Why I Chose a Slower Life?

I Didn’t Slow Down Because I Lost.

I Slowed Down Because I Finally Understood.

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There was a time when I believed that success had only one definition.

Work harder.
Say yes to every opportunity.
Keep running.
Keep proving yourself.

I genuinely loved that life.

Anchoring stages, meeting hundreds of new people, building communities, organising events, travelling from one city to another… I thought I had found the rhythm I wanted to live forever.

Then life interrupted me.

Not dramatically.
Quietly.

A few medical concerns slowly changed everything.

For the first time in years, I had to stop doing what I loved the most.

I stepped away from anchoring.

I left my city for a while.

I stayed away from many friends.

I had more time than I had ever asked for, and honestly, I didn’t know what to do with it.

Looking back today, I think that pause saved me.

Because when life became quieter, I met a version of myself that had been waiting for years.

I started writing again.

I remembered the feeling I had while writing my first poetry collection, "Musafir! Thahar Ja," back in 2021. It wasn’t about publishing a book.

It was about how peaceful I felt while creating something honest.

So I kept writing.

Months later, those pages became my second book, Aneri, which I released on my birthday.

That process changed something inside me.

I stopped asking…

“How much more can I achieve?”

Instead, I started asking…

“What kind of life do I actually want to wake up to every morning?”

The answer surprised me.

I didn’t want a bigger race.

I wanted a slower life.

So I started making small decisions.

I chose to work with fewer brands instead of every brand.

Not because I didn’t need the work…

But because I wanted to enjoy the work.

I built my own media house around people and projects I genuinely believed in.

I stopped chasing every opportunity.

Ironically, better opportunities started finding me.

Every month, I began travelling to the mountains.

Not because I wanted to escape my life.

But because I finally liked the person I became whenever I was there.

I started spending more time with people who felt like home.

Today, I have fewer friends than I once did.

But every single one of them knows my silence.

And I know theirs.

We built our first office together.

Not just as a workspace.

But as a place where dreams could grow without pretending to be bigger than they were.

I also gave more of my time to charity.

That was another unexpected lesson.

Helping someone rarely changes your bank balance.

But it changes something much deeper.

It gives you peace.

And somewhere during this slower journey, life gifted me one more blessing.

I met someone who became one of the most meaningful parts of my life.

She didn’t arrive when life was perfect.

She arrived when life had finally become honest.

Today my calendar is lighter.

My business grows more slowly.

I say “no” much more often.

I travel more.

I read more.

I write more.

I rest without feeling guilty.

And for the first time in years…

I sleep peacefully.

People often ask me why I talk so much about slow living.

This is why.

Because slowing down didn’t make me less ambitious.

It made my ambition healthier.

I still have dreams.

I still want to build.

I still want my mountain café someday.

I still want to write more books.

I still want to create stories that outlive me.

But I no longer want to sacrifice my peace to get there.

Life is not a competition where the fastest person wins.

It’s a collection of ordinary days.

And if you aren’t happy while living those days…

No achievement at the finish line will fix that.

So if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last few years, it’s this:

Choose a life you don’t constantly need a vacation from.

Build work that lets you breathe.

Keep friends who make silence comfortable.

Travel without rushing.

Create without comparing.

Love without performing.

And when the world keeps asking you to move faster…

Remember that it’s perfectly okay to walk.

Because sometimes…

The slowest road turns out to be the most beautiful one.