I feel the need, the need for speed.

Movies can make a massive impact and connect with us on a visceral level, changing our view of the world.

Top Gun was that movie for me. It debuted during my formative years and is still one of my favorite movies.

Yes, it has a great storyline, is visually appealing in so many ways, and touches on our sense of romance and what’s possible when you’re talented and work hard.

But that’s not what it did for me. It was the SPEED. The way Mav buzzed the tower and went Mach 9 with his hair on fire lit me up from the inside. I felt like one of those pilots going to the edge of their limits.

When I was applying to colleges after high school, one in particular asked for not only an essay but also a quote!

I’ll never forget that it was Occidental College in Eagle Rock, California, close to where my dad and stepmom lived. It’s a small private school, and unlike the big universities, it chooses its students based on more than just numbers.

For the quote, I know many kids quoted great poets and leaders who came before us. Those are logical choices for a college entrance application. Me?

I could only think of one quote.

“I feel the need, the need for speed!”

What did they think of my application based on that? I got in.

I remember my mom telling me several times that I never walked as a baby. She said I went from crawling to running, and she said it in a tone that implied she had been trying to catch me since then. 

I have always moved swiftly in everything I do. Not impulsively like so many of the kids I grew up with, but rather with haste towards a goal that, even then, I wasn't sure what it was.

I always just thought there was so much life to live; I don’t want to waste a minute of it going slowly, and why drag out work when you can hurry up and get it over with so I can have fun? 

In business, as in markets, success favors the quickest action. Quick to market, quick to pivot, quick to decide, quick to get out when it’s tanking, and especially quick when you’re in trouble.

If this sounds like you, you are in good company, my friend. All of my clients make quick, calculated decisions, and I rarely accept those who don't.

Coming to understand that it’s not a negative trait like ADHDers like to make it out to be, and it’s why some people seem to have some “magic” about them that makes them ultra-successful.

It’s my superpower and a trait I look for in a partner. I made the mistake of basing those decisions on other metrics in the past, and it drove me bonkers, to say the least. I felt like there was either something wrong with me or with them. In reality, neither is true, but the pace needs to be well-matched, or someone is going to climb the walls with frustration.

Embracing it has empowered me to accept that it’s a good thing I move fast, to look for that in others, and to allow those who don’t to go at their own pace. I’m sure I annoy them with my speed as much as they annoy me with their slowness.

You see, time dilutes your success, and just like you need time to compound your investments and your fitness, we can’t afford to waste a minute unnecessarily. That’s not to say I never relax or slow down; I do. But it’s always after a day of moving swiftly, and I’m delightfully out of gas, so it’s time to chill.

I push hard in my workouts, my schedule, and when I play…in the things I can control. When it comes to other people, I have all the patience in the world to allow them time to reach their conclusions and incubate their ideas.

I encourage you to look at areas in your life where you’ve been moving a bit too slowly and start to pick up the pace. Your results will thank you for it.

I’d love to know what areas of your life you’d like to improve, and let’s see what I can do to help you do so. Maybe it’s your fitness, your business, or your finances.

Please reply to this email with any questions on how I can help you.

LFG!!

Alli