down, you can appreciate where you are, what you have, who you are with and where you are going.
4. Less stress. Hectic lives produce anxiety and increase stress levels. If you move slower and more deliberately, you will feel calmer, more relaxed and peaceful.
5. Enjoyment. With better focus, more appreciation, less stress comes more enjoyment. So what is the key? SLOW DOWN. Start now; enjoy your life and success to the fullest.

Up till now if you have been stuck in a rushed mindset, its time to change. Life is better as a whole if you slow down. Think of what you may be missing. Embrace the ideology that work will be better with focus, and life is better when relished.

Shine ON!!

© 2012 Inspired Living, LLC

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Keri Murphy and the Inspired Living team is on a mission to empower people to use their unique talents in a way that allows them to Dream, Live and BE all that is possible through speaking, coaching, celebrity interviews and original on-line content. Get Inspired at inspiredliving.tv