(Volume 1, Issue 18)
Topic of the week: Stillness and Patience
It's counter-intuitive that to go farther, one should go slower. An old triathlon racing slogan similarly goes: "Go slow to go fast."
Ryan Holiday's recent book Stillness is the Key, is a great resource to contemplate how in almost any aspect of work or life, slowing down is a secret weapon. It's not about meditation, but cultivating an inner state that slows things down, clarifies your thinking, centers your soul, and directs your efforts in a deliberate and meaningful way.
In his speaking engagements promoting the book, Ryan has offered several practical suggestions on how to go for stillness and patience:
Get up early. There are fewer distractions.
Put the phone down. Give space to generate your own thoughts.
Get exercise. Go for long walks, regular runs, swim, driving range.
Write. Put observations on paper.
Engross in a hobby. Give your brain a rest by doing something away from work.
Quote of the week
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice."
— Steve Jobs
Three recent articles
1. Tom Koller, McKinsey & Co. partner based in Stamford, Connecticut, recognized Mr. Warren Buffett's 90th birthday last week with an article underscoring the advantage in consistency, caution, and patience and in simply trusting the math—in good times and bad.
2. Ryan Holiday's summarizes ten strategies to practice stillness and rise above the noise.
3. Jason Zweig writes that the low interest rate environment is testing patience of everyone and tantalizing many people to unsafely reach for yield. His reminder "Discipline matters most when it is hardest to achieve."
From the archive
Posts on Related Perspectives that you may have missed: