The business benefits of slow living

What if slowing down allowed us to go faster and further?

– How are you?
– It’s going well, but everything is going so fast! I’m super busy!

Do you have the habit of giving this answer, or do you hear it a lot? I’m sure you do. Nowadays, it seems like it’s a badge of honor to be very busy. Not being busy is like a sign of laziness, a lack of motivation, or whatever…

I wrote this article while sitting comfortably in my backyard, both feet on the grass, midweek. Does that mean I lost my passion, my determination, my motivation? Those who know me will say: “Absolutely not, it’s totally the opposite! ”

In a world where everyone is busy being busy, I notice more and more that people no longer have the time or the mental space to think and design projects.

When we no longer have this mental space, when we’re too busy, we’re not able to make the best decisions.

The results:

We keep an employee with whom we are not satisfied;
We accept a new client who doesn’t correspond to the type of ideal client that we wish to serve;
We start projects which, with a little hindsight, could be designed differently and with better leverage;
We try to serve too many clients.

We say “yes” when we should say “no”, and we say “no” when we should say “yes”.

When we’re always pressed for time, we act with impulse, not with intention.

Slow down to move forward with intention

Slow living is a lifestyle that emphasizes slower approaches to aspects of daily life. Many people live at a fast pace, so they feel like their life is chaotic. Slow living allows you to take a step back and, thus, to better enjoy life and sensory profusion.

Slow living also includes movements such as “slow food“, “slow money“, “slow travel”, “slow fashion”, etc. In fact, the term “slow” refers to a slowdown in our pace of life and a better appreciation of simple things.

In business, the concept of “slow living” involves slowing down to move forward better.

For example, it consists of:

Clarifying our positioning in business and serve only our ideal customers in order to be more present with them, to truly offer them a global and personalized approach, to be more rigorous, and to focus the conversation on their dreams and ambitions (on this subject, read Emotion in business pays off—big time!).
Taking the time to think about three options before making any important decisions (when we have only one option, we have no other options; when we have two options, we have a dilemma; when we have three options, then there, we really have the possibility to make a choice).
Making big decisions with our heart, and small decisions with our head.
Asking yourself excellent questions, such as:
- What would I do if I had 10x more courage?
- In an ideal world, what would my business look like, and what would my ideal day look like?
- How can I get the same result in half the time or effort?
- How can I simplify things (I often ask my clients “what if it was simple?”)

Take the time to make the right choices

Adopting the concept of “slow living” in business allows us to take 1 step back and 5 or 15 steps forward.

By slowing down to go faster, we make sure to always respect our vision and our big business goals, to have control over our time, and to devote our days, weeks, months, and lives to this that really matters.

We decided to become an entrepreneur by mission, by passion, or by opportunity. Whatever the reason, by making this choice, we gave ourselves a wonderful gift: the freedom to be, the freedom to choose.

Unfortunately, sometimes, we get carried away by the frenzied whirlwind of everyday life. But know that you always have a choice: the decision is yours.

As we enter summer, I invite you to take the time to take some time, to choose the initiatives that will propel you at great speed towards your dreams and objectives… while fully savouring the present moment!