Why "Smooth Is Fast"
“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”
I first heard that phrase in a college film room—after a long practice and a few too many missed assignments. It wasn’t barked or hyped up. It was said quietly, almost like an afterthought, as we rewound the tape for the umpteenth time. A reminder to stop rushing through things just to get them over with. To focus on the details. To settle down and do it right.
Back then, I took it as technical advice. These days, it feels like something closer to spiritual.
Because life moves fast. Too fast sometimes. Between work, relationships, parenting, health, uncertainty, ambition, and whatever else you’re carrying—it’s easy to feel like you’re always behind. Like everyone else got the playbook and you’re scrambling to keep up.
That phrase—slow is smooth, smooth is fast—is something I come back to when things start to feel unmanageable. It’s what I share with the younger people I coach. It’s what I tell myself when I feel overwhelmed or stuck. It’s a reminder that real progress doesn’t usually feel like a breakthrough. It feels like a habit. A rhythm. A step forward that no one claps for.
That’s the spirit of this Substack.
You won’t find magic formulas here. No optimization hacks. No polished prescriptions for how to live your best life.
Just honest posts. Reflections, routines, product recs that might help, and little things that made a difference—sometimes barely noticeable, but still worth sharing.
Some posts will be short. Some might miss. But all of them will be grounded in that same idea: that you don’t have to move fast to make progress. You just have to keep showing up.
Take it slow.