🌱 The smoothest path to *real* growth

Here’s your 3 insights in 3 minutes. 

🤔 A New Lens

I LOVE words in other languages that are so unique to their culture, that they literally have no translations. 

I keep a list of my favorites (top 3 below). Each one feels like a glimpse into a different world we’ve maybe been missing. 

More than anything, they remind me to slow down.

“Komorebi” is a Japanese word referring to the sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees.

“Sobremesa” is a Spanish word referring to time after dinner connecting with the people you shared the meal with.

“Flâner” is a French word referring to strolling the streets of Paris in a leisurely way. It implies no goal or destination, but purely the simple pleasure of soaking up the city's beauty. 

Here is a list of 20 Most Beautiful and Untranslatable Words In Other Languages.

🟡 Why Slow? 

The Navy SEALs say it this way: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”

In other words: in high-pressure situations, speed comes from control and precision, not from rushing.

Cal Newport makes a similar point in Slow Productivity. But instead of combat, he applies it to our work lives. Here’s the book in 3 bullets: 

• Do Fewer Things

• Work at a Natural Pace

• Obsess over Quality

Different context, same truth: real progress often comes from slowing down.

🔍 Slow Focus

You might be thinking okay cool but where do I start? Where do I slow down and focus? 

First adopt an attitude of radical acceptance. 

(That quote above is worth re-reading to let sink in.)

Then get curious about what you’ve been avoiding (aka not accepting). 

What you avoid doesn’t disappear…it owns you.

That difficult conversation. The email in your inbox needing a reply. The workout you keep putting off. Telling a family member you love them (or forgive them).

Avoidance is an unnecessary tax on your energy.

Confronting it is a free write-off.

Salud,
Mitchell

Ps. Thank you for all the kind words & replies to last week’s newsletter 🙏