by Sunil Bali, 06-05-12

I’ve got a question for you. When was the last time that you used one of the following words?

Linger, leisurely, savour, relish, stroll, wallow

In the age of the sound bite, fast food, and speed dating we seem to have our pedal firmly to the metal on the highway of life.

Whilst speed can be exhilarating, and is sometimes required, going at full throttle for an extended period is going to result in a pit stop sooner rather than later. Avoid the pit stop and you’re unlikely to finish the race, or get to the end and think, was that it…..I should of, would of, could of…..?

As the leading performance psychologist Tony Schwartz says, "Speed is the enemy of depth, nuance, subtlety, attention to detail, reflection, learning, and rich relationships – the enemy of much, in short, that makes life worth living."

So how about building a few more smiles into your weekly schedule by:

  1. Having a long, slow dinner with someone you care about or who you want develop a deeper relationship with.
  2. Making sure you have a real good belly laugh every day. You could do this by watching a comedy clip or reading something funny…..maybe the humour section of my blog.
  3. Going to bed early with a good book.
  4. Spending uninterrupted time doing a hobby or activity which completely absorbs you and where time seems to stand still.
  5. Going for a stroll somewhere you want to explore or simply like.

Whatever you decide to do, how about building a little more lingering, savouring and relishing into your life…..after all, isn’t that what life’s about?

As I said to one of my clients this week, "Even Superman takes his cape to the cleaners."

Quotes

I do nothing and then I do something. But it’s taken years of investigating idleness in all its forms to be able to achieve this. My discipline is borne out of concerted study of idleness – Will Self

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet – Franz Kafka

To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world – Oscar Wilde

An idle mind is a questioning, sceptical mind. Hence it is a mind not too bound up with ephemeral things, as the minds of workers are. The idler, then, is somebody who separates himself from his occupation: there are many people scarcely conscious of living except in the exercise of some conventional occupation – Robert Louis Stevenson

Humour

Posterior Design

To your success,

Sunil