Here Is Why We Accelerate When We Slow Down

It can’t be said enough about the magic of a small, effortless step

I feel that the next book I re-read by my favorite writers on being here and living in the moment, Ariel and Shya Kane, will be their award-winning and acclaimed book with a brilliant title, Practical Enlightenment. I seem to quote it often lately.

Here is an inspiring quote about the truth from this book:

When you have chipped away at the edges of your truth and life applies a little pressure, things easily fall apart. But when you operate with integrity, it is far easier to withstand life’s pressures. — Ariel and Shya Kane, Practical Enlightenment

I discovered that this analogy of chipping away at something also works the other way around: when achieving something.

In fact, the quote above was inspired by Shya’s experience with chopping wood:

“This is what I discovered: If I needed to split a big log, I set it on end, creating a flat surface to drive in a wedge or strike with an ax. But if I attempted to strike the center of the log, it resisted my efforts, the ax would get stuck and I would have to work very hard to remove it. However, if I simply sliced off a small piece of the edge, a bit of bark and a sliver of the interior, I broke the integrity of the entire log. Then it was ripe for splitting and a well-aimed blow would split the log in half.” — Ariel and Shya Kane, Practical Enlightenment

So, if you “chip away at the edges” of your project then with only “a little pressure” you will succeed to make more progress than you initially believed possible.

The more I became aware of kaizen and its related techniques and approaches, and the more I practiced the small steps myself, the more I saw I was able to manage many things I thought I couldn’t do, or had procrastinated about for a long time. I handled them quickly if I “broke off” a small piece of a huge task and concentrated my attention on that small piece.

Suddenly, I understood the true meaning of the famous English proverb:

A good beginning is half the battle.

I realized that the “good beginning” didn’t mean something sophisticated but the actual start, which took place in the form of a small, effortless step. Such small-step beginnings always resulted in motivation and drive.

Yes, after managing that little step I did sometimes glance at the remaining huge piece and get overwhelmed again. But the warm feeling I got for succeeding at the small bits easily accumulated over time, and it became more comfortable to concentrate on the little bits and steps.

Each little success was more empowering than I could have expected. Especially if I took a short moment to acknowledge each of those steps.

Bringing myself into the current moment of my life, again and again, shed light on why kaizen is so powerful. The results of practicing it and Self-Gamification as a whole were both immediate and cumulative.

Here is how Ariel and Shya Kane describe these effects of being present on our lives:

The more you invest in being present, the deeper the experience becomes. And while you can’t authentically “be present” in order to produce positive results, you will find that as a byproduct of being present you are naturally more productive, effective and satisfied. — Ariel and Shya Kane, Practical Enlightenment

This natural byproduct of becoming more “productive, effective and satisfied” is one of the many fantastic aspects of slowing down and taking one small and effortless step at a time, in addition to the growing enjoyment of the process.

It is normal to assume that by making small steps our progress slows down, but in the end, by making steady progress and not spending too much time looking at the whole thing, we reach the goals faster, and with considerably less effort than we anticipated. This does feel quite magical.

A note to this article: It is a modified excerpt from Self-Gamification Happiness Formula: How to Turn Your Life into Fun Games.

Thank you for reading this article! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, then in addition to the stories referenced in the piece above, you might also enjoy these two:

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About the author:

Victoria is a writer, instructor, and consultant with a background in semiconductor physics, electronic engineering (with a Ph.D.), information technology, and business development. While being a non-gamer, Victoria came up with the term Self-Gamification, a gameful and playful self-help approach bringing anthropology, kaizen, and gamification-based methods together to increase the quality of life. She approaches all areas of her life this way. Due to the fun she has, while turning everything in her life into games, she intends never to stop designing and playing them.