Aahhh so this is “Slow Living”

I’m just back from an unforgettable two week road-trip holiday around Portugal.

We visited medieval villages with castles from the 9th century;  we picnicked on River beaches; we marvelled at an ancient library; we were enthralled by a chapel made of human bones (yep, skulls and everything!); we swam in the Atlantic (Brrrrr) and the Mediterranean (Mmmm). 

One of my dear friends who lives here likes to describe Portugal as “1975 with Internet.”

As we were travelling the country, Geoff and I came up with a phrase we said over and over as an explanation for the way things work here:

“Aahhh, Slow Living!”

Business CLOSE – yes, close – for at least 1 hour for lunch –  “Aahhh, Slow Living!”

No matter “work deadlines”, everyone stops and eats lunch for the Full hour – “Aaaah, Slow Living.” 

People are always sitting outside tiny cafes in villages drinking coffee – “Aahhh, Slow Living!”

Locals always had time to stop and help us – “Ahhh, Slow Living.”

Food takes time to make and is delicious – “Ahhh, Slow Living.”

We ended in passing conversations with strangers that lasted a few hours and were so enjoyable – “Ahhh, Slow Living”   (This happened a few times.) 

The guy who sold us a second-hand car called two weeks later to make sure our road trip was going well, and the car is good – “Ahhh, Slow Living.” 

And the message for me as I have come back to work this week is clear. 

Slow-down.

I often daydream about Quantum Shifts and BIG, immediate, leaps forward.

The whole personal development world seems to be “lit ablaze” by Internet marketing and facebook posts that shout about:

10x-ing your results
Quantum Shifts
Creating 7 and 8 figure businesses (oh and doing it in only 6 months!)
Instant Manifestation.
How I went from broke to a gazillionaire in 4 weeks!

And actually, it’s bullshit that I needed to de-frag from. (And this holiday has really helped.)

Perhaps you do too?

This “instant results” culture makes anything less than a quantum shift feel like you’re failing, doing something wrong or ends up in severe self-judgment and self-criticism.

Now, I’m not saying that transformation is not possible.

I see transformation all the time in my own life and the lives of hundreds of my students.

However, transformation most often doesn’t occur like a big, blasting firework in the sky. It is more subtle, slow and yet super profound.

One thing I’m getting clearer and clearer about is the POWER of the Micro-Movement.

And that’s why this holiday has been the perfect reminder to:

Slow Down and take one, enjoyable step at a time.   
Just the next, small, forward movement.

Small, gentle, easy and ideally fun and inspiring steps.

And Relax and Enjoy the Journey NOW!

And in a year’s time, 2 years, 5 years you’ll look back and say WOW… my life has shifted so much.    

Your HINDSIGHT will show you the incredible shift you’ve made, but you won’t necessarily experience the shifts as “big ones” in the moment.

The present will probably feel instead like teeny-tiny moves forward.

Here’s an example of a HUGE Result out of slowing down and taking teeny-tiny steps.   This is from one of my Money Magic Students who shared on our Private Money Magic Community:

“Yesterday, I sat with my financial advisor, as I do regularly, to touch base with my overall portfolio as many things changed in the last 3 months that meant a massive review.

Let me share some numbers and all of this is due to setting a strategy, keeping to it, reviewing it, and constantly being in Money Magic Energy. When I first started Money Magic in September three years ago my expected monthly income (in today’s terms) at retirement, based on retirement savings only, was approximately 20% of my current earnings (after tax). As of today, it is over 100% of my current earnings (after tax).

Why? There are numerous reasons and I’ll share over time, but the biggest is complete and utter commitment to the journey with money and being so actively involved with Miss Money. She has rewarded my focus, my strategy, my commitment to this relationship…She is just going “Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching!” for me.

p.s. these figures are retirement savings only and excludes my tax-free savings, my rental income from my house and share portfolio – that’s allocated for 1) medical expenses and 2) holidays.”

Having watched this student’s journey, I know that she took the small steps and did the micro-movements.   Step-by-small-step.

And yet only 3 years later, her entire retirement is fully funded. Wow! An incredible result, right?  

But the key to her result was Slowing Down and taking the IMPORTANT small steps. 

Slowly, step-by-step she committed and took the daily, weekly and monthly actions.

All of these cumulatively added up to the significant result.

For the remainder of 2021 instead of stressing and racing around, like the hare desperate to win the race,  I’m channeling the slow-living, Portuguese Tortoise. 🐢😂

I invite you to join me…

 

 

 

P.S.  A couple of years ago I made this video which has a similar theme to “Slow Living”.  It’s about my Totem animal for 2019… you can watch the video here. It’s another goodie with a great message!

 

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