Low & Slow (vs. fear)
My sourdough rye bread failed. For the first time since I've been baking from this starter, this weekend's batch didn't work.
I know why.
I rushed it.
I didn't let the dough ferment long enough.
And then I made the oven hotter, in an effort to get the loaves finished so I could leave to meet someone.
That's not how great bread works. It's ready when it's ready, not when you need it to be.
Of course, the analogy is obvious. Much of the work we do as creators, as leaders, as people seeking to make change–it needs to ferment, to create character and tension and impact. And if we rush it, we get nothing worth very much.
There's a flipside.
Sometimes, we mistakenly believe that we're building something that takes time, but what we're actually doing is hiding. We stall and digress and cause distractions, not because the work needs us to, but because we're afraid to ship.
Impatience can be a virtue if it causes us to leap through the fear that holds us back.
[PS thanks for your support for Catherine Hoke's new book. Loyal readers like you made it a national bestseller on its first day–only Michelle Obama had a faster-moving book. If you didn't get a copy yesterday, I hope you'll check it out. It will change you in ways you don't expect. Here's a review that got posted yesterday:
Odds are, you've never been to prison…but as humans, we're masters at creating our own. Our prison may be the shame of our past, a desire for perfection or our need for acceptance. The walls might be the potential we haven't realized, a loved one we hurt or even a conversation we never got a chance to have.
By bravely sharing her personal story and the behind-the-scenes look at the important and generous movement she's leading at Defy Ventures, Cat Hoke gives us all a second chance…to speak up, to lead and to make a difference.]