Direction, not speed

Who will go farther—the rabbit running in circles, or the turtle walking slowly forward?

I once believed that skill and speed were clear advantages. The ability to produce great work quickly should naturally lead to career growth, right? But experience has taught me otherwise. It depends on whether your good work is aligned—with the right place, at the right time.

Creating great work that doesn’t match the organisation’s direction won’t move you forward. Likewise, growing in a company whose goals don’t align with your own won’t take you where you want to go. Both are forms of running in place.

Many of us spend years climbing the corporate ladder—but do we climb because we know what’s at the top, or simply because it’s the only ladder we see in front of us? If we don’t know our direction, how can we tell if we’re actually getting closer to our goal?

It’s no surprise that many people don’t yet know their direction. It takes energy, time, and honesty to sit with yourself long enough to find it. In the end, it’s easier to look around, see where most people are heading, and just follow along.

But as your friend, I’d encourage you to pause—to invest time in defining where you truly want to go. Clarity of direction allows you to design your energy, time, and environment to match your pace—to choose what to pursue and what to let go of—instead of reacting to everything that comes your way.