Fresh Start Monday #044: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast
I've been working as a part-time career coach at a company called WOKEN. The company specializes in career exploration and finding your ideal career path.
One of the questions I ask at the beginning of a client relationship is, when do you want a job by? And when do you need a job by? These two different timelines determine everything.
When someone needs a job ASAP, they have a tendency to start moving fast and reacting to everything. They want to review their LinkedIn, Resume, and Cover Letters, and want to start applying to jobs tomorrow.
There's a saying that originates in the Navy Seals: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”
It sounds counter-intuitive at first, but it emphasizes the importance of slowing down to do things carefully and methodically, rather than rushing and risking mistakes. In the Navy Seals, that might be the difference between life and death.
For me, this saying translates to, not rushing into doing the wrong things.
That need for speed when going through the job search often means applying to the wrong jobs, finding the same shitty job, and feeling stuck. Going fast slows us down.
Ideally, if a client wants to be in their ideal path in 6 months - 1 year that gives us time to be deliberate and intentional with our next steps. Doesn't one year feel like forever?
Back at the start of 2021, when I was transitioning back to the US after being abroad for three years, I wanted to transition careers. I stumbled upon coaching for the first time. I downloaded an information brochure, but the financial investment and one-year commitment scared me off.
It's what I wanted, but I "needed" something faster. A year later I started the program and kicked myself for not starting a year earlier.
Our need for speed is in large part created by society and our peers. I remember when I first returned so many people asked, what's next? I too, was wondering what's next, but it also created this pressure to find "next" fast.
Back to the job search example, even if you do need to find a job fast, taking an extra week or two at the beginning to find more clarity and set a direction for your job search will go a long way towards speeding up the process.
How can you apply “slow is smooth, smooth is fast” to your life?
Local to Boulder, CO?
Join me this Wednesday (7/5) on Meetup to explore how to incorporate slow is smooth, smooth is fast into your life with other like minded people in their 20s and 30s.
Wednesday, July 5th at 6pm MT at Silver Vines Winery