Slowing down in your 20s

You need margin and space to think clearly in business and lifestyle

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how much rushing has shaped my life. Always on, always producing, and always trying to get somewhere other than the moment I’m currently in. It kind of made me go mad.

But what if I told you that rushing is the silent killer of creativity and of being able to think clearly?

Personally I’ve been taking more pauses and not do anything productive just for the sake of it. In that stillness, I’ve gained more clarity about how I see myself in business, my personal brand and a lifestyle I’d like to build.

I’m writing this especially for those of us in our 20s. We’re in the decade where we see pressure in everything. We set timelines for ourselves: achieve this by 25, make six figures by 28, and be set by 30. And if we don’t hit those marks, we start panicking and think that we’re behind or that we’ve messed up big time.

Maybe the real problem isn’t that we’re off track but that we’re trying to sprint through life aimlessly.

Let’s look at how slowing down is okay in business and then in life.

Slowing down in business

There’s this myth that you have to make it by 25. But most successful businesses and personal brands take years of boring, focused work. It’s not necessarily about being in a constant hustle. It’s being intentional. And first of all, if you want to start an online business, that’s great news. You’re willing to go down the road of improving on your character, skillset, and values for the long run.

But I know it takes guts to be committed to doing this and that there’s a chance you get obsessed about refining things witihin you. Too much self-improvement has its own limits. It’s good to grow, I’m not saying you shouldn’t, but that doing so much of it can lead you to rush things sometimes. At least this was my experience… and I know I can’t possibly be the only one.

In fact, I feel like every CEO, founder or entrepreneur has been there, especially in the beginning of building something. They take a look at themselves, try to see whether or not they’re cut out for building what they want to build, and burn out sometimes. But it’s all about your attitude. By the way, I wrote about the power of playfulness in your 20s, and how keeping an attitude of playfulness is helpful when tackling burnout.

But let’s stay on the topic of slowing down.

Instead of rushing, take time to understand things like:

• Your audience and how they would benefit from what you’re creating/building

• Your product and how it helps people

• The market and what you’re trying to appeal to

• Your desired outcomes as an entrepreneur

• What you want your ideal day to look like as you’re building online

Those aren’t the only things to consider, and there’s more you’d have to think about to run a successful online presence, but the point is to slow down and actually do the thinking in the first place.

Taking aimless action is insane! Literally.

I was amped up when I started writing online a couple of years ago. But it got to the point where I only focused on that and nothing else. It was my first time building something online and I was also really into self-improvement, but it was sort of unhealthy because I took that self-improvement as me needing to lock myself in my room and work for hoursss. What happened next? I burned out. I had no clarity because I was just taking pure action without reflecting on what I really wanted out of this online experience. But after a year of replaying in my mind how I just gave up on something I knew I wanted to do deep down, I decided to give it another go after telling myself that I won’t work on a million things all at once.

And here we are now. At a healthier pace, though.

So even though doubt still tries to creep inthere’s no going back when you understand the power of decelerating.

Embrace unproductive moments.

Constant motion leaves no time for reflection. If you’re always trying to optimize your mind for constant productivity, how can you tune in to those floating ideas?

Ideas that come from nonstop productivity, one task after another with no breaks, tend to fall flat. They lack inspiration. They’re different from the kind of ideas that show up when you slow down.

A big misconception is that slowing down leads to less happening or losing your edge. But it’s quite the opposite, my friend. When you ease off the gas, you allow fresh insight and clarity to come through. You won’t lose your edge because if a strong business with a powerful personal brand is what you want, you won’t let slowing down stop you from getting that.

There are more challenging things you will face in your business that will require you to step outside your comfort zone. And you’re just going to have to face it. Decide that the uncomfortableness of slowing down isn’t going to be one of those things that stops you from getting what you want.

When I’m driving, taking a shower, walking, or just laying in bed, those are the moments I receive powerful, creative insight for building online or taking action. Don’t let this sense of you somehow missing out on something drive you to take action aimlessly. If you develop a good sense of when God is giving you an impulse, you’ll have discernment to know when to speed up or slow down.

Another thing: say no more often. You don’t have to jump on every trend or tactic you come across. Just because you see a certain business model working for others online doesn’t mean you drop everything you’re building and leave behind the momentum you’ve built so far. By saying no to good ideas, you’re saying yes to great ones.

Slowing down in life

It’s almost as if choosing to rest is an act of rebellion. Your 20s should be about designing your life intentionally, not just reacting to it.

Speeding indicates that you aren’t clear about what you want— that you need to be in fight or flight mode all the time so that you can eventually get to a moment you enjoy.

But you won’t get to that moment if you’re frantically working.

When you’re caught up in rushing, you’re missing out on the abundance around you, in your mind, and the inspiration you would get once you let loose and just relax a bit. When you speed, you’re comparing yourself or competing with others without noticing it.

It’s more about mastering your craft rather than trying to determine if your craft is worthy compared to anyone else’s.

You want a life where you are able to trust yourself right?

Then you’ve got to listen to yourself more. Let’s say you want to build financial wealth. That wealth is first built within. And to build it within, understand that it’s all about discipline over mood. Obviously this involves the discipline to slow down and not let emotions drive you. And that emotional discipline is what will foster wisdom within you to know when to not let your feelings dictate the life choices you make—including choices that will bring in wealth for example.

The confidence, emotional resilience and clarity you gain from being more intentional will serve you far longer than any surface level revenue you gain from something you rush to build.

When you aren’t going at the pace that has you aligned with God, you miss out on the choices you know you need to take (but that you aren’t because you want to rush). Your worth is not measured by output and slowing down is what helps you reconnect with who you are, not just what you do.

When you slow down, you are allowing strength and power to come in. And I don’t just mean that physically, I mean it spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. Be in silence more often and learn how to separate yourself from the noise of others bragging about how they work 24/7. That’s not a flex, it’s literally a prison.

Designing a life you actually enjoy takes long-term thinking. Long-term thinking takes patience. And patience requires slowing down and stepping away from the constant need for dopamine hits.

For example, I stopped using stimulants, including vaping, because I wanted to rely on the natural strength God gave me. I want to make it, but without the artificial boosts.

I still want to get lost in the sauce, but in my sauce. I want to fully be myself, without hiding behind what I used to think were imperfections.

And the most rewarding part is that I know my personal brand will benefit from this act of me slowing down. I only want the realest parts of me to be the foundation of how I show up online. I want my knowledge, my wisdom, my skillset to come through clearly, not clouded by outside stimulation.

Quitting stimulants forced me to stop rushing. It made me slow down. And that’s exactly what I needed.

We often see slowing down as a sacrifice. And it is. But it pays off when you have that mental clarity and that newfound strength within you. So just like in business, cut out in your life what is silently rushing you without you even knowing—that can be physical things (e.g., stimulants for me), relationships, or beliefs that make you think you need to rush the process.