Today I wanted to take a little break from getting organised and share with you a book I think that some of you will love! I was watching the TV a few weeks ago when I flicked onto a program called The Drum. Sometimes it’s just people complaining about politics, but every once in a while, they have a guest that gets my attention. On this night Carl Honore, was on talking about slowing your world as a way to building happiness. I’m all about finding the happiness, and after a few big burnouts, the idea of slow, deliberate living (that isn’t minimalism) is appealing to me.
I heard that he was an author and I wanted to find out if he wrote as well as he spoke, so I searched for his books online and found that his latest book The Slow Fix was available in my local library! Score! I started reading it wondering if it would apply to me. It seemed from the cover that it might be more for corporate solutions to problems, rather than the broader slow life concept I was looking for. I was pleasantly surprised.
The Slow Fix can really be applied to anything you set your mind to. It’s about not taking the easy, quick fix “solutions” that are really sweeping the dust under the rug rather than coming up with a proper long term cleaning solution (to use my own silly metaphor). There are 13 elements to a slow fix, which while it seems like too many, is kind of perfect for something that’s not quick. There are fantastic examples of businesses, governments and people who have taken this approach in each chapter and the concepts are both explained thoroughly and link one part of the fix to the next.
I found myself nodding profusely at parts of the book where I thought I was the only one who thought this way, as well as times where the light bulb went off in my head and I was saying ‘This is genius, why didn’t I think of that’. I love a book that reinforces what you know and also teaches you new ideas. Whilst the explanation at the beginning felt a bit long, I realised once I got into the book that I was thankful for the information as everything made much more sense. I also really appreciated that he included times where this thinking might not either be appropriate or might not go as well as initially thought and that the “fix” will look different for everyone.
I will warn you that you may have your own light bulb moments whilst reading and want to take some furious notes and let your mind wander on the concepts of each chapter before moving on. Not saying it’s a bad thing, just a warning to have a pen and paper handy, should the inspiration hit.
Whilst it’s not a workbook, I did find myself applying each of the elements to the ideas I’m working on right now, as I went along.
Surprisingly, I think this book has shot up to be in my top 5 books that have inspired me to make the changes in my life that I’ve been wanting to, but haven’t always known how. To quote from the book ‘…inspiring us to do things we wouldn’t normally do lies at the core of the Slow Fix’. It think it’s a book that everyone will get something different from. Whilst it’s not technically a book for creatives, I think it does give a lot of pointers for those of us wanting to make a deliberate change in our lives for the better. Not only was it inspirational, it also made the concept of the Slow Fix feel achievable.
I’ve always been that person in a workplace wondering why no one’s fixing the actual problem and are instead thinking of how to make it look shiny on the surface. This book helped me to see that there is another solution, a better one even, out there for those of us that are willing to stop, look at the big picture and make small changes that may make a big long term difference and be willing to do the research that might lead to 1000 dead ends in the hope that we learn something from it.
I think the Slow Fix (the concept) is definitely something that I’m going to try to work into my life and into my decisions – it will forever be a work in progress, but one that works with me rather than against me. It may not be for everyone, but I found it so illuminating, I just had to share! It’s now on my list of books to buy a copy to keep and re-read as needed as I can’t keep the library’s one for myself!
What are your thoughts on slow, deliberate living? Have you read this book – what did you think? I’d love to hear!
I wasn’t paid for this review, or even asked by anyone to share it. I just felt it fit really well with creating a happy home. It will, in some way, probably help me shape the path for this blog. :) In case you were wondering. ;)