“Being slow means that you control the rhythms of your own life. You decide how fast you have to go in any given context. If today I want to go fast, I go fast; if tomorrow I want to go slow, I go slow. What we are fighting for is the right to determine our own tempos.” – Carlo Petrini

Is anyone else exhausted by the grindset content? 

Listen, I’ll admit—I tried it for a time; albeit, a very, very short time. 

But it is not for us. It is not for a lot of working people. And I’ll be the first to say it… that’s okay. 

On the surface, these TikTok grindset, uber productivity hacks, and protein smoothie recipes are quite motivating. It makes it seem like this type of lifestyle could be beneficial to your life. Life-changing, some might say. And I am sure it is to some… but not for us, not at this phase of life.

To be completely and totally honest, it just doesn’t work for us. Rather than being the onramp to our dreams, it became the entry point for eventual burnout! It’s not about discipline, it’s about defining what you value in your current phase of life — sometimes that means going nonstop (we’ve certainly done that at various seasons) and other times it means slowing down and narrowing your focus.

We have learned, through trial-and-error, living the NYC “hustle and bustle” lifestyle, to now being back in the slower living of Georgia—trying to squeeze every ounce of efficiency and productivity from our morning is not how we like to start the day. And just because the 4:00 AM wakeup call doesn’t tickle your fancy, doesn’t mean you are any less productive or ambitious of a person. That would be silly.

When you have kids, the productivity perspective certainly starts to shift. You value some things more than others. You value some things you never even knew about. And what defines a productive morning adjusts with those values.

We still try to do it all — while embracing how impossible that truly is. And we feel more now than ever (with the barrage of inspirational-yet-seemingly-unattainable morning routine videos flooding the internet), we are content with the slower pace lifestyle and taking our time. We realize it is a luxury to have a slow morning, and that’s not lost on us. But we have also made a conscious effort to temper the pace of the starts to our day.

We get up early (way earlier than we’d like to), but not to win the day.

We are able to take a longer shower, have our coffee in our pajamas, and not feel so rushed all the time. Even though we work most evenings when our son goes to bed, the payoff at the end of the day and over the long haul is invaluable!

I remember watching my mom and dad have coffee together every morning once all the kids moved out of the house. They’d sit there together for hours, reading, talking, praying, and discussing their day — welcoming people into their space if one of their 8 kids was in town staying with them or someone stopped by in the morning.

Every now and then I wondered if they were “making the most of their time” in the mornings — the way that “grindset culture” would demand. Now that my dad is no longer with us, I can’t imagine a more beautiful way to start the day: Slow, steady, connected, and focused on your purpose, whatever it may be.

Because life, inevitably, likes to rushes us all at different times — and most times, for no particular reason.

So in this new season, we recommend trying to set your alarm a little earlier. However, don’t set it at 4:00 AM for a high intensity workout and green smoothie, but set it earlier so you can actually taste your coffee, actually read your book, actually enjoy washing your face, actually connect with your loved ones, and actually be present in the moment.

Because you deserve to live your life, not rush through it.