Hi, reader!
Here’s our trivia question today: A chef’s hat has 100 pleats. The pleats represents the 100 ways to cook what food?
With that, welcome to the 87th newsletter! This one is all about Slow.
A conversation.
Below is a recent exchange I had with a co-worker after learning they were an avid motorcycle racer.
Clay: “How fast have you ever been on a motorcycle?”
Dave: “193mph”
Clay: “Have you ever crashed?”
Dave: “Yes - I broke my shoulder plate, punctured a lung and broke 4 ribs.”
“But it shouldn’t have happened. I have been racing motorcycles for decades so I know when something is off. In the test run, I felt it - the bike was off. Instead of slowing down to evaluate the bike, I decided to enter the race.”
“I just wanted to go fast.”
A thought.
There are moments in life, like Dave’s story, where we shake our head and think, “why didn’t I just slow down?”.
I feel it in my life.
Like you, I have a running list of things I want to get done.
Even though they are (mostly) segmented into the Eisenhower Matrix, I can feel the list growing.
And that feeling sucks. It’s like the more I get done, there more there is to do!
So I start going faster. And faster.
And even though I’m checking things off the list, I can tell that:
My stress has increased;
My enjoyment has decreased;
And my output has declined.
Somewhere amongst this tornado of “productivity”, I somehow stumble upon the wherewithal to tell myself I have to slow down.
Clay, in order to go fast, you have to slow down.
So, I pause.
I ponder a bit.
I plan a little (re-segment things in the Eisenhower Matrix).
Then, I take action!
Now I can go fast - but in the right direction!
Where are you moving too fast?
A quote.
“Want to go really fast? Slow down and focus.”
Answer: Egg. In theory, any chef wearing a chef’s hat knows the technique of all 100 ways to cook an egg.