Slow Down to Speed Up

21 May 2023

By Linda Ferguson

Late spring woods

In Canada, the Victoria Day long weekend is the real beginning of summer (it ends on Labour Day). It’s often a great opportunity to get outside, enjoy the sunshine and the plants, and feel yourself unwind.

What’s got you wound up? It could be that restless feeling that you have lots of ground to cover before you take a real break. Or that chaos of the end of the school year. Or maybe you’re doing the things you used to do but they just don’t feel the same as they used to.

You’re curious about what could be better and scared of making things worse. Your instinct might be to work harder or to play harder. But it’s possible you need something different.

It’s possible you need to be the kind of person who steps back, takes a few deep breaths, and opens up to whatever catches their attention. This kind of person trusts their bigger self to find what they need. They just have to step out of the chaos and let their thoughts settle.

This is extraordinarily hard to do, partly because other people rely on you to keep moving, and partly because there’s a voice in your head insisting you keep grinding through the work. Those motivations get the upper hand through most of the year.

But this is early summer. Nice weather still catches your attention. Warmth hits you between the shoulder blades and says, “Hey there. I’ve got you.”

Let your mind wander. Let yourself dream. You’re not taking a break. You’re growing.

Share this post:

Related posts

7 February 2026

What’s stopping you?

Whatever is scary in you is something you are already living with. You don’t have to be scared you can’t handle you: you’ve always handled you. When you are curious about yourself (instead of judging yourself), you will find unexpected strengths and perspectives that open up new possibilities for your. You might find passion, or purpose, or peace. But you will only find them if you have the courage to look inside.
31 January 2026

How Self Knowledge Drives Performance

Even simple exercises in taking stock of our own physiology can have significant, positive impacts on how we understand our interactions. This is not ‘touchy feely.’ This is evidence-based neuroscience. It’s not the way your individual mind works: it’s the way everyone’s brain/body systems work.
23 January 2026

Self-Awareness and Self-Knowledge

Sometimes you will hear yourself say “I don’t know why I said that” or “I just had a feeling it was the right choice.” This is sometimes evidence that you are connected to your intuition. At other times, it is evidence that your left hand doesn’t know what your right hand is doing. Self knowledge makes the same requirements of you that other knowledge does. You need to seek information and then you need to put in an effort to understand how that information fits together and how it is useful to you. It’s hard work, and it’s the only way that learning happens on purpose.