We live in a World that Frequently wants Faster Progress.
More Results, Less Time, Obtained Yesterday.
I get it.
There is a Pressure that is Placed On Us from our Society Today that Pushes this Agenda.
Not to mention all the Marketing that is Pushed On Us...
All Promising the Same Thing...
More Results, Less Time, We'll Get them To You Yesterday!
But, when it comes to Gaining Progress...
Whether in Business Success or Wellness...
Which are Directly Linked, whether You Accept Reality or Not...
Sometimes Slow is the Fastest Path.
Let me Give You an Example...
I'm working with a Client on Improving an Aspect of their Nervous System.
Specifically, this Aspect helps with Sleep and Blood Circulation.
Both are Extremely Important for Recovery.
Sleep is where the Body Repairs itself from Stress Damage and Rebuilds.
Blood Circulation determines the Amount and Speed at which Nutrients are Delivered throughout the Body to Needed Areas, as well as Proper Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Exchange.
If you Understand Flow States, where we Attain Peak Performance, then you will also Know that "Recovery" is a Necessary Component of the Flow Cycle.
Without Proper Recovery, We, as Humans, are Unable to Reach Our Potential.
Period.
So, we are working on this Aspect of the Nervous System for this Client.
Now, what happens when we Add Anything New to Our Lives?
That thing is a Stressor.
Now, it can be a Positive Stressor, which is known as Eu-Stress.
Or...
It can be a Negative Stressor, which is known as Dis-Stress.
What is Important is that Even Things We Recognize as "Good Stressors"...
Such as Working Out, Cold Plunges, Dietary Changes, etc...
Can "Become" Dis-Stress if Our Bodies are Unable to Handle More Stressors at the Time.
This is what is Known as going Past Our Stress Threshold.
Now, with this Particular Client, we are also Tracking a Few Different Measures of Health, Including HRV.
One thing about HRV is that if you Look at the Trends, you can Tell when Stressors are Occurring.
Under New Stressors, your HRV will Go Down.
It is ok if it goes down a little, because the Body has to "Learn" how to Handle the New Stressor.
If the Body "Learns" to Handle the Stressor Well, You will See the HRV Go Back Up to Baseline (and In Some Cases, Improve).
But, if HRV Drops Too Low, it becomes Problematic as the Body Experiences Dis-Stress.
In some Cases, the Nervous System will "Remember" that this Stressor "Caused" Dis-Stress, and will Enact a Fight-or-Flight Response in the Future when encountering the Stressor.
This can Happen "Even" with things we Consider "Positive".
So, let's say that you Decide to Work Out, and Push Yourself Too Hard, Too Quickly.
In the Future, Your Body will Seek to Avoid Working Out, usually Subconsciously.
This happens because the Nervous System "Remembers" The Dis-Stress that was Caused by Working Out...
"Even If" your Brain Logically Knows that Working Out is Good for Us.
The Nervous System Overrules the Brain's Logic.
You Avoid Working Out.
Which becomes Important for Us to Understand Here...
If we Want to Improve in Anything, Our Bodies Need to "Accept" the New Thing.
But Sometimes this Takes Time.
Sometimes this Requires us to Go Unbearably Slow.
Why?
If we Attempt to Go Too Fast, before the Body is Ready...
It will Make Future Attempts Astronomically More Difficult for the Body to Accept.
The "Further" You Push?
The More Dis-Stress You Cause.
The Higher that Dis-Stress?
The More Your Body Will Actively and Subconsciously Seek to Undermine You.
These are Survival Tactics that our Bodies have Developed.
They can Work "With" Us, or "Against" Us.
It all Depends on the Current Status of Your Psychophysiology.
This is also Why so many People Today are Unable to Really Do Anything New Successfully.
They are in Constant States of Dis-Stress.
Particularly, Burnout, which is one of the Worst Forms of Constant Dis-Stress...
And Over 80% of the Workforce is Experiencing It.
If we are Going to Succeed in the Progress that we Desire, we must Work "With" Our Bodies.
Not Push Ourselves into Dis-Stress, or "Worse" Dis-Stress as the case is for Most People.
We must Learn to Understand When Our Bodies are Telling Us to Slow Down, so that it can "Learn" to Speed Up.
So, what has Happened with My Client?
We are Seeing Sleep Patterns Improve.
Longer Overall Sleep and a Higher Percentage of Recovery Sleep.
SpO2 (A Measure of Blood Oxygen Levels) are becoming More Consistent.
We are also Watching the HRV Go Back to Baseline.
This means that they are Close to the Next Action Step in our Plan.
It's taken about a Month and a Half to get to this Point, Largely because the State of their Nervous System is in Extreme Disarray, but we are Seeing Noticeable Progress.
Now, that may "Seem" like a Long Time, but you also have to Recognize that, in comparison to Decades of Sleep Problems, this is Remarkable.
But what would have Happened if we attempted to Speed Up Results?
It would have Negatively Impacted the Work.
Taken even Longer to Create a Positive Impact.
Or, it could have Made the Situation Worse.
Like Adding Weight on the Back of the Camel whose Back was Already Broken.
We all Know the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare.
It is a Simplified Metaphor for taking Consistent and Steady Action toward our Goals.
Yet, it holds True for So Many Aspects of Our Lives.
Often, the Answer to what we Seek is Not in Speeding Up...
But in Slowing Down...
We can Begin to Discover What our Bodies Need to Thrive.
What is Working Against Us.
What can Truly Help Us.
When our Bodies are Ready for More.
And When Our Bodies Need Us to Slow Down.
Our Bodies are Incredibly Powerful in what they can Accomplish in the World...
But "Only" if We are Working "With" Our Design instead of Against It.
Are You Ready to Go Beyond Leadership?
Tired of Broken Algorithms and AI Slop?
Excited to Dive Deeper into Psychophysiological Mastery?
Want to Change The World?