In general, the people who say “slow and steady wins the race”, are not winning the race.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they are losing, I simply know they aren’t getting the most out of whatever it is they’re doing. Also, I get the idea of the statement, but my challenge is that it doesn’t reflect how life actually works – how people actually work.

If you look at nature, the universe, successful entrepreneurs, or anything that really grows, they rarely grow “slowly and steadily”. They might grow slowly, they might grow continually (until they start to decay), but rarely does it play out quite like that.

We do life in bursts.
Universe does life in bursts.
Machinery does things “slow and steady, blah blah blah”.

We are not intended to be consistent, ongoing working machines that consistently and predictably churn out some piece of output. We do things in bursts or spurts. People have “flashes of brilliance” or “moments of great insight”. We say things like Eureka! and Ah Ha. But we don’t churn brilliance three times a day with two 15 minute breaks and a 1 hour lunch breaking them up.

What’s my point? Burst! Do things in sprints and then take a little break. Give yourself a responsible diversion (no, this is not a license to be lazy, procrastinate or become a surfer) so that you can create better results. This doesn’t mean don’t work hard; it means be incredibly focused as you work hard and then your “smarts” can actually show up.

The next time someone says “slow and steady wins the race” to you, ask them not to interrupt you while you’re passing them.

Make a defining difference.
Chris