In A World Of Hares, I Chose To Be A Tortoise: The Strength In Slowing Down

Run fast, sprint even quicker, be constantly updating yourself with newer knowledge, upskill and hustle 24/7. We are surrounded by a day and age that romanticises the need to be constantly on our toes and achieve the next big milestone, build ourselves for the future, embrace the zenith of our potential, and live our twenties like they are the only spans of our stride that will let us live and dictate our future.

I am all for growing and self-development, to improve ourselves constantly, because humans are a product of evolution. But in the all-consuming age of social media and a validation-driven culture, we are not improving ourselves or constantly growing ourselves for self-growth.

Rather than post our lives on social media and gain praise to draw acceptance and meaning from the simple actions that belie to be in the mundanity of our lives. The constant urge to think faster, operate smarter, and act better is robbing us of the joy we once found in simplicity, of the beauty we once found in nothingness, in imbibing the beauty of fresh air or simple, candid conversations we have with our loved ones.

While pondering in deep thought over this, I came across an article online that talked about the Tortoise Theory, and I resonated with it instantly. And here is why I decided to be a tortoise in my life.

My experience with overstimulation and overdoing

I was nineteen when I discovered the idea of self-development and self-improvement, and my motivation to be the clean girlie, have my own bread and butter, read 10 pages a day, and be neat and presentable every day while managing classes hit the roof. I wanted to have it all, to be called and named a competent young girl who has it all figured out and trust me, that did not last long.

Maybe I did achieve a lot at a very young age and have accomplishments I am very proud of, but I was hugely operating on the need for validation, the constant urge to improve myself and achieve more was tiresome and still is from time to time. That I was a self-development project that needed constant improvement, if only I knew it was not for me, but for the performative stance of the societal glory I yearned for back then. Little did I realise that I used self-development as a shield to hide my inner shame, the shame that I projected on myself of not being good enough.

So it won't be hard for you to guess what followed suit. I was not disciplined enough to keep up with all of my habits. I would constantly criticise myself and hold onto the notion tightly that there was something wrong with me. Like it was my fault that I was not brave enough, not motivated enough to pull my act together, so I tried going up the hare technique again. I would say to myself This time we are not giving up, and I would never follow through.

To my despair, I was actually curating a pathway to my rock bottom, and yes, it was not fun at all! The more I tried, the deeper I fell until I realised this would not work anymore. Reflecting constantly, I asked myself, “Where am I going wrong?” I pondered over that thought for months until I discovered there was nothing wrong with me, and it was the conditioning of forever going on that the society had forcefully imposed upon us that made me hate myself from time and again.

Then I embraced the Tortoise Theory

The Tortoise Theory talks about slow, steady growth over constantly hustling towards achieving more. It focuses on becoming one per cent better every day rather than rushing into the process, where one achieves substantial growth over time rather than quick results and instant gratification.

The idea is simple in its nurture yet powerful in its essence; slow progress is still meaningful progress; it is the consistency that matters and creates compounding growth. I embraced steady and intentional growth over erratic speed. I chose to take baby steps towards my goals rather than setting unachievable goals. 

Rather than reading 50 pages a day, it became one for two pages a day, rather than working out six times a week, I started incorporating 30 minutes of workout each day, rather than writing 2000 words every day, it became intentional time set aside for my writing. I started becoming more comfortable with the idea of focusing on my next step, taking things one step at a time, and trusting the process.

Whatever habit we want to integrate into our lives, it needs to be built slowly and steadily over time, one microstep a day, for our body and mind to finally adapt to it and say it is our new normal. Often, we are too fixated with the future, what our lives would look like five years from now.

But no person can predict with absolute certainty what their future will forge to be, and I think that is where I believe in the Tortoise Theory even more, where all we have in our hands is the next step, focusing on our being in the moment we breathe through our mortality in, of not worrying too much about what lies ahead and not comparing our chapter 20 to someone’s chapter 200.

I am building my life, embracing the Tortoise Theory, one step at a time, one story at a time, not chasing instant outcomes but showing up every day. Because what truly holds dearth is the progress that I am making every day and not how fast I am going. Taking tiny steps today that create bounty leaps tomorrow.

Authored by Hridya Sharma | Views expressed are the author's own.