August 3

Slow, Steady, Deliberate

How many times have you heard the phrase “slow and steady wins the race” trumpeted as a recipe for success?

The problem? While in essence, it’s a solid principle, the way it’s applied is often more harmful than helpful. Slow and steady definitely do not win the race alone. Slow, steady, and deliberate wins the race when punctuated by occasional sprints.

It’s not enough to make daily, measured progress on your work if it’s not deliberate progress. If you’re not moving in a meaningful direc- tion, then failure is a likely outcome. While most creative professionals know this, it often doesn’t affect how we approach our work. Instead of defining our work effectively, we are carried along by its flow from day to day. Instead of clearly defining the problems we are trying to solve, we think in terms of big, conceptual challenges and thus set ourselves up for failure from the start.

Define what meaningful progress means today.

Don’t be lulled into the idea that being busy and making progress are necessarily going to net you a win. You must be deliberate about your activity, and you have to be willing to sprint when the occasion calls for it.

Steady, measured progress (with occasional sprints) is the key to success.

QUESTION

Are you frantically approaching your work, filling days with busywork? How can you be more deliberate in your approach?