Slow Life & How to Achieve It

Slow life is trending, and why not!? That’s the kind of life we were made for, not this capitalism-centered way to exist to serve others.

In fact slow lifestyle was the general living standard before capitalism was invented. The sad fact is that within just 100 years consumerism has made us forget about the most important values in life.

And for that to change we needed a massive disaster. The pandemic locked us into our homes, and that’s when we had to take a good, hard look around. We started questioning things we never had time or energy to question before:

why did I marry this person?
how have I been prioritising work over my family?
why am I still friends with these people who clearly never liked me?
should I actually travel to the office when I can just as well work from home and save all that time I’d otherwise waste on commuting?

The realities of work, and the damage it often causes in our personal lives, were suddenly brought out into the open. As a result, we’ve seen massive shifts in what people prioritise in life. Turns out the biggest resource that has been missing from all of us is time.

Time to do things that inspire us;
time to hang out with the people we love;
and time to stop and enjoy this one life we have.
For too long we’ve been robbed of the privilege to create a life that’s worth living.

It’s time to claim it all back! And one of the easiest ways to do that, is to get acquainted with slow life.

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What does Slow Life mean?

It’ll come as no surprise that slow living was ‘invented’ in Italy. In the 80’s a Slow Movement was established to rebel against global fast food giants that were infiltrating their way into the country.

Italy prides itself in its appreciation for quality ingredients and the process of cooking authentic food. Thus, it was a natural starting point for the Slow Movement. It was quickly followed by other movements, like Slow Travel and Cittaslow.

The basic philosophy behind slow life is to, yes, slow down. Specifically in terms of slowing down the pace with which you live your life.

It’s no secret that women especially struggle under societal pressures. These pressures don’t just mean expectations to do well professionally while also having a family, but include the demands to always look good (whatever that means) and to please everyone around you.

Slow life is a way for these individuals to start taking their power back by focusing on things that actually matter. Funnily enough those things do not include societal expectations or professional goals.

I’ve got bad news for those who are obsessed with executing life, though. You can’t execute a slow life or win rewards living like that. What you can get from it, though, is personal peace and happiness. Is that something you’d be interested in?

If yes, I would like to introduce you to some of the benefits that slow living can bring your way once you embrace it:

Benefits of slow life

Even though you can’t execute a slow life, you’ll be happy to know that rearranging your life this way can benefit you physically, mentally and emotionally. So, let’s see what practical benefits slow living could bring you:

Reduce stress: Learn to prioritise things that actually matter and that bring you joy and peace of mind. This shift in focus automatically reduces stress and anxiety.
Better mental health: By taking care of your own wellbeing first. When your mind is clearer you can focus better and be present to enjoy those moments in life that really matter. THAT is where happiness comes from.
Improved physical health: Once you get your life values in order, and thus reduce stress and anxiety, you start sleeping better. And good sleep is the base on which you build better mental and physical health. With more energy you can improve your physical fitness, which in turn reduces the risk of many illnesses and diseases.
Stronger relationships: When your mind and schedule are calm, you can be properly present in social situations. This improves the quality of your relationships and gives a sense of community. We all need support sometimes and want to feel like we belong.
More motivation and inspiration: By slowing your pace, you release a lot of time and energy that went to waste before. This extra time and energy is where creativity and inspiration lie. Allowing creativity to flow we can find a greater sense of fulfilment and a better purpose in life than working ourselves to death.

In the pursuit of a balanced and fulfilling slow life, integrating natural supplements like reishi into your routine can further enhance your well-being. Reishi supplements are widely recognized for their potential to boost immune health and reduce stress.

By incorporating reishi supplements, individuals looking to slow down can support their bodies’ needs, enabling them to handle the pressures of modern life more effectively and maintain mental, physical, and emotional equilibrium.

Within the past 10 years alone work life has greatly surpassed the boundaries of employees’ personal lives. And that is unacceptable. Especially when we basically work to fill our employer’s coffers but don’t earn enough to keep food on the table ourselves. Now, why would we keep on participating in a slave system like that?

Being busy has for a long time now been a thang that people brag about. But when you’re always “busy”, what it actually says about you, is that you’re completely incompetent with managing your time. Not flattering, is it? Definitely not very professional.

So, let’s take a step back and admit that the professional world of today was not built to benefit us. If you’re tired of being bossed around by people who don’t know how to use a printer, take your power back like this!

#1 Ask yourself “Am I actually busy?”

Let’s start from the beginning:

why do you think you’re busy?
Seriously, what does ‘being busy’ actually mean to you?
If you are literally drowning in work because you’re doing the work of 3 people, ask yourself why on Earth would you do that?
If you do the work of 3 people, are you paid acccordinly? No? I thought so!
Do you at least get a bonus at the end of the year for all that extra effort? Not that either? How surprising…

I’m gonna be really honest with you, and this may sting a little: if you work without getting paid for it, you are an idiot. You are being used, and you allow it. So, why do you do it? You’re afraid they’ll fire you? Oh, they will! Not because you refuse to work but because they will replace you with AI anyway.

Until that day it is up to you to make sure you do not do more than what is expected, aka what tasks are listed in your work contract. If you’re required to do extra work, then you must be paid accordingly. And no, it’s not quiet quitting, it’s SELF-RESPECT.

You ‘being busy’ actually means you’re just allowing employment abuse. Don’t be a twat.

#2 Define your life values / purpose in life

Do you know what your life values are? Most people don’t, and that’s actually quite worrying. Life values are the foundation of a slow life, the force that drives you towards a fulfilling life. Life values are “the fundamental core beliefs that guide your behaviours and goals and help you measure your overall success in your life“.

Would you say working to death without proper pay is your life value? Research shows that the biggest regret people have on their deathbed is putting work ahead of their family and personal life. You wanna join that miserable crew?

In practice life values can be the simplest things that are the base of your personality and the way you wish to live your life. Things like kindness, spirituality, honesty, family, freedom, etc. For example, my core value is freedom.

Freedom to do whatever I want, go wherever I want whenever I want. Also freedom to dress exactly as I want and to express myself in ways that I choose. And freedom to eat exactly what you want.

Those who are aware of their life values tend to be more mentally stable and driven. They know what their purpose is and they live accordingly, which creates the feeling of fulfilment. That is happiness.

#3 Learn to say ‘no’!

Oooh yes, it’s a hard one! But it’s bloody necessary if you wish to take the power back over your own life. Basically, if you’ve been a ‘yes-man’ most of your life, you’re gonna have to flip that around completely right about NOW!

Yep, you’re gonna start saying ‘no’ to everything. And once you master it, then you can start saying ‘yes’ to things that matter to you most. But only to those things!

In order to teach you to say ‘no’, I suggest you start by establishing clear boundaries and teaching yourself the word ‘no’. Establishing boundaries is a fundamental aspect of slow life. Boundaries set the bar for how much bullshit you allow into your life.

Healthy boundaries can look like not allowing people to shout at you.
When someone, anyone is shouting at you, you calmly tell them that you don’t need to put up with that, and walk away.
You can continue the discussion once they’ve calmed down. And if they don’t calm down, they can go fuck themselves.

And once we are clear on our personal boundaries, we teach ourselves the word ‘no’. Yes, you just repeat it.

Try different tones of voice.
Find the kind of ‘no’ that feels natural for you to say.
Repeat until it flows off your lips like any other words.

Once you start using this newly learned word in public, it’s important to stay patient, kind and compassionate. You have taught everyone that they are free to use you as they please. So, now you must be patient with them while they get used to this new, more confident you. Some of them won’t and those people can go.

#4 Practice being present

Now we have established our purpose in life and learned to say ‘no’ through establishing healthy boundaries. We’ve got all the practicalities in check for leading a slow life. Next we need to work on healing our inner world.

Are you one of those people who can’t just lie on a couch without feeling guilty for not doing something? Even though you know there’s nothing that needs to be done right now. You still can’t find peace because your mind is racing.

Well, it’s time to learn to be present. Many would suggest meditating, but let’s be honest, if your mind is racing, it’s fucking racing! So instead, start paying specific attention to everything that you’re doing. For example:

when you’re washing your teeth, focus on the process, the feeling, the action, the moment
while eating, pay attention to how many times you chew and try to taste every flavour
if you’re with your friends, focus on them, the conversation, the tones of voices, expressions, the emotions the conversation awakens, etc.

To make sure you succeed in staying present, this automatically brings us to the next important tip:

#5 Embark on a digital detox

We all need this! The biggest hindrance for slow life and being present in the moment is technology and especially social media. Those cold and empty realms of a fake reality that we should learn to avoid.

While social media, movies and video games can be a great distraction, they too easily disrupt our actual lives. This benefits nobody, least of all you. You have no idea what you’re eating because your focus is on a rage-baiting TikTok video. When your attention is outside of your current reality, you lose contact with your actual life.

You can’t complain that you can’t find happiness if you constantly distract yourself with external things. Also, you can’t be completely present if your phone is beeping in front of your face all the time. Turn it into silent, put it away, and do that more and more often every day.

The day will come when you notice you don’t need those distractions anymore.

#6 Admit that your life is more important than work

By now we understand what slow life is and how to live it. So, it’s time to tackle the hard core shit. As hard as it is to admit, you’ve been allowing something as trivial as work to control the way you live your own life. Ouch!

If you continue to put work before health and happiness, you’ll lose your health and guess what? Then you won’t have EITHER! And while you might be lucky enough to get another job, returning to good health isn’t always so simple. So please, don’t go pushing yourself over the limit at work where you are replaceable.

It’s time to start building your weekly schedule in a different manner: personal life first, work commitments second. When you prioritise your personal life, you are literally living a slow life because you prioritise your purpose.

Just like learning to say ‘no’, this can be a process, so you need to allow yourself the time and patience required to achieve it. Accept that you can’t fail, because it’s your life and you are in charge of it. And then set yourself a boundary to ensure that you don’t allow yourself to be used by others.

While in the learning process, be compassionate and kind to yourself. Allow yourself the patience that you previously gifted to your employer, colleagues, acquaintances and family while they shamelessly used you.

“Don’t live to work, work to LIVE!” – The Teresa Maria

Slow Life – Conclusion

Changing one’s perspective on life, and especially on work after decade(s) of allowing abuse and neglect is challenging. But like so many before you, you definitely have what it takes to get there.

If you do feel like it’s too much to bear on your own, there are Slow Life communities that can provide you with peer support. You can find local communities on Google or global ones on platforms like Facebook.

Slow life is all about living true to yourself, your values and your desires. Nobody else has the right to tell us how we spend our time and energy each day. Going to work is our own choice, so make sure that choice is one that supports your wellbeing in life. ♥

Follow me on TikTok and get to know me better by listening to my podcast, Random Rambles. If you wish to work with me, check out my services here!

Slow Life & How to Achieve It – 6 Tips to Success