Be Quick, but don't...

Often times I’ll run across a quote that speaks to me. Just the other day I read one from Coach John Wooden, "Be quick, but don't hurry."

Another one from Bob Proctor, "Don't slow down. Calm down."

When it comes to the question of being overwhelmed, it's amazing how many people feel confused or out of balance after attending a seminar or class or get a new project wherein a ton of new ideas or concepts are introduced or tossed around.

A few years back after a week long intensive training, I told the group that I was leading, "If you're feeling overwhelmed… Good! That means your getting the new stuff confused with the old.

There really is a simple reason for all of this confusion. All you have done over this past week is force fed new information into an already full brain. But you're not DOING anything with the information. It’s just bubbling around and rearranging the furniture in your head. What you need to do is strike a balance. Study - then do. Study some more - then do.

You really haven't learned anything until you start to do something with the new information. You have to test the new and see if it applies, then experience any differences (compare the old concepts vs the new) and evaluate (the most important thing) - the result."

This concept was totally foreign to many of the people I spoke to. They thought that learning and doing was the same thing.

Not in my world of the world of the creative.

Creators understand that you don't know anything until you can use it and apply it. Reciting what you supposedly know is not demonstrating that you can apply it. There’s a BIG difference.

In school you learn to memorize and recite. I don’t consider that real learning. Nor is it real thinking.

Thinking involves asking yourself questions - and coming up with answers. Now learning also involves thinking, but then doing something with what you just learned.

I'll never forget how shocked the audience I spoke to was when I explained how I read a "how to" book - or go through a "how to" course.

I read the first chapter or lesson - then I stop reading and start doing.

Then I read the next lesson. Then I stop reading and start doing. This method allows me to apply the thoughts, concepts and principles. So I really do learn and change.

It really is such a simple formula. It's not hurried. But boy is it quick.

Meanwhile, those who read the whole book or course and do nothing - get nothing but get overwhelmed.

They hurried through the book - and got nothing out of it.

Now, does this mean I'm against speed reading? Not at all.

I believe learning how to read fast is one of the most important skills you can master. But even when you read fast, the key lies in being relaxed and focused. That’s where you learn to breathe deeply as you read – (Evelyn Wood has been good to me), this is just another tool of being able to go fast - even when you're not hurrying.

Frantically rushing is the enemy. Going slower can often be quicker. Being relaxed increases speed.

You can make haste slowly and get there faster, if you'll relax and breathe.

And if this message is overwhelming, get up and move. Be quick - but don't hurry.

Til next time…