The Slow Horse Strategy: When to Pause and When to Push
Some ideas need a slower pace, a few detours, or even a pause before they’re ready to make real progress. Here's how to identify which ones.
One thing I’ve learnt about creativity and business is that momentum can feel incredibly fragile. One day, your mind is brimming with ideas, your hands can’t type fast enough, and everything feels like it’s clicking into place. The next day, you’re lying in bed staring at the ceiling, questioning every decision, and stuck in the dreaded state of procrastination. That’s where the Slow Horse Strategy comes in—a way to balance the art of knowing when to push forward and when to give yourself permission to slow down.
Sharmadean Reid
In January, many of you completed my Horserace Method of managing the projects that are going to define your legacy. This is not a to-do list. It’s the big ideas that will define your brand and career. However, as we creep into March, you may feel that you have prioritised incorrectly, or that some projects simply aren’t progressing. For me, this is my Women & Ownership Book Proposal and my TV script. I haven’t made as much progress as I would have liked. They’ve become “Slow Horses”.
This is the challenge with the Horserace Method: when do you know which project to work on and when? If you’re working or caring full time, when you do have a free moment, which project should you pick up? I got myself into an overwhelming spin because I didn't know what to work on first.
But then I had a realisation: not every project needs to be running at full speed all the time. Some ideas need a slower pace, a few detours, or even a pause before they’re ready to make real progress.
I’ve applied this strategy to my current Horses and it’s given me the clarity to prioritise without guilt. Today, I want to show you how to identify your Slow Horses, decide when to let them rest, and know when it’s time to nudge them back into the race.
