Shifting Gears Through Life

The stick shift (of a car) typically has five gears with the first gear being slow and the fifth gear representing overdrive. We have these gears so we can adjust our speed efficiently according to the conditions of the road. Imagine being stuck in second gear while on the highway. A little frustrating, yes?

When I teach my faster reading workshop, I talk about how most people who come into the class are stuck reading in just one or two gears, typically the two slowest gears. What they learn from me is how to go into the other three when they want or as the conditions allow. This makes for a more efficient reading experience.

Continuing on this gear shift analogy, have you ever thought about your life like the gears of a stick shift? If I were to venture a guess, you know how to function in gears three, four and five. This is the “busy-ness” of work and family, the time pressures and anxious desires to get a lot done.

At the same time, I wonder if you are hard-pressed to know how to slow down into gears one and two. I have been one of these people, until recently.

At a recent visit to Kripalu, a yoga and meditation center in Lenox, MA, I came upon the realization that in order for me to function efficiently AND effectively, I need to downshift sometimes. What that means for me can mean many things:

  • Get away from the daily demands of work and family
  • Relax my mind using deep breathing, meditation or just listening to my favorite music
  • Connect with my body through exercise and healthy eating
  • Get more than enough sleep
  • Letting go of expectations and schedules
  • Spend time enjoying wherever I am and being in the moment

I am still working on figuring out other ways to get into gears one and two but I know that when I add these gears into my life, I am a better mother, wife, friend, etc.

What gears do you need to shift into to complement your life?

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Abby Marks Beale is founder of The Corporate Educator, a professional speaking and training company specializing in helping with busy people work smarter, faster and just plain better. Go to www.TheCorporateEducator.com.

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Rev It Up Reading is a subsidiary of The Corporate Educator. Since 1988, we have been teaching faster, more effective reading to busy professionals, educators and students in a wide variety of corporations, associations and schools. We offer speaking services, on-site and online training programs, teleclasses, books and audio recordings about how to manage any reading workload and how to read better and faster. ALL of our training is practical and immediately useful to your life and work.