"I have no idea what you just said."

These are the words that came out of a mentor's mouth, after listening to me talk uninterrupted, about things going on in my newest business, My Alumni Link.  It's not the first time I've heard those words.  One of my friends had told me this about a year ago, when I responded to an email with all the stuff that was in my head about work.  He politely acknowledged my email and left it at that.

But now, my mentor elaborated, with the type of honesty that you couldn't pay someone to have with you.

"You're scattered.  Until you can focus, no one can help you.  Which means you have to do this on your own, until you can get out of this state.  The best thing you can do for yourself is go sit by a stream and meditate." 

Ugh. I knew what he said to be true. I had been running hard and fast for the last month, trying to make headway on several different initiatives, including the launch of a new product. I was the marketing, sales, product development and operations departments, all in the course of a day.  I woke up thinking about emails I needed to write. My work day extended into the evenings, implementing one more change on a website or cranking out one more proposal.  And while I made a point to get exercise each day, I was having trouble keeping my mind from wandering during my workouts.  Photo by cod_gabriel

And now, my mentor was calling it like he saw it.  Ineffective, until further notice. Too much noise.

"You've got to find a way to slow down your mind." 

At the moment he said these words, it sounded like an oxymoron.  I pride myself on taking in lots of information, processing it to find the useful nugget, and quickly turning that into action.  At some point, though, this process becomes counterproductive. The equivalent of a  "tilt" alarm on a pinball machine had gone off for me, betrayed by gibberish spewing forth. Photo by BeerNotBombs

Soon after this conversation, I left the office for the rest of the day and went out to lunch with my family. 

Since then, I've moved stacks of paper from my desk, put them out of sight and prioritized projects.  I've cleared the deck for most of Thanksgiving week and hope to hit several yoga classes.  I'm getting back to my spiritual center, where being and doing are in balance.  I feel like I can breathe again. Photo by Mike Baird.

It's ironic that on my coaching site home page, I've posed the following question:

"What if you slowed down so you can go faster?"

It pays to follow your own advice.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I hope that you find time to slow down, both mind and body.