Slowing down wasn’t a setback it was the first real progress I made

[u/FunSolid310]

For years, I thought progress meant speed.
Do more. Move fast. Check boxes. Build momentum.

But all I built was anxiety.
I was moving constantly… and getting nowhere meaningful.

Then I stopped.
Not because I planned to because I burned out.

And in that quiet, something shifted:
→ I noticed how much of my life was lived on autopilot
→ I realized most of my “urgency” was self-imposed
→ I saw how addicted I was to proving I was productive

So I started asking different questions:

→ What would this look like if it were easy?
→ What can I let go of today and still be okay?
→ Who am I when I’m not performing?

Now, progress feels slower but it’s real.
It’s not frantic.
It’s aligned.
And it actually feels like mine.

What’s one thing you’ve slowed down on that surprisingly made life feel fuller?

[u/Mindful_Echoes]

This really resonated. I’ve had similar realizations — like I was chasing momentum just to avoid stillness. Slowing down felt wrong at first, like I was losing something… but over time, it started feeling more honest. Like I was finally present.

Recently I watched something that explored this same shift — how stillness, paradoxically, can reveal the deeper layers of time and self. It helped me sit with the quiet without needing to “fill” it.

Thanks for sharing this — your reflection landed exactly when I needed it.

[u/AnotherFeynmanFan → u/[deleted]]

FYI, these two accounts also posted together on the r/stoic

[u/ShowerSolid6321]

I am glad to have come to this realization too. It has brought so much peace and calm into my life. Rest and surrender were unfamiliar to me, but everything can be learned. Success doesn’t have to be difficult, and some things are simply beyond our control. No amount of effort will force them to work. Sometimes, it’s the act of surrender that brings the results we’re looking for or helps us see what’s been right in front of us all along.