I get ahead in my mind a lot. When I'm excited about a new project, a new idea, a new opportunity or the hope of one, I am off to the races in my mind. I get excited and inspired about all the possibilities. This can be a fun part of the creative process; we pipe dream and play with the potential of what's possible. That creative spark, the inspiration and aliveness let us know we might be on to something.

Perhaps you're thinking about a new project, a new product, a new business or a new partnership. Maybe you've gotten inspired to take on a new personal goal like running a 5k or a marathon or learning an instrument.

We begin to engage with the idea, we set goals, we are on the path to making it happen, bringing it into the world of form. It's easy to get attached to these ideas. They start to look like the answer to an issue, or a long-time struggle or a way to live our best life.

We are enthusiastic, excited and full of hope. Then as we move forward, things don't quite go as planned and we can start to doubt our original inspiration or get impatient. Things get hard, take too long and we wonder if it's worth it or if we had it wrong. Challenges begin to look like potential signs that we’re on the wrong path and we wonder if we should throw in the towel.

For many of us, this is a time we try harder, push harder and start to feel like the problem is us. If we could be more efficient, organized, smarter, focused, etc. it would go better.

More times than I can count, I have been surprised to find that the natural pace of things is different than the pace I was planning on or hoping for. If you're like me, I often think things will happen faster than they do. And most of my angsts about how a project is going, or how my business is doing and even how a relationship is going is often due to the fact that the natural pace does not match the pace of my mind.

That disconnect can be the source of wasted hours, mental exhaustion, worry and discontent in our relationships and lives. When we accelerate beyond the natural pace and momentum our work and our relationships, it’s easy to start to buy into the illusion that something is off.

We try to fix it never realizing that the problem is a figment of our imagination. The problem is that we are following the momentum of our minds versus tuning in to the natural pace and timing of whatever is unfolding or being created.

There is the momentum of our minds and then there is the natural momentum of things. 

Sometimes things seem to go faster than we're ready for and other times they don't seem to go fast enough. In either scenario, if we don't understand the role our minds are playing in our experience, we can get hijacked by our thinking and start to strategize.

Those strategies are not responding to the here and now, to “real-time”, they are a response to a stirred up, impatient or worried mind or to a conclusion that was drawn while in a reactive state.

This distinction: the natural pace versus the pace of our minds or what we think it should be, is a common theme when working with entrepreneurs and leaders. “Faster is better”, “It needs to happen yesterday”; “I'm behind” are in the background of their minds running the show.

In other words, urgency looks real. We mistake an urgent mind as a reliable source. Without realizing it, we let our disturbed and urgent mind set the pace.

When we slow down, listen, really see and tune into the natural pace of what is unfolding, we are often surprised to discover, all is well. We start to appreciate the way it’s happening and the natural order of things.

When we surrender to the natural momentum and pace of our work, our relationships and our own learning, we tap into the richer experience of our work and lives. Every step along the way has the potential to enrich our lives, improve our craft, deepen our connections and show us more of what's possible.

When we adopt the pace of life or the natural momentum of a new project or relationship, we naturally get touched by what we see. Our experiences penetrate beneath the surface of our minds, beyond the superficial, and touch us.  We learn, we see, we engage and connect. 

If our work or a relationship becomes a “means to an end” we rob ourselves of pleasure. We rob ourselves of experiencing the fullness of what is on offer.

When we slow down to the natural momentum of a project, learning a new skill or a relationship, we get impacted by the moment. We embody the full experience rather than rushing by to get to a destination. This is living more in the flow of life rather than the flow of our minds.

A couple of weeks ago I had a dream that I was floating down a river, surrendering to the current and letting the natural flow of the river take me. When I woke up, I could feel the wisdom in this. I had been trying to get something to look the way I wanted. I had been trying to figure out how to fix it and when I started to allow my mind to slow and tune into the natural momentum, I realized that there was nothing wrong.

When we let the natural momentum, pace of what is unfolding guide us, we know where to look when things seem off. We look away from our thinking and discover where the natural order of things is and surrender. We follow versus trying to hurry it along.

When our minds are not distracted by how we think it should be happening, and we open up to what is, we come back to the present moment and respond.

From this place, we engage with the moment, we know our next move, we get connected and experience more joy, inspiration and fulfillment. We connect more powerfully to our deeper nature, our creativity and our connection to others.

Go with the flow; surrender; allow; tap into the here and now, no longer seem irresponsible or “soft”, but rather powerful orientations for bringing forth the best in you, your work and your relationships.

Finding the natural momentum and pace becomes a new home base and a way forward that produces amazing creations, fulfilling connections and a rich life.