Corporate world of the day sees us – the people ‘on duty’ – work tirelessly with deadlines. More-often-than-not, we initiate very quick actions when faced with any work situation. We tend to act almost impulsively on the readily available cues, or defined group decisions and move into actions. And this happens

During this incessant clockwork of responsibilities, our mind is often subject to go on an over-drive thinking mode – never resting – sometimes not reviewing – seldom slowing down – never being at ease. In fact, even when holidaying – the corporate professional is often caught replying to mails and remote assisting on office issues.

What is happening here? I believe that we have got attuned to believe that if we stop or are not in the thick of the situation – we may lose control or lose out or “miss out” on something. If you really ask me – we miss out on nothing. It is simply our over hyped belief that nothing will get accomplished if we don’t intervene – or that our relevance will get diminished if we do not become a part of situation.

I have been researching and reading up on a very interesting concept in planning our work and our life goals – “Slow down to Speed up”. The concept of slowing down focuses on decelerating the pace just a bit to review status of any given situation, doing dip-stick reviews, checking progress, and sometimes merely ‘sleeping over’ before reviving actions or renewed plans to bring out enhanced possibilities or creative solutions that have not been considered at all.

‘Me-time’ according to me is one way that can help anyone to break away from the rig morale of the routine. Me time is a dedicated time for reflection –  a time one spends with oneself to declutter – a “Control-Alt-Delete” resetting of body, mind and soul to come back into action with a bang. For me – this is “slowing down…. To speed up”

Slowing down – A Coaching Perspective

My journey of being a coach has been peppered with joint learning and discovering for my clients and me. With wide array of situations that get shared by clients – I have observed one thread common in many of the situations. That of finding a quick fix solution or to overcome a dilemma in quick-time – of Wishing a “band-aid” approach to heal the current cut – of quickly Deciding what next and so on.

The process of coaching, as the Client and Coach realize, reiterates the “Slow down, to speed Up” concept. It helps clients to pause – spend some time with the inner self – to discover horizons never thought of before and explore a world of possibilities. Coaching also leads to uncovering latent talent and realizing ones hidden potential through a continuous process of building self-assurance and belief in oneself.

I recall my mentor coach telling us that ‘Coaching is the time that the individual has never been able to give herself/himself. It is all about the persons speaking to herself/himself’. I resonate this with slowing oneself down, taking stock of situations and resetting one’s mind into exploring not-just the tried and tested possibilities, but realizing for oneself a new path to success that lies ahead for her/him. A good coaching session digs deeper into the realms of possibilities and sees the client discovering a very new horizon for the current state of mind.

A coaching session isn’t time wasted – but an investment into oneself. An investment which might seem to slow things down for a bit – for the moment – but eventually leads to a new route of success, self-realization and also in sharing renewed perspective to life’s situations.

So…. Are you ready to slow down in order to speed up your trajectory of self-discovery and success?

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