You might think that applying more pressure gets more done.
But relaxing and slowing down makes things run faster and more smoothly.
Every morning can turn into a battle with my daughter as I’m trying to get her out the door to go to school.
What I realized recently was that applying more pressure made it take longer. When I said “You have to hurry up! We’re late!”, it stressed her out and made her melt down, and it made us even later because I had to calm her down first before she could actually get ready.
What I’ve started doing is say “What’s next?” and trust that she knows what to do. When I just relax and stay out of the way, she stays calm and gets through the tasks faster, and we leave sooner.
It was counterintuitive to me that slowing down is the way to go faster. But top performers know that staying relaxed is the only way to get into the flow. The Navy Seals have a saying that “Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.” as a reminder that applying more pressure to go faster doesn’t work even in life-and-death battles. And we definitely don’t need more pressure to perform in our day-to-day activities.
So when you feel the pressure to go faster or to push harder, pause to step back, slow down, and ask yourself the question “What’s next?” Just do that, and trust the rest to take care of itself.
P.S. This is also a great tip for rising executives who are used to living in the pressure of high performance. I share more tips on how to manage yourself in my Maven class, Scale Your Leadership with the Executive Mindset. Check out previous posts on my profile this week to learn more.