Go slow to go fast

While staying at a beautiful riad in Casablanca recently, I found myself captivated by a small turtle roaming the courtyard. As I watched him, something struck me: although his movements were incredibly slow and deeply purposeful, he was covering ground remarkably quickly. Honestly, I don’t think I even knew turtles could move that fast. He was on a mission.

Watching him brought me straight back to the childhood fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. As a kid, I remember thinking the hare’s only mistake was taking a nap. If I’m being completely honest, part of me still viewed the hare as the natural victor—after all, he possessed the raw speed, and under normal circumstances, he would have reached the finish line first.

Like many high-performers, I spent years running the race like the hare: sprinting from project to project, operating in a state of firefighting, and assuming that speed was the ultimate metric of success.

Looking back on that fable now from a midlife vantage point, I realize I missed the mark completely. I didn’t get that the goal isn’t always just about crossing the finish line; it’s about the transformation that happens along the way. The hare was moving so fast, and was so disconnected from his surroundings, that he fell asleep and missed the entire experience. He missed the opportunity to gather information from the environment, enjoy the scenery, and recognize the growth.

When we rush through transitions—whether it’s moving to a new country, stepping into a new leadership role, or launching a new venture—we run the risk of bypassing the necessary updates we need to sustain our next chapter.

Going slow means moving with intentional design. It means:

• Pausing to observe and audit what is draining your energy.

• Treating those friction points as data rather than emergencies.

• Keeping your eyes open through the suspense, instead of numbing out or rushing to get it over with.

When you move with that level of purpose, you don’t actually lose time. Like the turtle in the Casablanca riad, you end up covering massive ground because every single step is aligned, solid, and built to last.