Winning Words

The speed of the game is in our hands

Column by Michael Norton
Posted 1/15/20

A few years ago, we all talked about the easy button. It was a meme before there was anything even known as a meme. There was an icon with a big red button that we all recognized without hesitation, …

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Winning Words

The speed of the game is in our hands

Posted

A few years ago, we all talked about the easy button. It was a meme before there was anything even known as a meme. There was an icon with a big red button that we all recognized without hesitation, it was the easy button. The point the company was trying to make is that it doesn’t have to be difficult to make a quick buying decision or find the proper solution.

Today it seems like we may have replaced the easy button with the “Fast” button.

Let’s think about this for just a moment. And although I recognize that every sports analogy doesn’t resonate with every reader, here are a few examples of how we all may think about or consider the “Fast” in life.

Let’s consider the following: the pace at which football is played. It is a fast and furious sport at any level, and now more so than ever. In baseball we used to be amazed at the length of a home run, and now we look at the speed and trajectory of the pitch and the exit velocity and launch angle of the home run. In golf, it’s no longer just how far we crush our drive, it’s how fast our clubhead speed was when we hit that drive.

OK, forget about sports analogies for a moment. Let’s look at the Food Network and the amazing chefs who compete with precision at breakneck speed to complete challenges. As we watch, we hang on to every turn and churn, and the accuracy of every dish prepared for the judges. Our palms sweat almost as much as the competitors until the final bell.

Life happens that fast too, doesn’t it? We all hear about how life comes at us “hard and fast.” Movies have been popularized by the fast and the furious, hoping to draw us in as we watch and wait for the climactic moment.

First question: Who is in control here?

Does the speed of the game, the flow of information, and the pace at which we all try and compete make it so much harder than that of any easy button that we may ever push in the game of life?

Second question: Does the flow of information alone makes it almost impossible for us to keep up?

OK, both rhetorical. The game of life and the speed of the game get faster every day. Not because we want them to, but because it happens. Technology, access to information and the expectation around response times have created a greater sense of urgency than any time in history.

The bad news is that what seems like too fast today will seem like a snail’s pace tomorrow. The good news is this: No matter how fast and furious, or no matter how hard and fast life seems to come at us, we can all make the decision to slow it down.

Wait. What?

Yes, no one, and I mean no one or any situation, can dictate how we respond to the fast and furious and the hard and fast that life throws at us at any given moment or time in our lives. The only person who can control how we respond is us.

The more we press forward in the need for speed, the more we all try and live up to that speed. And the more we recognize that we are in control of where our foot is on the accelerator, the more likely we are to control the speed of the game.

How about you? Is it all moving too fast? Are you in control of the speed of the game? I really would love to hear your story at mnorton@tramazing.com, and when we know how to control the speed of the game it really will be a better than good week.

Michael Norton is the grateful CEO of Tramazing.com, a personal and professional coach, and a consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator to businesses of all sizes.

Michael Norton

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