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Success Habit 8: Slow Down to Speed Up

Motivation| Sales| success mindset| Habits
December 08, 2024•2 min read

Slow Down to Speed Up: Navigating the Holiday Hustle

As the holiday season approaches, life seems to accelerate, pulling us in multiple directions. The demands of year-end business goals, festive gatherings, and the pressure of holiday shopping can make us feel like we're speeding at 100 MPH. This can lead to undue stress, frustration, and not showing up for our clients, prospects, and contacts the way we intend to. In my experience, learning to take a deliberate pace during this season is not a simple idea, it is a must. Instead of doing more and moving faster, this is a concept I once heard that I follow: the key to navigating this hectic period may just lie in the paradoxical wisdom: slow down to speed up.

Ways to Slow Down to Speed Up:

Prioritize Your Goals

Amidst the whirlwind, it’s crucial to identify and focus on what truly matters. Begin by clearly defining your priorities. Whether it's personal growth, key business objectives, or simply maintaining a sense of peace, channel your energy towards fulfilling these priorities. This focused approach prevents you from being overwhelmed and ensures that your efforts are aligned with your true intentions.

Embrace the Power of Small Steps

Integrate the philosophy of taking "2 mm steps" daily. These small, manageable actions accumulate over time, leading to significant progress without the burnout. This strategy enables you to maintain momentum while ensuring that each step is deliberate and impactful.

Guard Your Time with Intention

One of the biggest shifts you can make is saying more NOs than YESes to invitations or commitments that don’t serve your goals. This holiday season, practice selective attention by putting yourself first, people second, and work third, allowing you to conserve energy for what truly nourishes your soul. Keeping healthy work and personal boundaries is not only essential, it is critical during this season.

Pitfalls of Moving Too Fast:

Critical Mistakes

We often make critical mistakes—overlooking details, making rash decisions, and neglecting self-care. These errors not only hinder our progress but can also affect our well-being and relationships. Avoid the trap of equating busyness with productivity. Instead, cultivate mindfulness and enjoy the richness of each moment.

Sending the Wrong Message

We may show up 'desperate to make a sale,' or coming at our customers and business prospects in a way that sends them the wrong message. This puts up resistance and also quickly damages trust.

Losing Control

'When emotions are high, intelligence runs low.' A favorite quote I once heard that makes sense. Forgetting to slow down can also lead to a lack of emotional intelligence. When we are depleted, we may say or do something we later regret. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

By slowing down, you’re not just pacing yourself for the holidays; you’re setting a foundation for sustained success throughout the new year. Embrace this season as an opportunity to refine your focus, take deliberate steps, and consciously design the life you desire.

Emotional intelligencestrategycritical thinking
Amy Lemire CSP DTM works with success-driven leaders and teams who want to be more, make more, and sell more with confidence, with momentum. She is the creator of “The Best Version of You: Success Habits Breakthrough” Program. For the past 10 years, she has trained thousands of sales and business professionals on standards of excellence, and mastery of the keys to success and the ‘Sales Confidence Code.’ Her focus is on how to win the inner game of self-confidence to drive peak performance results in sales, business, and speaking, through the mastery of success habits. After spending 2 decades in business-to-business and medical sales and training, Amy founded AIM Training and Consulting International. She is a certified “Habitfinder” Leadership Coach. Amy is the author of 2 books: “From Zero to Sales Hero,” and “From Zero to Speaker Hero.” Amy was recently designated as a Certified Speaking Professional, in March 2023, by the National Speakers Association, for delivering over 300 hours of training and speaking. She is also a VISTAGE-certified speaker. Amy is a Distinguished Toastmaster, the Past President of National Speakers Association, St Louis Chapter, and a Member of the National Speakers Association. She has been recognized as a Fortune 500 top sales performer and sales trainer for over 3 decades. When she is not working you may find her at local rock concert, personal development seminar, or at home with her husband Nigel and her cat Brianna.

Amy Lemire CSP

Amy Lemire CSP DTM works with success-driven leaders and teams who want to be more, make more, and sell more with confidence, with momentum. She is the creator of “The Best Version of You: Success Habits Breakthrough” Program. For the past 10 years, she has trained thousands of sales and business professionals on standards of excellence, and mastery of the keys to success and the ‘Sales Confidence Code.’ Her focus is on how to win the inner game of self-confidence to drive peak performance results in sales, business, and speaking, through the mastery of success habits. After spending 2 decades in business-to-business and medical sales and training, Amy founded AIM Training and Consulting International. She is a certified “Habitfinder” Leadership Coach. Amy is the author of 2 books: “From Zero to Sales Hero,” and “From Zero to Speaker Hero.” Amy was recently designated as a Certified Speaking Professional, in March 2023, by the National Speakers Association, for delivering over 300 hours of training and speaking. She is also a VISTAGE-certified speaker. Amy is a Distinguished Toastmaster, the Past President of National Speakers Association, St Louis Chapter, and a Member of the National Speakers Association. She has been recognized as a Fortune 500 top sales performer and sales trainer for over 3 decades. When she is not working you may find her at local rock concert, personal development seminar, or at home with her husband Nigel and her cat Brianna.

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