Repeat, but More Slowly

I can drop to the ground right now and do something that, to you, will look like 50 push-ups. That’s because I’ve been “doing 50 push-ups” every day for a long time. But can I do 50 proper push-ups? On days when I slow down and try to be deliberate about it, I feel like that’s an entirely different habit.

Working out daily is a good start. At least, I’ll have done something to move my body. But I’m not a fitness nut, so on many days, especially the bad ones, my workout is a task to get through before reaching other, more meaningful ways to pass my time. That’s why it’s easy to bend my arms only 70, 60, perhaps even only 50% of the way: The faster I’m done working out, the sooner I can write.

Lately, I’m trying to counteract that trend. “Okay, let’s do these right.” Go low. Push up. Fully extend the arms. If I repeat that 30 times, I’m very tired. Sometimes, I have to take a break at 40 before doing the last 10. Rather than just some movement that gets the blood flowing, that single exercise becomes a real workout. I can feel the work part. My body actually strains.

Of course, the slower workout is better, and of course, I’ll never do it every day. There are no solutions, only tradeoffs. If fitness isn’t all that exciting to you, it’s okay to do it without wanting half or even most of the time—but it helps to know your choices as you are making them.

The kicker, however, is that “repeat, but more slowly,” applies to all the activities you care about deeply as well. My blog turns out better when I take more time to write it. The carbonara I’m cooking for my fiancée comes out more nicely if I don’t rush it. And what good is running through a video game to finish it if I don’t enjoy the story?

Novelty is an infinite drug. It’s readily accessible to anyone who dedicates their life to chasing it. But the older I get, the more I have this hunch: True joy and real meaning lie almost entirely behind pouring more love and care into the things we’ve already done a thousand times. Repeat, but more slowly, and realize the only “more” you need is “better.”

Nik

Niklas Göke writes for dreamers, doers, and unbroken optimists. A self-taught writer with more than a decade of experience, Nik has published over 2,000 articles. His work has attracted tens of millions of readers and been featured in places like Business Insider, CNBC, Lifehacker, and many others. Nik has self-published 2 books thus far, most recently 2-Minute Pep Talks. Outside of his day job and daily blog, Nik loves reading, video games, and pizza, which he eats plenty a slice of in Munich, Germany, where he resides.