Written by: Kyle Gillette, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Every Monday at 8 AM I have a "CEO" meeting. It lasts between 15-30 minutes. I sit at my desk with my Apple Pencil in hand and scribble notes into my iPad. Sometimes I try and avoid these meetings because I know they will challenge me. This week's meeting was no exception.
The message I received was that I needed to slow down. I'm doing too much, and I'm doing it too fast. The message: "Slow down to speed up."
I've been meeting purposefully with the "CEO" for the last ten weeks. Every meeting is powerful. From clarity around my niche to encouragement to write my SAGE Mindset book, I've found this time to be extremely helpful. But this week, the message wasn't as fun to hear. After thinking about it for several days now, it was just the right message.
What you may not know is I don't have a CEO in my business. I'm a solopreneur, but these "CEO" meetings have been huge for my business and sanity! For me, CEO is spelled G-O-D. On these Monday mornings, there has been great insight and encouragement. Now admonishment to slow down!
I strongly encourage you to have a beginning of the weekly check-in meeting. Whether you meet with God as the CEO of your business or take the time to yourself, the check-in is invaluable. Now, I want to share the five big ideas I learned from my "Slow Down" meeting.
Be grateful
Be quiet and listen
Block out time
Imagine your journey
Turn from bad habits
Big Idea No.1: Be Grateful
Our brain releases dopamine and serotonin, the two key neurotransmitters that control our emotions when expressing gratitude. They make us feel euphoric from the inside out. We can assist these neural pathways to strengthen themselves and ultimately form a permanent grateful and happy demeanor within ourselves by practicing thankfulness daily.
Being grateful for minor things in life can be one of the most rewarding feelings ever.
When we consciously practice gratitude every day, remarkable changes occur within our brain and body instantly.
Gratitude strengthens our immune system.
It makes us feel better about life.
It reduces our stress levels.
It helps us to sleep better.
We feel less depressed and anxious while practicing gratitude.
Gratitude makes our relationships with others stronger by bringing them more happiness, kindness, trust, and honesty.
Daily gratitude makes us happier individuals.
In my Monday meetings, I now start with gratitude. It's a significant boost to the discussion and helps me to think more clearly and creatively. Try this approach in your "CEO" meetings and your regular meetings.
Big Idea No.2: Practice Silence
Many of us spend our days running around, churning up networks of words peppered by constant distraction. It can feel like the time or space to wholly engage with what lies around us is never available.
But there are moments in life where silence can be a blessing—a clearing that provides a calm and clear head before a big decision, a way to see day-to-day life outside the noise of modern living. More importantly, silence provides just enough separation from stimuli for recharging—a time to take ourselves out of being reactive and instead proactively seize what's next on our itineraries or lives lists. In other words, if we permit ourselves to be silent during specific periods in our day, we exercise one small way in which we can take charge of our lives and slow down.
It's not to say silence isn't good for other moments, but instead that it provides an essential respite during periods that could otherwise leave us exhausted or frenzied. Silence also acts as an act of self-care—two words often mentioned in the same breath these days. When we can take a step back and recognize how often we're talking, even if it's about ourselves, we can come closer to harnessing the essential power of what lies around us and within us: silence.
Most people believe that not saying anything for an extended period is considered as silence. However, many forms of silence are helpful for the body, mind, and soul. Silence is vital in our lives because it allows us time to be with ourselves without outside influences or distractions. We put so much pressure on ourselves to complete tasks quickly, meet deadlines, and multi-task, which can all be counterproductive.
If we give ourselves permission to take a step back and be silent in specific periods of our day, we will have time to regroup and concentrate on what is essential in our lives. We need to remember that it's okay now and again if you miss deadlines or postpone meetings because it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. What matters is taking the time to think about what we want from our lives and how we can achieve our goals.
Big Idea No.3: Block Out Time On Your Calendar
Time blocking is a systematic way to allocate your time to different tasks. It separates the time for various activities over a day and helps you slow down and be more purposeful with your time. What “blocking” means is to block interruptions and bad habits from disrupting your workflow.
To time block, decide how many hours you have in a day and then determine what you can do during that time. Then create blocks of time for the activities you have control over. You should start by blocking out time for one or two activities each day, and then you can increase the number of activities as you get better at it.
Some people find that they can time block their whole day, while others will only be able to time block part of their day. It's important to remember that time blocking will work best if you stick to it.
Here are some suggestions for what to time block.
Checking your email
Phone calls
Networking on social media
Specific project work
Strategic planning
Research
If you are not sure how much time to block off, try experimenting with different amounts of time at first. You can start by using the Pomodoro Technique of 25-minute work focus followed by a five-minute break. Once you have a better idea of what to do in the 25-minute window, it's essential to build the habit by blocking time at least two times per day.
Big Idea No.4: Imagine The Ideal Journey
One of the most powerful things that you can do to slow down is to use your imagination.
The best way to begin is by just brainstorming, so look at some of the suggested exercises below to help get you started on imagining your future. After all, it's hard to achieve something that you can't vividly picture in your mind.
Exercises to help you imagine your future:
Take some time every day to visualize yourself in this imagined future
Create a list of steps that show you moving towards this future
List the resources (people, money, time, etc.) needed for you to achieve this imagined future.
Write about your imagined future in the third person voice - as if you are writing about someone else. Writing will help you get an outside perspective on all of this.
List all the benefits you will receive by achieving this goal. Focus on what you will do, who you will meet, and what it would feel like to accomplish this goal.
Imagine a mentor or hero that has achieved something similar to this goal. What did they do? How did they get there? See if you can model some of these steps.
Find a coach to help you work towards this goal.
Big Idea No.5: Turn From Bad Habits
This insight is frustrating because turning from bad habits is so tricky. But it's the idea of repenting from your bad habits. The word has a religious connotation that fits what many business professionals need to do to slow down. In Biblical terms, this means to turn toward God and whatever dishonors Him. In my meeting, I realized I needed to repent or turn from my bad habits of going too fast and jumping from project to project without practicing the four previous tips.
Now, I'm not saying going fast is a sin but the sentiment here is to "turn away from bad habits." Repenting is a serious thing and my going too fast is a serious thing too! Until Monday, I was blasting forward as quickly as possible without regard to the bad habits generated. However, knowing now that my pace of activity is more harmful than helpful has led me to sincerely "repent" and turn toward better practices. Specifically, the four mentioned above.
It's easy to get into bad habits in business. It's also possible to get out of the bad habits. Here are a few that can make a world of difference if you turn from them. But you have to turn to something else instead.
Don't check your email or phone every 5-minutes. Do check your email only a few times a day. Remember, every email you read is someone else's priority, not necessarily yours.
Don't work for hours staring at the screen. Do take 5-minute breaks several times a day. You deserve it.
Don't spend too much time on your weaknesses. Do lean into your strengths. Your strengths will help you to slow down and be less stressed.
Don't keep all your ideas in your head. Do write out your ideas. Writing will break up the craziness going on inside that head of yours!
Don't focus on what's not working. Do focus on making progress toward solutions. The focus on solutions will speed up your results and slow down your pace.
Conclusion
Each of these big ideas will help to slow you down in your life and business. The result will be a better focus, less stress, more insight, and probably, better sleep! None of these big ideas are complicated to implement, but when you choose to slow down and be more purposeful with your self-management, you will speed everything else up.
Kyle Gillette, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Kyle Gillette is an expert mindset coach. After working for 9 years in a men's mentoring program and seeing how much the student's mindsets were limiting their success, Kyle created the SAGE Mindset® Framework. He now helps small business owners who are struggling with burnout, feeling overwhelmed with work, or just plain stuck create the habits and mindsets gain the clarity, confidence, and clients they deserve. Kyle is also the creator of the SAGE Mindset App, he's an author, and host of the SAGE Mindset Podcast. He's been coaching and leading people in the non-profit and small business contexts for 20 years. Kyle desires to help his clients become the leaders they were meant to be.
