It was my second training and first time in my life when I was lifting 30 kg above my head on a barbell. I needed 3 rounds of 20 reps as fast as possible. In the last round there were a few times when I lifted it, got it above my head but did not managed to straighten my arms and ended up dropping the weight.

My trainer said, Aga, look you rush yourself unnecessary. You put all this energy, all this effort –to get this thing above the head yet you do not hit the rep (meaning I do not straighten my arms hence the rep doesn’t count) All this energy is wasted and you miss the rep…

In my head I was just thinking one thing… This is so my life.

I have this very often unnecessary “need for speed”  which instead of driving me forward puts me back and makes me slower.  I am naturally hyper, and like to get results fast. How fast? Faster than anybody thinks it`s possible. Driving traffic to the site? Bringing your income up to $10,000/ month? Doing a summer salto?  This rush served me well often in a startup environment – where speed is so important and you can see your results on a daily basis. This need for speed made a few of my startups fail with a big bang in a very short period of time, ruin a few very important business relationship and miss many funding opportunities. This need for speed made a depressed and miserable when I couldn’t hit my goals.

I think the biggest one was when I took on a challenge of making money online, passively within a few months.  I am a pretty determined kid, but equipped just with knowledge form Tim Ferris books, not understanding what it takes and focusing on ways which can generate quick income (I mean like in a week) I hit the wall. And do not get me wrong, I have learnt so much, and I have taken massive action priding myself in being a doer and a hustler. But I was running in the wrong direction and focusing on wrong things on the way.

Like with lifting, I wasted so much energy trying to be fast instead of focusing on the right technique, making sure my legs and elbows are in the right position, getting my breathing right and then going slowly and smoothly up.

If I would only acknowledge that its ok to go slower I would get that rep quicker.

And it might be that I am naturally hyper active, but I also a child of fast results. The environment where speed is everything, where we are taught instant gratification, where the results of your work should be visible NOW.

I have learnt my lessons and I become much more reflective, analytical and strategic with my thinking. As my trainer says slow is smooth smooth is fast. I am still hyper active but I know that with the right technique and strategy I can use my need for speed to win any game.

What are your thoughts on going too fast in your business?