Tag Archives: Speed

Introducing “Speed: Facing our Addiction to Fast & Faster & Overcoming our Fear of Slowing down”

Review - books movies series, Treatment Approaches, , ,
Stephanie Brown Phd
By Stephanie Brown PhD.

I picked this book from the Big Bad Wolf for RM8 (under US$2), thinking that this is really something people nowadays are going to need. The content can be slightly outdated (as compared to the rapid advancement of the technology world these days), but definitely not the messages it is trying to bring.

For the past few decades, we’ve all been told to be efficient, to keep moving, to make full use of all our time, to be in control, to have more and more, to keep in touch every waking hours, not to stop, not to slow down, not to be left behind…

We keep adding activities into our schedules, and never take any out, thinking that as long as somehow adjusting them around, we will manage it all… We have the constant need to do something, to check the phone, to go on Facebook, to work harder, to get more, constant feeling of “never enough”. We think we are communicating better with the technology advancement, but we are no longer looking at each other and talking to each other when we dine together…

… …

The style of writing can be a bit boring to me, but repetition is needed to help people to face their fear of slowing down and to learn to live a more mindful and meaningful life.

So, whether or not you think you are so addicted to speed (or gadgets or something similar or related), take a look!

How to Unhook from Speed?

Treatment Approaches,

The Twenty Guidelines for Slowing Down

Your Behaviour

  1. You ask for help; you seek a mentor who believes in slowing down for guidance and support.
  2. You develop a recovery action plan.
  3. You begin to make small steps toward change.
  4. You learn to pause, to reflect on your behaviour, feelings and thinking.
  5. You ask yourself, “What am I doing?”

Your Feelings

  1. You feel the reality of limits and face the feeling of failure.
  2. You become aware of feelings, and learn to listen to them,
  3. You trust that the high of impulsive action is not the feeling you seek.
  4. You develop a wider range of new feelings.
  5. You come to trust that deep, intimate human “connection” exists in a slowed down, quiet state.

Your Thinking

  1. You behave in the reality of limits.
  2. You learn to recognize and challenge your belief in entitlement.
  3. You challenge your belief in willpower.
  4. You believe in the value of small steps and a slower sense of time.
  5. You believe in a new definition of success: your best effort within a structure of limits.
  6. You believe in the value of delay, endurance and the concept of “enough”.
  7. You believe that growth and the change are not instant; that “quick fixes” reinforce the thinking of fast and impulsive action.
  8. You believe in the value and necessity of reflection as a part of health and success.
  9. You challenge your all-or-none thinking.
  10. You give new meaning to “service”.

 

Adapted from Speed: Facing Our Addiction to Fast and Faster – And Overcoming Our Fear of Slowing Down, by Stephanie Brown Phd.

Addiction to Speed (Fast! Faster!)

Basic & General, Obsession & Compulsion,

Are you hooked on fast?

Your Behaviour

  1. Do you want to slow down, but you cannot? Have you lost control?
  2. Do you keep adding activities without taking any away?
  3. Do you work longer and longer hours, but don’t ever finish?
  4. Do you treat other problems: sleep, anxiety, depression?
  5. Do you act first and think later?
  6. Do you check your email and reach for your phone first thing and last?

Your Feelings

  1. Do you feel internal pressure to live fast and act fast, which becomes a craving to “connect” more rapidly?
  2. Do you feel empty if you are not in constant action?
  3. Do you feel nervous without your tech gear in hand or pocket?
  4. Do you feel the beep of your phone as a comfort that gives you a shot of adrenaline?
  5. Do you feel you belong when you are rushing, stressed, and in action?

Your Beliefs

  1. Do you believe you have no limits and you are entitled to live without limits?
  2. Do you believe you should think, feel, react, and behave instantly?
  3. Do you believe you will fall behind if you slow down?
  4. Do you believe success equals fast and faster, and slowing down is failing?
  5. Do you believe you should only feel good, only feel high; other feelings are a sign of failure?
  6. Do you believe stress is the price of success and chaos is normal?
  7. Do you believe that the “new intimacy” is through technology; less time for off-line relationships is the price of success?
  8. Do you believe instant action is a virtue and you can overcome anything with enough willpower?
  9. Do you believe all change must be big to count?

 

Adapted from Speed: Facing Our Addiction to Fast and Faster – And Overcoming Our Fear of Slowing Down, by Stephanie Brown Phd.

So, How to Unhook from Speed?