Slow And Steady Wins No Race -By Samuel Ekekere

You may recall that childhood folktale that features the tortoise and the hare, the slowest and fastest animals respectively. The folktale carries that both animals undertook a race at the expense of the hare who considered the tortoise too slow to challenge him. Tortoise had disagreed with hare’s postulation and welcomed the challenge. Tortoise against all expectations defeated the hare.  Our teachers who shared the story to us would often say that though the tortoise was slow, its steadiness ensured he won unlike the fast but inconsistent hare. They’d conclude with “slow and steady wins the race”.

We have grown up with folktales like the tortoise and hare and have accepted the belief that we have to be slow and steady to win in life’s race. You’d hear some person say, “Bob, slowdown, only the slow and steady wins the race.”  Growing up, I’ve observed the contrary. I’ve observed in the race called life, the slow and steady have no chance. They’d have to wait till the fast paced rat raced world that we find ourselves in today becomes slow paced.

Imagine an athlete on a race to win, running slowly when everyone else is racing off and saying to himself; “Bob, just continue in this pace, only the slow and steady wins the race”. He’d get nowhere before the race is won and lost. The athlete who wins begins the race at full swing and increases pace steadily till he wins.

We are continuously in a race whether we accept its reality or not. We may be individual individuals with characteristic traits yet we find ourselves having to compete and survive on the same running track. We wouldn’t say we are not well equipped enough or we aren’t as talented as the other guy. The tortoise and the hare were differently talented yet they had to run on the same track. We’d just have to find a way around the track and ensure we win in spite of the capacities of the other candidate.

When you seek to challenge, you must take off the mask of starting slow and remaining slow through the track. You’d have to start with a full bust and develop steadily improving your capacity to give you the chance of ever winning. Your competitors have learnt lessons from the hare that lost even when he had capacity. They won’t want to be rubbished by a tortoise, and you sure won’t like to be a slow and steady tortoise. You’d like to be the hare that has learnt that he has to start with full speed and continue till he wins without underrating his competitor.  If you are at a job, you’d want to develop your skills by taking courses and improving your capacity to put you at pole position for promotion when the opportunity arrives. You don’t want to count years for your promotion, which will be slow and steady, like every four to five years when there is chance you can get a double promotion like every two years.

If you are at a business, you won’t want to remain at a shop when you can get a bigger mall and even open branches, in the name of slow and steady. You’d want to go all out to get the customers and keep the customers running to you rather than your competitors by applying all the business strategies that you can garner.

If  you are a student, you can afford to go all out for the A grades and keep the grades going by continuously studying rather than being satisfied with Cs and hope in the name of “slow and steady wins the race” that you’d come through  with a first class.

We must resolve to develop a fighting consciousness. Fight, fight and fight. You must not show weakness in the battle to stay alive and win. You must not be satisfied and content with where you are and then hope tomorrow becomes better. You must fight for tomorrow today. You’d have to tell yourself that you have to be strong today to be even stronger tomorrow. Tomorrow is when the race will be finished and your fast pace today will help you get to tomorrow faster.

Why would you choose to wait and spend longer time at getting what you want when you can go grab it now? If you deserve it, you must go take it. If you wait, a faster person will get it before you. Remember, slow and steady wins no race.

Samuel Ufot Ekekere writes from Uyo, Nigeria. As a teacher, motivator, and writer, he writes inspiring writs on personal development for all categories of persons. He believes everyone needs motivation. Connect on twitter @naijasoars and www.facebook.com/soarnaija,  www.linkedin.com/naijasoars  +2347062809301