Time to go SLOW!
Time to go SLOW
As a student in the early 2000’s I remember attending an improv-comedy event one night. The actors were performing sketches similar to those on Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Remember that show?). Given that this took place more than 20 years ago, I don’t remember anything apart from the one actor coming up with the line:
“Fast is for losers! I go slow.”
It was funny because the entire audience knew instinctively that fast is better than slow, obviously! Now keep in mind that this was before smartphones, streaming services, fibre internet, apps, Uber and all sorts of other things. The most popular cellphone of the day was the Nokia 3310 with its seemingly limitless battery life. Yet all of us knew for a fact that SLOW is for losers.
Fast-forward twenty-odd years and life looks very different. This past week I came across two posts shared with me about the differences between what is called “Slow traditional culture”, “Fast modern culture” and our current “Dopamine culture”.
Some differences are highlighted as follows to show how we migrated through these different cultures:
- Playing sport > Watching sport > Gambling on sport
- Home cooking > Fast food > Uber Eats
- Film and TV > Streaming shows > Watching reels
- Handwritten letters > Sending emails > Snapchats
- Newspapers > Breaking news > Clickbait
- Having sex > Playboy magazines > Watching porn
- Albums > Tracks > Tiktoks
- Finding love > casual dating > Infinite swiping
- Photo albums > Camera rolls > Insta stories
- Libraries > Google > ChatGPT
This Dopamine Culture, where we are constantly seeking instant gratification and stimulation through technology, consumerism, social media and entertainment, is having a detrimental impact on our individual and combined mental health. Since everything is offered up in fast-forward mode, it results in us experiencing a false sense of urgency – this underlying sense of dread of falling behind. Furthermore, it decreases attention span, making it harder to focus on long-term goals and meaningful activities that don’t offer immediate satisfaction; It leads to emotional dysregulation, burnout, and dissatisfaction as the brain’s reward system becomes less sensitive; And ultimately to a loss of meaning as a consequence of pursuing only superficial pleasures in life, leaving very little room for anything more meaningful.
You might say “Ja old man, whatever” and that is your good right. But if I look at the things on the left of the list and compare them to those on the right, I know which of them are more rewarding.
So here is our challenge to you: In which area of life can you return to the slow version, just as an experiment?
What I’ve been doing is listening to the new Muse album, which came out three weeks ago, from start to finish. Without skipping any tracks. It is a ripper of an album, and I’ve probably gone through it 15 times by now.
So if that guy was right all those years ago in saying that fast is for losers, maybe it’s a good idea for us to slow down a bit.
Have a great weekend.
If you are having a difficult time trying to stay in your own lane and set healthy habits to avoid the downside of comparison, get in touch. You can reach us at info@purposeworks.co.za.
At PurposeWorks we are all about Making You and Your Work Rock. Our focus is on Organisational Health and Design, Employee Centered Culture, Leadership Development and Performance Coaching. For more information on how we can help you create a work environment that rocks, develop a great team, become an inspiring leader or unlock your personal excellence talk to us at info@purposeworks.co.za.
