Sometimes We Have To Slow Down To Speed Up!

[GregoryBowen]

Sometimes We Have To Slow Down To Speed Up!

On May 28th, 2013 Published By Smokey

When helping A student to learn to drive a Semi-Truck, I often tell them “ Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up!’’……One part of the requirements on the Commercial Drivers License Test, The trainee must display the ability to “Double Clutch” the vehicle….It comes easy for those that have had experience driving a standard transmission car…..some really struggle, especially those with no experience with shifting…..We have a place where we go over shifting and they can practice while also learning to keep an eye on their trailer when making turns…..It’s a large enough area they can get up to 9th gear and back down to 3rd or fourth……Our trucks have ten forward gears……After they learn the process, and they get fairly comfortable driving on our shifting range, we take them out on the road with regular traffic…….This is where a new driver learns the most!……They get nervous, and flustered and tend to mess up the process of shifting …….So I have to talk them through it (hopefully, but not always, calmly), so the student can get back to the correct process of shifting ……Many times while they are trying to shift, the truck ends up at a crawl, or dead stop until the student gets it in a gear…….When a new driver gets behind the wheel of a “Big Rig” they are a little overwhelmed with the size of it….Our trucks with a 53 ft. trailer and a tractor with sleeper, are right at 70 ft. long and 13 ft. 6 inches tall…….The students automatically in their minds, think they have to shift hard and fast to get down the road……..But the truth is, if they just stay calm and stay with the process, they can get through the gears with ease and no jerking and straining or slamming …..once I get them to slow down the process, the shifter will go right in the gears as easy as can be …….so part of illustrating that, is the statement “ Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up!

The same is true in other parts of our lives…..If you ever watch a NASCAR race you’ll see the race cars come in for a pit stop……..If the Pit crew gets the car back out in less than 14 seconds, it is considered an average time……If A Race car comes in and the pit crew get it back on its way in 12 seconds, it’s a good time……BUT! More than one race has been lost by a pit crew getting a car out in 12 seconds and had to bring it back in to put a lug nut on, which ended up costing more time and the car gets passed while back at the pit area……If that same pit crew would have taken a couple more seconds….. and were more accurate with their movements would have made them faster……consistency counts…… Sometimes if we would slow down other aspects of our lives we can save time ….How many times have you heard of someone getting married after knowing each other for just a few weeks to only get divorced in a couple months!


How many times have we driven a car on a road. …one with a lot of stop lights…..You have seen cars leave the light in a huge hurry honking at everyone to get by them to only have to stop at the next light……but if you leave the light without any stress, kind of hang back and take your time, you get through the next light without having to stop….the same light all those others were in a big hurry to get too……. you can just keep rolling….I have made it through light after light in a big rig, hardly had to slow down , just kept a lower speed, seldom had to shift or use the brake!  We can do that in our lives too…..

Unfortunately, we live in a fast food society…..It seems to be all about saving time and going as hard and fast (but convenient) as we can go to get more done….we tend to do a little bit of a lot of things and not doing anything enough , to get the job done right…..we are a society of short cuts…..if we could just slow down a little…do things with more thought and maybe a little more organization, and starting with enough time to not have to be in a big hurry in the first place, we could actually grow faster…Without forcing things and creating a lot of stress……I tell my students to just make it last, let things happen without creating a confusing hard to understand situation, that is dangerous for everyone on the road……

So my friends and neighbors…… if you get nothing out of this post……Take this small piece of advise….When things seem like they are moving way to fast …or even if things seem to be in a hurry and getting no where….. Take a break, look at things ……sometimes you may have to walk away from it it a while…..slow down take your time …Think it through …….get help if you need it…….Then start again……One step at a time…..finish each step and then move to the next…..The next thing you know it will all be done ….”Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up”, make it last…..If you don’t have time to do it right…..You were going to be late anyway!…….Motivating others by serving others….you can too!….Smokey

[CherySchmidt]

Hey Smokey! This is very good advice and one I just recently started paying attention to.. I have always been one to want to get things done like yesterday but once I took a step back a looked at the way I was doing things I then knew I no longer needed to race. I now enjoy the simple things, like getting up early and sitting on my deck watching the the sunrise before I start my day.. Yes we need to slow down before we can speed up.. Thanks for sharing Chery

[JimmieB]

Definitely I can see the importance of slowing down when things seem to be punching along to quick. This is good advice for anything we do in our lives. Trying to make it with all the shortcuts sometimes could be looked at as a long-cut. Room wasn't built in a day, and neither is success. So everyone take Smokeys advice, you'll be glad you did in the long-run.