Episode #54 When Going Slow Wins The Race

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Hi, this is Welcome to Self ® And I’m your host, Dr. Hayley D. Quinn, fellow human business owner, and the anti burnout business coach. I’m here for service based business owners like you to help you increase your own self care and self compassion. Change the relationship you have with yourself and your business, and help you elevate your business to a new level. So you can live the full and meaningful life you desire. We are all on a continual learning journey. So let’s learn together.

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Because remember, if you thrive, your business can too.

Now let’s get to the episode.

Hi, and welcome to another bite sized business episode.

I was chatting to a dear friend the other day and the old fable about the hare and the tortoise came up. I know, random right! Anyway, it got me thinking that perhaps that tortoise knew a thing or two.

I think many of us can think we need to be like the Hare and rush into things thinking we need to get to the finish line really quickly. We’ve got to rush rush rush, so that we win.

But what is it we’re actually hoping to win? The number one burnout prize. The I’m exhausted cup. I don’t know.

If you don’t know what happened to the Hare, he raced off really quickly and then thinking he was so far ahead, lay down for a rest, fell asleep and slept so long that the tortoise went passed and won the race. The Hare was probably so tired from running so fast in the first place, rather than pacing himself so he could sustain his running.

The tortoise seemed to know that if you recognise who you are, and how you best operate and go at your own pace, that actually, you’ll get to where you need to go and quite likely do it in a way that beats out the competition.

There are of course different interpretations of the fable, but generally I think it reminds us that we can be more successful by being slow and steady, this allows what we do to be sustainable. Rather than racing in, acting quickly and without much consideration or rushing through everything and exhausting ourselves.

It can be so easy for us to think that we must operate in a particular way. When we think of being successful, I think some of the things that can come to mind are images of people working really hard, putting in long hours, running the race really fast.

Being so focused on one thing that it’s all you think about and all you work towards, well the problem I see with this is that is just not sustainable to work in that way. Maybe in the short term yes, absolutely. And if we think about life as being in seasons, and we’re only spending a season or part of a season working in this really super focused way, busy, rushing … although I don’t know that you ever need to really rush, but super focused and busy. Maybe working longer hours than normal. I think if that is just for a season or part of the season, then you’re probably not going to have ill effects from that.

You might miss out on some time with some friends or family in the short term. But it’s not likely going to be an ongoing problem but if that’s all you do, your life is going to become so narrow.

You’re going to struggle to maintain the relationships in your life. And perhaps these relationships are really important in terms of keeping the right kind of blend in your life. So, what would happen if they disappeared?

Maybe you’ll notice that there’s more conflict because you don’t have time for other important things in your life. You don’t have time for other important people in your life. And perhaps they’re going to notice it and not like it so much. And again, I’m not talking about when this is just now and again or for a season but if this is ongoing, day after day week after week, month after month, year after year.

I invite you to take a moment to think about how it is that you work, how it is that you run your business and what is the impact that that has on you, on your mind, on your body, on your relationships, on your levels of joy, and fun.

And is that how you want to be running your business and your life?

Let’s take a moment right now to just check in and think about that and as you do that, just notice what happens with your breath.

Is it nice and relaxed and slow and deep and a good rhythm? Or is it more shallow? Does it feel more laboured? Does it have a sense of urgency to it?

When you think about yourself and the way you are in your business and the way you live your life, would you class yourself as the hare or would you class yourself as the tortoise. Or maybe another animal comes to mind. I think it’s really important that we stop and reflect on how we are doing things and is it in alignment with what we want? Or is it just what we think we should be doing? Or what we’ve got used to doing?

It doesn’t have to be like that. We can be more intentional. We can change the way we do things. And I know sometimes change can be hard, but it is possible, and we can create a business and a life that feels meaningful, fulfilling, joyful, exciting and in alignment with the values that we want to live by. And one that suits the person that we are and how we best operate in the world.

You get to make choices; you get to choose what works best for you. You get to choose to build the business that you want to be running and the life you want to be living.

I hope this short little episode has been helpful for you and has given you an opportunity to just slow down and reflect. I’d love to hear what you thought or what’s come up for you when listening to this so please feel free to reach out on email or DMs.

Go well and go gently with yourself

And remember

If you thrive your business can too

Thank you for sharing this time with me today. I hope our time together has been helpful and supportive. If there has been something in this episode that you have found helpful, I invite you to share it with another person you think might benefit. If you’ve benefited in any way from the podcast, please do me a favor and show my pod some love by giving it a five star rating and review. Ratings reviews and shares really helped to increase awareness and reach of the podcast, allowing this helpful information to be spread more widely.

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Music and editing by Nyssa Ray.

Thanks Nyssa

I wish you all well in your relationship with yourself and your business.

May you go well and go gently.

And remember, if you thrive, your business will too.

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