Do you ever feel like a hamster frantically running around a cage? You're doing all kinds of tasks from sunup to sundown, but at the end of the day, you feel like you’ve made absolutely zero progress. Are you Bill Murray living in Groundhog Day? Is it a new day, but the same old problems?

If this sounds like your daily reality, this article is for you. While it may sound counterintuitive, I’ve found that the best way to speed up in life is to first slow down.

3 Examples From My Own Career

Example 1: On the Golf Course

From age 13 to 22, I was a caddy at the famed Bloomfield Hills Country Club. It was the only job I ever had until I left for New York City and the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs. During my time as a kid and then as a young man on the golf course, I learned innumerable lessons that I take with me to this day.

One key takeaway from watching the best golfers was that they were not in a rush. They took the same approach to every shot. Their routines were consistent, they kept the same walking pace around the course, and they trusted their approach. They might take a little longer considering each shot as they followed their process. But in the end, they would get around the course in the fewest strokes (and steps).

By contrast, some of the worst golfers showed zero consistency in their process. Their pre-shot routine would constantly change. They would allow a bad shot to frustrate them and their walking would speed up. If they started putting poorly, they’d rush their routine, or go the opposite route and overanalyze everything. This disrupted approach would lead to more bad shots. In the end, they would take more strokes (and steps).

Example 2: In the Fast-Paced World of Investment Banking

As I mentioned above, when I finally left the golf links for my first “real job” amidst the skyscrapers of New York City, it was to join an investment bank. I had the tremendous opportunity to work for two separate investment banks in Manhattan. What I found, as a young 20-something, was a strong contrast in the two cultures. Both firms worked excruciatingly long hours, seven days a week. But they did it differently.

In one case, the environment was collaborative and process-driven. Very quickly, I understood my role and how my work fit within the larger whole. It was clear what I needed to master and what activities were to be completed by others, such as supporting functions. In that environment, the MBAs who managed me and the other junior folks took their precious time to get us up to speed. I’ll never forget an associate who famously (to me) would flip over my trash can, grab a seat on it, and look over my shoulder while I attempted to complete a new task for the first time. One of these times was on a Saturday night after 8 pm and she was headed out on vacation the following morning.

By contrast, my other experience couldn’t have been any different. Collaboration was replaced with a “sink-or-swim” mentality. Rather than working alongside junior analysts, the mid-level employees would keep their requests vague and open-ended leaving the inexperienced to stab in the dark. There were basically no supporting functions, so we were left to go it alone. At the same time, weekends were very different, with only the most junior employees in the office. Saturday nights in that environment felt like the lost leading the lost. I remember multiple times reaching Monday morning exhausted, just to be told my entire weekend’s toiling was wrong.

Recommended Read: Why Should you Build a Great Company Culture?

Example 3: When the Hot New Business Takes Off

Fast forward to the recent past. We signed with a new and exciting client a few years back. The only way to describe it is that it felt like jumping on a train that was already hurling down the tracks at an unsafe speed. Externally, the business had made a huge splash in its market in just over a year, growing explosively, and upsetting an industry. But internally they had no idea if they were making money.

The company was aggressively consuming cash, as new equipment, employees, and contracts were onboarded daily. It was an exciting time and there was a great buzz. Still, the reality for a financial person like myself was that we needed to validate the founder’s thesis that the negative cash flow situation was just a reality of a growing company making huge investments that would pay off down the road.

Intuitively, we knew we needed more investors to sustain this incredible growth. That said, we needed a clear financial story to demonstrate that the company was on the right track for existing investors and management, but also for attracting new investors.

The only way to accomplish this was to spend what amounted to a few months methodically studying the available financial information and building a process (from the ground up) to translate all of the historical transactional data into usable financial information. 

While the founder initially felt we didn’t have time for this painful exercise, we knew that this was the only path to bringing new investors aboard. When we were hired, the company had solely focused on cash management. Accounting entries were an afterthought. This resulted in books and records that did not reconcile, miscategorized expenses, and generally failed to approximate actual financial reporting. 

It was a painstaking process, but after several months, we were able to fix the past and develop a monthly process that eventually led to us closing and reconciling all the legal entities into a consolidated, trustworthy report. This successful project enabled the company to raise several tens of millions of dollars in much-needed capital.

The Pattern is Clear

In all three of these cases, there was a bias toward action. The human desire to show quick results and move faster seems innate. Just get the job done! It seems like it’s encoded into us. Sometimes when you’re super busy, flying from task to task, it can even feel like a bit of rush. But in the end, it is often the slow and steady tortoise that beats the jumpy and easily distracted hare; and the steady tortoise goes farther–and faster–in the end.

Which are you? Do you ever slow down to speed up? Or do you just put the pedal to the metal all day every day? Sometimes we need help stepping out of the fast-paced flurry to take the time to do the things that will truly shift our trajectory. If that’s you, we at Doescher Group are here to help. Reach out to discuss how we help level the playing field for self-made business owners like you.