🎙 54. The Slower You Move, The Faster You Grow: How Compounding Action Builds Momentum
((an 4 month off-social media update!!))
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Episode Published on October 14, 2023
Transcript:
🎙 intro
Hello & Welcome back to the Spiritual 9-5 Podcast. I’m your host, Marie Groover. I am also the founder of two businesses that are here to bring your soul to work - The Corporate Psychic and Essential Teams - where we believe that no one is special but everyone is essential, and that to be the most essential, the most impactful to the world around us, in the work that we do: we have to be ourselves.
This episode is a 4 month update of life and work off of social media. More than that, it’s a lesson in how compounding action builds into momentum, which is what carries you the fastest to wherever you want to be.
Thankyou for being here. Please rate the show, follow the show, email me about the show. I love to hear what you think. And if you enjoy it, please consider sharing it with someone who would enjoy it, too.
🎙
When I first recorded simple is profound, episode 46 of this podcast, I envisioned that I would record and drop monthly updates about life and business and my experience off of social media. What I found is that – life is just slower without social media. Being in my work looks differently, because I am simply in it and not sharing or talking about it all of the time – at least not in the same way. I do share and talk about my work all of the time. What I would say is that before, on social media, there was a shallowness to what I could share and now, not being on social media there is more depth and vulnerability and realness and steadiness to what it is that I share.
I’ve had to re-learn how to converse with people on zoom, and in person, and out in the world - to really speak with them. And I now spend my time in more meaningful conversation, because every conversation that I have matters so much more to me. I’m not looking at my phone. I’m not in the dms trying to make a sale. I truly have no agenda other than presence. I’m here.
Which, as I say this, I realize feels like a slower process. Progress feels slower when you are growing business in actual relationship, vs a constant stream of content and sharing and ups and celebrations and wins and quite frankly, bullshit.
Things don’t always feel like they are happening, even when they are. And, I’m also re-learning to trust in the mysteries of life – the things that I cannot see, that I do not have access to, but that bring about massive compound results. And, I’m reminded of something one of my yoga teachers, Lexi Hawks, said to me years ago.
The slower you move, the faster you will grow. There are no shortcuts to the things we gain in life.
She was referring to our yoga teacher training material, where her guidance was not to rush through it all, but to take it in slowly. To move one concept at a time – to pause until you’ve got that one down, and then to move forward. And if you have ever worked on something that you are genuinely excited about, that’s..it’s hard. You want to move fast. You want to just know everything already. You begin future tripping on the knowledge that you one day will have and the impact that you one day will make and you forget to pay attention to what’s in front of you right now, when in fact, what’s in front of you right is the only way to that future you are tripping over.
And when the speed of the world around you seems to be moving infinitely faster than you can, it’s excruciating and it’s scary and you feel like you might get left behind, or become obsolete, or that Carmen will surpass you in her skills and knowledge and that that will mean you suck.
But – let me tell you something. If you slow down and pay attention, what you will find is that the world moves a whole lot slower than you think it does. And that most of the shit that gets thrown in our faces every day, via the news or social media or even at work is just people chasing shiny objects and moving from thing to thing and unfinished idea to unfinished idea (and making a lot of money from this btw because WE are giving them our attention, also chasing the idea that this new shiny object will solve all of our problems).
I have a theory that most imposter syndrome just comes from all the noise, and us feeling like we can’t live up to the noise. But, the noise isn’t real. How many times have you clicked on a link for a news article with a catchy title like – XYZ found a cancer cure and then you read the article and it’s like 300 words and actually none of it talks about how XYZ found any cures to cancer? And you obviously didn’t get the answer you were looking for but you did give your time and energy to reading the article.
And you shrug your shoulders and you move on with your day and your life because that shit is so normal to you. You’ll know next time not to click on the catchy title, but will you? Or will the titles get even more compelling.
Have you ever stopped to think about how fucked up it is that so much of what is placed in front of you every single day is not real or applicable or meaningful to you AND YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO INGEST IT and think about how it appies to you and how it might be the end all be all for your life or your weight or your business or your relationships?
OF FUCKING COURSE WE DON’T FEEL REAL or legitimate AKA we feel like imposters. Because we have so few resources readily available, aka also placed in front of our faces, that are of quality, of depth, of intention. Because real things take time. And real things are so focused in on the thing they are doing that they aren’t wasting energy on catchy titles or slogans or marketing lies.
I guess what I’m saying is that this world is riddled with fake fastness and noise and expansion and shiny objects and we get caught up in it all the time, most of the time. And when you pause, and unplug from all of it for a moment, you’ll see that things, businesses, relationships, accomplishments, big moments to remember, people, like you and like me, move and grow and change incrementally.
And if you aren’t paying attention to the increments and the iterations and the refinement over YEARS, it seems like there are these overnight successes or cures to sicknesses or advances in AI and computing. But really, all of these things have been and are always happening around you, at incremental paces.
Nothing happens overnight. Neither do you need to.
Every day doesn’t need to be profound or expansive for it to be worthwhile or an essential part of your journey. In fact, most days are pretty mundane, pretty average. Some are filled with exceptionally beautiful moments and some are filled with death spirals, as Kening likes to call them.
And most progress is also pretty mundane and pretty average. It’s really just what we make of it. How we choose to see things and how we choose to live it. How we choose to enjoy it and how we choose to appreciate it – the time, the experience. Are we even aware of it?
Life on social media feels fast, but it’s fake. The real work is delivering what you promise to bring to the world and that requires incremental progress every single day. It requires you to show up to the work, not to the sharing of the work, but to the work every single day, even on the days where it feels like “what’s the point – does anyone even care?”
But once you get into the increments, into the iterations and the small refinements, then things start to move fast. This is where the momentum is.
If you want to know about momentum, pay attention to nature. This summer off social was the slowest and the fastest summer I have ever experienced. It was slow, as in I was present to every day. And it was fast because as I was present to every single day, I started noticing the changes around me at rapid pace. The temperature, the times at which the sun rose and fell, the heat that turned into a chill in the air, the bugs that sing and then slowly die – i mean idk if they die but i do know that their singing slows, it descends before it stops. The leaves, even in an area where we have basically no leaf change – like i live on the beach on an island. But every single day I saw differences that are so small that mostly go unnoticed but when you pay attention, you see that they are huge and that the changes that follow cannot follow without the tiny changes today. You see that it’s never really summer for long – it’s always changing and the changes are always compounding. Every day in nature there are tiny deaths and tiny births and actually it was painful for me to watch how quickly it all happened.
I think parents can relate to this, especially when their kids are small. They grow and change so fast. But when we look at it, it’s actually slow, you know. It takes YEARS to develop basic skills as a human, but when you pay attention, when you are present you see how remarkable it is, you see the miracle of tiny, incremental growth.
And that’s what I’ve been paying attention to in my life and in my business, off of social media, for 4 months now.
People talk about momentum in business – and it’s simply the result of tiny actions that you take every single day toward one goal. And at first they are kind of painful and annoying and then overtime you get used to them and then suddenly shit is happening, it’s blossoming. And then it feels fast.
But for a while, especially when you are in it, it feels like nothing is happening, nothing is moving, nothing is changing. It feels like you are going no where. And good ghee, when you leave social it can be excruciating, because you –
Well, let me speak from the I for a second. Not only have I witnessed the actual pace at which things work and move in the world around me – artificial and natural change and movement and growth. But the amount of feedback I’ve received in my process, since leaving social, has been so much less. No likes, no follows, no dms (except for sales dms on linkedin OH MY GOOD GHEE).
And yet, the feedback I have received has been so much more meaningful, despite the lapses of time between receiving it. People email me after I send a newsletter now and share how it impacted them. One of my clients was featured in a freaking art show the other week and people loved and bought her work, and said the words to me “I couldn’t have done this with out you.” She could have, and she would have btw.
Almost every single private client expressed, without prompting, that they want to keep working with me in the new year, which means that they have all already been working with me for one whole year, and some of them, two or even three whole years now.
Let me tell you, that is so much more meaningful than a like or a follow or a witty comment.
Life feels slower now. Progress feels more incremental than ever.
And yet, things are happening.
And if you show up, things will always be happening. Don’t get lost in the noise. Don’t get distracted by what someone else is doing, or what they are celebrating this week, or how you might could do what they do and achieve their results. Honey, if they are getting results, they have been doing more of the same for a long time. Just show up and keep showing up. The shiny object is seductive, but it’s not going to sustain you forever.
I remember this as a learning for me, when I joined a chief of staff office at Microsoft. It was for one of the largest organizations internal to Microsoft and I was so excited to see how the kool aid was made, because I had been drinking that kool aid for years. And what I learned is that it’s the small stuff, it’s the tiny things that move an entire business and organization and thousands of people forward, every day. It’s not the shiny objects. It’s not even the leader stating one single time “WE ARE GOING TO CHASE THIS NEW SHINY OBJECT” but it’s the comms team who shares the same message 15-30 times to the entire organization through every single channel possible over a 10-20 week period, it’s the business managers preparing the budgets and the headcount and the program planning over a 20+ week period. It’s someone in the background checking off all the boxes of what’s required in order to get to the change itself. And let me tell you – box ticking, boring. Announcing a big change one time, exciting.
But ticking the boxes is what builds the momentum. Ticking the right boxes. Not planning them 100 times. Not deciding. Not holding the vision in your mind. Not talking about it on social media and definitely not changing courses 100 times because someone else has some new way. It’s the actions. It’s the actions that you take every single day that compound into your results.
And I know that this isn’t sexy. But if you pay attention, you can see it. It’s kind of a miracle.
So 4 months off of social media, and what are the actions that I have been taking?
Everyday it’s a little bit different. But most days are comprised of 3 things
Writing, I write every single day, whether or not I share it with the world
Some of that writing is website copy, newsletters, poetry, notes, podcast ideas and outlines and some of it is just for me
Talking to someone directly about the work I do every single day
Some days that looks like introducing people and teams to my business
Some days that looks like delivering for Essential Teams to another business
Some days that looks like 1-1 calls with my coaching clients, or engaging in our messages
Some days that looks like leading my mastermind, the quantum sessions
Some days that looks like inviting someone new into Visibility, the only program TCP is offering in 2024, btw.
Moving my body - I try to walk, run or surf every single day. I find that when I don’t move my body, I am more likely to go into a death spiral because I’m still not quite used to moving and working at a normal human pace.
And I say normal human pace btw because I don’t think that social media is the thing that keeps us in some hyper-fixated, uber-productivity focused wormhole. I think social media contributes by showcasing all the flashy things that people are doing with their time. And for me, leaving social media was one thing that allowed me to reclaim my time and my rhythm and my purpose and my work in many, many ways.
But, I remember working in a really fast-paced environment where things were always happening. You know, managing the operations for an organization of 1000+ people is so much more than what the human nervous system evolved to handle. And when you are constantly plugged in to something, or many somethings, I think it’s worthwhile to pause and notice – how am I feeling? What do I really need to be focusing on here? What moves the needle? And what can I let go of? Where am I distracted by the shiny object, or the demanding object, or the seduction of the work that isn’t really work? Is my nervous system jacked up?
BTW your nervous system is very rarely, if ever, jacked up when you are in the work and present to the moment in front of you.
It’s really the little moments that matter.
The slower you move, the faster you will grow. The only shortcut to our desires or goals or even deadlines is to pay attention to right now. It’s to show up in the incremental work, in the moment.
Because focused, incremental, compounding action is what builds momentum. And momentum is what carries you the fastest to wherever you are going.
So what is my update after 4 months without social media?
Well, it’s like I’ve said many, many times – be in your work. Watch where it will take you.
For me, my work is writing, it’s talking to people and businesses as a coach or a consultant or a friend, and it’s nourishing myself so that I can continue to show up in the highest levels of personal integrity possible.
That’s it.
That’s what I’ve been up to. AND, I do also devote time to fun things too – life things, other than going for long walks or surfing. I went to 2 weddings this summer. I am doing renovation on my house. And I am going to the Maldives in 2 weeks. After that, I’ll be going to the Galapagos. And you better bet that while I won’t be on social sharing pics, I will be present to every moment of it.
And I hope that no matter how exciting or how mundane or how in-between your life feels right now, that you are soaking it in, and that you are finding ways, implementing systems, to keep yourself focused and in the work that you dream of.
Because big, bold action and announcements and moments are not what carry us to our destinies. It’s the little things that propel us forward. The slower you move the faster you will grow.
If you want or need support staying in your sacred work, 👁VISIBILITY has got your back. 👁VISIBILITY is a 13 month group coaching program without any live calls or commitments. It’s 13 months of having me in your ear, every single day, inspiring you and motivating you and loving you into your sacred work, your soul work, into aligned action, into integrity and away from distraction. The most potent work I do with my clients is gently guiding them back whenever they find that they have gone astray. You don’t need to hire a coach to show you the way to your dreams – only you know the way to your dreams. What we do need is validation, support, encouragement, confidence, focus and to choose to be in our work, on our path, day in and day out because that is what gets us where we are going. It’s not sexy, but it can be fun, especially when you have me in your ear. What I’ve found for myself is that I have to choose DAILY. To take myself and my work seriously, I have to take it day by day. And every single day, I consciously decide whether or not I want to show up. And I would be honored to support you in the same.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what you want to do yet, I’ll be in your ear, encouraging to find out, to take yourself seriously, to show up anyways. And you’ll be shocked at what can happen, what can compound in one year of time. How does the saying go? A year from now you’ll wish you began? 👁VISIBILITY is a place to begin or begin again, with support. If it sounds interesting, check the show notes.
It’s the only thing I am offering through TCP this year, as my main focus is shifting into Essential Teams. So if you are also curious, how to build a business that brings your sacred work back to the corporate space, you definitely want to join 👁VISIBILITY and get in the virtual room with me so that you can watch it unfold, so that you can stay inspired in what lights your soul up, and so that you can show up and do the damn thing in 2024.
👁VISIBILITY is my most no brainer offer of all time. I wanted to make it very accessible for anyone. Coaching is a privileged investment. It’s not a cheap thing. It’s not something most people can do on a whim. And I hate that about coaching. So 👁VISIBILITY is super accessible, and there are even payment plan options AND if you look at it and you’re like, no I can’t justify this but I really need this in my life, shoot me an email. We would love to make it an easy yes for you.
🎙 outro
Thank you for listening to this episode of The Spiritual 9-5 Podcast. If you get something out of this podcast, please share it with one person who might also feel seen or validated or expanded by listening. It means the world to me.
And wherever you are, I hope that you are taking it slow, soaking it in, and being kind to yourself. I’m your host, Marie Groover. Until next episode, big love, big gratitude. Thank you.
