alright let’s get this thing cooking so
I recently had the pleasure of attending
my son’s highschool graduation and as
you can imagine particularly parents it
was a proud parenting moment to watch
him receive his diploma to listen to him
address his classmates it was one of
life’s big moments that creates an
opportunity to pause and reflect on our
successes our challenges and the things
we’re looking forward to but that is not
what I’m going to talk to you about
tonight not those moments what I’m going
to talk to you about are those
staggeringly ordinary moments that can
dramatically change our lives simply by
slowing down slowing down in committing
to a deliberate process of creation that
focuses our attention moment to moment
day to day in year to year now I know
you’re probably curious as to where the
inspiration for this productivity
breakthrough came from you might be
thinking of some of the great leadership
gurus Peter Drucker or Stephen Covey or
perhaps even Tony Robbins but you’d be
wrong it came from the great philosopher
Chuck Norris
yeah better than I thought
Texas Texas Ranger now in his book the
secret power within Norris shares a
story about a sparring match he had with
Bruce Lee now for those of you that
aren’t familiar with the martial arts
Bruce Lee was arguably the quicker of
the two men but he was really really
frustrated and his inability to block
any of Norrises kicks he just couldn’t
understand it just couldn’t get it
and with that Norris offered the
following insights you’re going too fast
your timing is off you need to slow it
down slow down
to go faster now the irony of me talking
to you about the importance of slowing
down and using it as a mantra to guide
my life couldn’t been more apparent than
when I got a speeding ticket on my way
to a time management seminar
my father’s in the front row that I was
teaching and and it gets me and it gets
worse so in my haste I asked the trooper
if he can make it fast not a good idea
so as you can imagine that did not end
well and and usually our need for speed
does not end well
right it actually slows us down right
this incessant need for speed is not
sustainable and it adversely affects the
quality of our lives along the way how
many of us are try to jam too many
things into our calendar schedule back
to back-to-back meetings skip meals and
cheat ourselves of much-needed rest
and what does it get us more stressed
less focused less engaged in ladies and
gentlemen ultimately less productive in
fact we are so enamored with working
harder in this country that many
Americans skip their full vacation and
we’re working longer hours and yet many
European nations are kicking our butt
and productivity as measured by gross
domestic product and it gets worse we
are so enamored with working harder not
smarter that we proudly describe
ourselves as being very very busy
our urgency addicted society where’s
this busyness as a badge of honor let me
think about it
we admire people who are busy we
actually aspire to being busy people
will proudly go through their exhaustive
to-do list without even taking a breath
failing to recognize
that urgency rarely equals importance
and it’s not enough that they’re busy
they want you to be busy too I mean you
know you heard people today conversation
you’re busy you’re busy right you
actually feel guilty if you’re not busy
enough you make make something up I know
I do I felt like a slug the other day
but ladies and gentlemen important part
language is generative what we say to
ourselves influences how we think it
influences how we feel it influences
what we do so my request for everybody
in this room is to replace the B word
with the F word good thing my mother’s
not here tonight let’s replace busy with
focused let’s really get focused so you
may be asking yourself how do we begin
to interrupt this pattern of speed too
fast too often it surrounds us it seems
that we’re immersed in it remember that
fish notice water last hello so what do
fish do they notice water last because
we’re immersed in it right and so that
is what one of the challenges when we’re
going to replace busy with being focused
so how do we begin to to slow ourselves
down so one of the things that I would
suggest is that we start slowly we start
by running a few experiments now I run a
lot of experiments at home and we run
experiments to change it up to get a
different results
and one of the things that I’m
absolutely certain about is that some
day my kids are going to be grateful
they tutored under me
but today’s it’s not one of those days
today is not one of those days so there
are four experiments that I would like
to suggest that you consider to slow
down to go faster here’s the first one
everybody try to breathe slower
everybody deep diaphragmatic breath come
on try let’s go ready everybody breathe
slower deep and from the diaphragm pay
attention to how professional athletes
performing artists in marksman prepare
for success in their events by
regulating their breath so one
experiment is to breathe slower
experiment number two experiment number
two is to eat slower not only is this
healthier because will actually eat less
but it actually contributes to
relationship building when we’re dining
with others now this blew me away a
couple years ago I heard this statistic
that the America Everage American family
spends less than 10 minutes per day
breaking bread together what an
opportunity so eat slower third ease
into your day
ease into your day let’s reverse this
trend of hitting the ground running
immediately checking our watch or better
yet checking our device starting to
worry about all the things that we have
to take care of that day that activates
the sympathetic nervous system and it
puts us in a stressful state right off
the bat let’s take a learn a lesson from
our pets who ease into the day you’ve
seen it you’ve seen it by stretching
very slowly and and as far as I know
they don’t check the clock and begin to
worry about all the things they got to
do all day right I mean what do they do
eat sleep go to the bathroom right and
so as we take a lesson from our pets now
the last experiment
and you only do this one if you’re brave
enough drive slower I can’t do it yeah I
saw you earlier actually experiment with
driving the speed limit right now let me
let me tell you you will be alone with
the exception of a brand new driver in
my 89 year old father in the front row
raise your hand right you’ll be alone
he’s a safe driver just a slow driver
and be ready for all the unwanted
attention you’re going to receive from
all of those drivers that are in a hurry
or as my daughter said to me Danny how
come all those people are holding their
finger up and yelling at you
I said Sophie it’s not because they
think we’re number one kid not because I
think we’re number one as we slow down
to go faster we create the space for
grace and this is the place where our
full attention intersects with the
present moment we tap into the
collective unconscious the universal
energy where anything and everything is
possible in that space we tap into
intuition those gentle nudges from the
universe that tell us what to do and
what not to do inspiration those sources
of purpose and meaning that surround us
all of the time and intention we become
deliberate creators by activating the
law of intention which says what we hold
in mind tends to manifest ladies and
gentlemen
what are you holding in mind rushing or
creating now we create this space for
grace by committing to the following key
practices
weekly planning mortgaging the time and
space for the magic to happen daily
meditation training our attention so
that we can notice in utilize intuition
inspiration intention daily journaling
analyzing the patterns of our pace in
adjusting accordingly
and lastly ladies and gentlemen
disconnecting from technology
disconnecting from technology I want to
encourage you I want to invite you I
want to challenge you to take a some
part of your day and make it scream free
we are inundated with information
overload our attention span in 2017 is
less than eight seconds in ladies and
gentlemen that’s less than a goldfish
that’s less than a goldfish
so let me let me share how creating the
space for grace resulted in my son who
you saw in the opening slide resulted
him in meeting former New York Yankee
star Derek Jeter
we were headed down to Tampa for spring
training just just for about a day and a
half and my son’s intention as you can
imagine any eight or ten year old kid he
wanted to get Derek Jeter’s autograph
right and so I was in I was on board
with that and so on this piece of paper
that I carry in my wallet I wrote down
the following intentions to support his
I don’t I intend to be relaxed and go
with the flow
I intend to arrive at my destination
safely I intend to have a smooth trip
and I intend to enjoy my time with
Rennie and I add it and follow his lead
so let me share how it unfolded we get
to the ballpark at 8:00 a.m. for a 1:15
p.m. game the say my son was excited it
would be a gross understatement
in fact the parking lot attendant wasn’t
even ready to accept our money at that
point so we got something to eat we
looked around Tampa complex isn’t that
big we saw people players stretching
playing catch but unfortunately did not
see or get Derek Jeter’s autograph nor
did we get any significant autograph
before the game but one o’clock we
settle into our chairs it is 88 degrees
in Tampa in March were from Syracuse so
that was a little warm by the end of the
second inning
my son is completely out of gas he wants
to go home and he reluctantly says can
we leave my initial reaction wasn’t too
positive but in fact he was even so
concerned he called his mother looking
for her blessing tried to talk him into
staying a little longer trying really
really hard
not to amortize the cost of our trip
over just two innings and then I
remember this piece of paper in my
pocket go with the flow follow his lead
so we left on our way back to the
airport yes if we can stop at the mall
that we were at the night before to get
a bite to eat
I said sure so we stopped at the mall as
we’re exiting the mall
somebody excitedly says hey there’s
Derek Jeter eating in the restaurant
that we just passed by I guess he left
the game early as well my son grabs the
sharpie out of my hand
rushes past the hostess and meets his
hero the ultimate objective of our
journey coincidence perhaps or a
powerful example of deliberate creation
made possible by slowing down to go
faster thank you
[Applause]
I recently had the pleasure of attending
my son’s highschool graduation and as
you can imagine particularly parents it
was a proud parenting moment to watch
him receive his diploma to listen to him
address his classmates it was one of
life’s big moments that creates an
opportunity to pause and reflect on our
successes our challenges and the things
we’re looking forward to but that is not
what I’m going to talk to you about
tonight not those moments what I’m going
to talk to you about are those
staggeringly ordinary moments that can
dramatically change our lives simply by
slowing down slowing down in committing
to a deliberate process of creation that
focuses our attention moment to moment
day to day in year to year now I know
you’re probably curious as to where the
inspiration for this productivity
breakthrough came from you might be
thinking of some of the great leadership
gurus Peter Drucker or Stephen Covey or
perhaps even Tony Robbins but you’d be
wrong it came from the great philosopher
Chuck Norris
yeah better than I thought
Texas Texas Ranger now in his book the
secret power within Norris shares a
story about a sparring match he had with
Bruce Lee now for those of you that
aren’t familiar with the martial arts
Bruce Lee was arguably the quicker of
the two men but he was really really
frustrated and his inability to block
any of Norrises kicks he just couldn’t
understand it just couldn’t get it
and with that Norris offered the
following insights you’re going too fast
your timing is off you need to slow it
down slow down
to go faster now the irony of me talking
to you about the importance of slowing
down and using it as a mantra to guide
my life couldn’t been more apparent than
when I got a speeding ticket on my way
to a time management seminar
my father’s in the front row that I was
teaching and and it gets me and it gets
worse so in my haste I asked the trooper
if he can make it fast not a good idea
so as you can imagine that did not end
well and and usually our need for speed
does not end well
right it actually slows us down right
this incessant need for speed is not
sustainable and it adversely affects the
quality of our lives along the way how
many of us are try to jam too many
things into our calendar schedule back
to back-to-back meetings skip meals and
cheat ourselves of much-needed rest
and what does it get us more stressed
less focused less engaged in ladies and
gentlemen ultimately less productive in
fact we are so enamored with working
harder in this country that many
Americans skip their full vacation and
we’re working longer hours and yet many
European nations are kicking our butt
and productivity as measured by gross
domestic product and it gets worse we
are so enamored with working harder not
smarter that we proudly describe
ourselves as being very very busy
our urgency addicted society where’s
this busyness as a badge of honor let me
think about it
we admire people who are busy we
actually aspire to being busy people
will proudly go through their exhaustive
to-do list without even taking a breath
failing to recognize
that urgency rarely equals importance
and it’s not enough that they’re busy
they want you to be busy too I mean you
know you heard people today conversation
you’re busy you’re busy right you
actually feel guilty if you’re not busy
enough you make make something up I know
I do I felt like a slug the other day
but ladies and gentlemen important part
language is generative what we say to
ourselves influences how we think it
influences how we feel it influences
what we do so my request for everybody
in this room is to replace the B word
with the F word good thing my mother’s
not here tonight let’s replace busy with
focused let’s really get focused so you
may be asking yourself how do we begin
to interrupt this pattern of speed too
fast too often it surrounds us it seems
that we’re immersed in it remember that
fish notice water last hello so what do
fish do they notice water last because
we’re immersed in it right and so that
is what one of the challenges when we’re
going to replace busy with being focused
so how do we begin to to slow ourselves
down so one of the things that I would
suggest is that we start slowly we start
by running a few experiments now I run a
lot of experiments at home and we run
experiments to change it up to get a
different results
and one of the things that I’m
absolutely certain about is that some
day my kids are going to be grateful
they tutored under me
but today’s it’s not one of those days
today is not one of those days so there
are four experiments that I would like
to suggest that you consider to slow
down to go faster here’s the first one
everybody try to breathe slower
everybody deep diaphragmatic breath come
on try let’s go ready everybody breathe
slower deep and from the diaphragm pay
attention to how professional athletes
performing artists in marksman prepare
for success in their events by
regulating their breath so one
experiment is to breathe slower
experiment number two experiment number
two is to eat slower not only is this
healthier because will actually eat less
but it actually contributes to
relationship building when we’re dining
with others now this blew me away a
couple years ago I heard this statistic
that the America Everage American family
spends less than 10 minutes per day
breaking bread together what an
opportunity so eat slower third ease
into your day
ease into your day let’s reverse this
trend of hitting the ground running
immediately checking our watch or better
yet checking our device starting to
worry about all the things that we have
to take care of that day that activates
the sympathetic nervous system and it
puts us in a stressful state right off
the bat let’s take a learn a lesson from
our pets who ease into the day you’ve
seen it you’ve seen it by stretching
very slowly and and as far as I know
they don’t check the clock and begin to
worry about all the things they got to
do all day right I mean what do they do
eat sleep go to the bathroom right and
so as we take a lesson from our pets now
the last experiment
and you only do this one if you’re brave
enough drive slower I can’t do it yeah I
saw you earlier actually experiment with
driving the speed limit right now let me
let me tell you you will be alone with
the exception of a brand new driver in
my 89 year old father in the front row
raise your hand right you’ll be alone
he’s a safe driver just a slow driver
and be ready for all the unwanted
attention you’re going to receive from
all of those drivers that are in a hurry
or as my daughter said to me Danny how
come all those people are holding their
finger up and yelling at you
I said Sophie it’s not because they
think we’re number one kid not because I
think we’re number one as we slow down
to go faster we create the space for
grace and this is the place where our
full attention intersects with the
present moment we tap into the
collective unconscious the universal
energy where anything and everything is
possible in that space we tap into
intuition those gentle nudges from the
universe that tell us what to do and
what not to do inspiration those sources
of purpose and meaning that surround us
all of the time and intention we become
deliberate creators by activating the
law of intention which says what we hold
in mind tends to manifest ladies and
gentlemen
what are you holding in mind rushing or
creating now we create this space for
grace by committing to the following key
practices
weekly planning mortgaging the time and
space for the magic to happen daily
meditation training our attention so
that we can notice in utilize intuition
inspiration intention daily journaling
analyzing the patterns of our pace in
adjusting accordingly
and lastly ladies and gentlemen
disconnecting from technology
disconnecting from technology I want to
encourage you I want to invite you I
want to challenge you to take a some
part of your day and make it scream free
we are inundated with information
overload our attention span in 2017 is
less than eight seconds in ladies and
gentlemen that’s less than a goldfish
that’s less than a goldfish
so let me let me share how creating the
space for grace resulted in my son who
you saw in the opening slide resulted
him in meeting former New York Yankee
star Derek Jeter
we were headed down to Tampa for spring
training just just for about a day and a
half and my son’s intention as you can
imagine any eight or ten year old kid he
wanted to get Derek Jeter’s autograph
right and so I was in I was on board
with that and so on this piece of paper
that I carry in my wallet I wrote down
the following intentions to support his
I don’t I intend to be relaxed and go
with the flow
I intend to arrive at my destination
safely I intend to have a smooth trip
and I intend to enjoy my time with
Rennie and I add it and follow his lead
so let me share how it unfolded we get
to the ballpark at 8:00 a.m. for a 1:15
p.m. game the say my son was excited it
would be a gross understatement
in fact the parking lot attendant wasn’t
even ready to accept our money at that
point so we got something to eat we
looked around Tampa complex isn’t that
big we saw people players stretching
playing catch but unfortunately did not
see or get Derek Jeter’s autograph nor
did we get any significant autograph
before the game but one o’clock we
settle into our chairs it is 88 degrees
in Tampa in March were from Syracuse so
that was a little warm by the end of the
second inning
my son is completely out of gas he wants
to go home and he reluctantly says can
we leave my initial reaction wasn’t too
positive but in fact he was even so
concerned he called his mother looking
for her blessing tried to talk him into
staying a little longer trying really
really hard
not to amortize the cost of our trip
over just two innings and then I
remember this piece of paper in my
pocket go with the flow follow his lead
so we left on our way back to the
airport yes if we can stop at the mall
that we were at the night before to get
a bite to eat
I said sure so we stopped at the mall as
we’re exiting the mall
somebody excitedly says hey there’s
Derek Jeter eating in the restaurant
that we just passed by I guess he left
the game early as well my son grabs the
sharpie out of my hand
rushes past the hostess and meets his
hero the ultimate objective of our
journey coincidence perhaps or a
powerful example of deliberate creation
made possible by slowing down to go
faster thank you
[Applause]
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