Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

I went on a backcountry backpacking trip in Alaska and one of our guides taught us that in the backcountry, “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”

This held true whether it was about making it through a tough mountain pass or setting up camp each night.

By trying to climb the mountain faster, you may trip and sprain your ankle, leading to a delay or halting of the trip.

By trying to set up camp faster you might not properly set up your tent, leading to a night of poor sleep, hindering your physical preparedness for the next day.

Slow meant intentional, considered, strategic, robust.

I find this perspective also applicable in my frontcountry life. Particularly in regards to decision-making. When I sense my head and heart are noisy, I feel an urge to quickly avoid this discomfort. Check something off my to-do lists, clean my apartment, peruse my phone.

But instead, I try to slow down.

Why?

Noisiness signals to me there are charged feelings and thoughts clouding my judgement and intuition.

Any decision I would make, including the decision to avoid, from this state of turbulence would include some of this turbulence and carry it into the future. Slowing down creates the opportunity for you to observe the feelings and thoughts, notice where they come up in your body, and figure out how to release them. Navigating towards your desired direction is smoother with a clearer line of sight.

Coaching others and being coached myself has shown me that of the challenges we face, only a portion of them are purely about operations, execution, or environment.

Many of our challenges come from feelings and thoughts.

Perhaps you’ll go further and faster when you release the feelings and thoughts that are your deterrents.

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Questions for you

What is a challenge you’re currently facing?

How might you introduce some slowness to the situation?

What forms of slowing down work best for you?

What if any changes do you notice through slowing down?