Don’t Let Instagram Quotes Set Your Pace

The CEO of a multi-million dollar company recently posted on Instagram the quote, “The happiest people I know are slowing down not speeding up.”

We used to equate speeding up with success, and success with happiness. Then we realized endless striving never made anyone happy, so we tried the opposite: Success doesn’t lead to happiness—slowing down does! If you don’t work too hard, regularly make time for bubble baths, and give yourself 20 years to write the next Great American (or whatever your nationality is) Novel, happiness is practically guaranteed.

In the past few years, I found myself more than once sitting with people I love in some textbook bucolic scene, not feeling at all happy, because my mind was on something I was creating. In those moments I would have been much happier pulling out my journal to write or working in my studio because I was in a creative period and didn’t want to do much else. There were many other times when I didn’t feel like working at all and became quite the social butterfly (by my introverted homebody standards), full of guilt that I wasn’t working enough.

I finally realized that most of my unhappiness in either case came from judging myself for speeding up or slowing down.

Once I stopped thinking there was something wrong with preferring to be in my studio instead of wine tasting in Napa, I could let go of the frustration and start enjoying my wine. Then I could choose to turn down other commitments for a while because I was happy being heads-down at work. When I stopped judging myself for not feeling like working hard, I could enjoy the time spent not working, and see my productivity ramp up naturally. 

I can’t wait for the time when Instagram posts say: “The happiest people I know look to themselves to decide if they’re happier speeding up or slowing down—and allow themselves to change their mind anytime.” 

Found this post interesting? Subscribe at the bottom of this page to receive new posts by email.