This is an old story I love:

A martial arts student approaches his teacher and asks, "How long will it take me to master this craft?"

The teacher replies, "10 years."

The student, looking impatient, responds, "I want to master it faster than that. I will work harder than anyone else. I will push myself to practice for many hours every single day. I won't rest until I become a master. How long will it take then?"

The teacher considers this new information, smiles, and answers, "20 years."

The lesson: More intensity is not the answer. To achieve the things you want in life, you must pursue them with balance.

Unfortunately, this idea runs counter to much of what we're taught in the modern era—where speed, extremes, and perpetual busyness are celebrated, irrespective of the outcomes they create.

To pursue things with balance in our culture is almost indistinguishable from laziness.

But in today's piece, I want to make the case for slowing down, because in a world that wants you to speed up, there is tremendous upside to be found—personally and professionally—in doing the opposite.

"Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast"

The single greatest challenge for any ambitious person is reframing slowing down as an essential part of your performance, not a reward for your effort.

Confession: I spent most of my life as the stereotypical maximum intensity person. I viewed anything less than 100% intensity as a missed opportunity. 10/10 effort was all I knew.

This mindset worked, but only up to a point:

As a strategy, maximum intensity is effective in the short- and medium-term, but begins to show cracks when you extend the time horizon.

You hit the proverbial "wall" and stagnate (or drop off). By then, it's often too late to change course and assume a balanced approach—similar to the distance runner who starts a race too fast and is unable to complete it—you've effectively knocked yourself out of the game.

I visualize it like this:

Life is a simple game of compounding, and compounding is just returns to the power of time—meaning the returns matter less than time as the exponent.

The most important thing is staying in the game long enough to allow compounding to work its magic. The longer you're able to stay in the game, the more significant your growth.

Further, when you're constantly moving fast, everything is a blur. When you slow down, you start to see the world more clearly. You can:

• Identify the energy killers in your life, the people and activities that are draining your energy and happiness.
• Find the energy creators that are life-giving and make best use of your unique blend of talents and competencies.
• Embrace the free time that allows you to seek out the asymmetric, high-upside opportunities you might have missed.
• Observe the tiny beauties around you, the moments of gratitude and joy.

The Navy SEALs have a saying that I love:

"Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."

It's a powerful reminder of the Paradox of Speed: Slowing down is what allows you to speed up.

5 Simple Ways to Slow Down More Regularly

Here are 5 strategies you can use to slow down in your everyday life...

Embrace the Power of No

Perpetual busyness is often a natural byproduct of our fear of saying no.

This problem is most pronounced for people who self-identify as nice. A nice person says yes to every request for their time, every coffee chat, every weekend invitation, every dinner with colleagues or friends.

Unfortunately, being nice to everyone may get in the way of being kind to yourself.

Normalize saying no to things to create more space in your life.

Two simple tricks to reduce new commitments:

• When someone asks you to do something in the future, ask yourself if you'd want to do it if it were today. If the answer is no, say no.
• If you're about to say yes to something under the assumption that you'll have more time for it in the future, say no to it instead.

Embracing no allows you to say yes to yourself.

Take Pride in Unitasking

Multitasking is a myth perpetuated by hustle culture. It's fake productivity. You think you're crushing it, but you're just running around churning out a bunch of C+ work.

Build your day around a few focused sprints with breaks in between. Compartmentalize to focus on one key task at hand.

Take More 5-Minute Breaks

Microsoft's Human Factors Lab studied 14 participants across two days of video meetings, with Day 1 comprised of four back-to-back 30-minute meetings and Day 2 comprised of four 30-minute meetings with 10-minute breaks in between.

The researchers found that the breaks increased performance significantly (as measured by frontal alpha symmetry, a brain state connected to levels of engagement).

Taking short breaks throughout your day is an easy way to reduce stress and improve your overall performance. During the breaks, you can sit, walk, or just close your eyes and breathe.

Take a Power Walk

When he got stuck on a difficult problem, Steve Jobs was known to leave his office to go for a walk.

As it turns out, the science now shows that walking improves creativity and problem-solving. ​Stanford researchers​ found that walkers performed significantly better on tests measuring creative divergent thinking during and after walks. In fact, walking boosted creative thinking by an average of 60% and the benefits lasted well beyond the walk itself.

Find Your Garden

John D. Rockefeller would take regular breaks from his notoriously demanding schedule to mill about in his garden—it was his personal escape, the place where he could think slowly and clearly.

When I ask ultra-successful people about the daily rituals that contribute to their effectiveness, all of them cite some personal version of Rockefeller’s garden—an escape that allows them to create space in their life to think.

Find your garden, enter it daily.

The Good Old Days Are Happening

Life isn't short—it's actually very, very long, but we make it short when we sprint our way through it.

We all need to stop racing through life.

A powerful reminder:

Every single thing you do today is something that your 90-year-old self will wish they could go back and do.

The good old days are happening right now.

Slow down, look around, embrace the present.

Your entire life will change the moment you realize that the growth you asked for is on the other side of the stillness you've been avoiding.