Retreat To Advance
Randy Wolken, President & CEO

I am convinced we need to retreat to advance, stop to start, and slow down to speed up. It’s the great paradox of our age.

When things are going fast and continue to get faster, our natural tendency is to speed up. We must keep up—or catch up, but constantly going at a rapid pace can take its toll. I’ve seen so many people burn out in this go-go economy. What’s the solution? Learn to slow down, stop, and give yourself the break you need. 

The holidays are a great time to reflect on the past year. It’s a natural break from what we’re doing, and family and friends can remind us that we are blessed and have much to be thankful for. However, to reflect we need to slow down and stop so we can truly assess our current situation.  

So, what does stopping look like? How does one slow down effectively without losing the speed they need to complete the day? What forms of reflection are needed? These are the questions we must all ask ourselves to find our solutions.

Silence is one of the best ways to gain perspective. When we’re going all the time, our brains never get to reflect, rejuvenate, and make necessary connections. Creativity is all about making new connections between unrelated and somewhat related concepts. Silence is needed to gain the space to make these creative connections. Stopping so we can go, slowing down so we can speed up, and retreating so we can advance are all about finding even a small amount of silence in our lives.

In his book Stillness, Ryan Holiday helps us understand the criticality of becoming still so we can excel. He discusses the science and success of how stillness gives us the way forward. Great thinkers and doers used—and continue to use—stillness. Have you found your methods of stillness yet? If not, 2025 is the year to do so.

So much has happened this past year, and there is much to prepare for in 2025. I believe I can see more clearly now. Retreating to advance is a good way to find the perspective we all need to be the most effective and alive in this new year.