You gon’ make it. Slow down.

I flung my backpack over my shoulder, grabbed my duffel bag, and bolted out of the bus in an all-out sprint-walk to the train station.

“I’m going to miss it,” I thought to myself.

For the previous hour, I kept thinking about how I had to make the train on time. I’ve missed trains in the past and make it a point to catch an earlier train whenever possible. If you miss the last train, you’re screwed. While I knew that I could catch the next train, I wanted to give myself plenty of time. Still, I found myself in a rush.

Maybe I was anxious. Hell, I don’t know. What I do know is that I hate missing trains.

While I rushed to the train station in an Olympian-esque race-walk, I approached a homeless man who was sitting on a newspaper stand. (I don’t know what they’re called.) As I passed the man, he gave me a wide, toothless grin, the sun reflecting off of his brown, balding head.

“You gon’ make it,” he said, “Slow down.”

I smiled.

The man’s confidence was comforting. It surprised me. Here was a man who had next to nothing, reassuring me that I was going to make it and that I needed to slow down.

“Does he know the train schedule?” I asked myself, thinking that that must be the source of his confidence. Perhaps he did, perhaps he didn’t. Regardless, his words got me thinking.

I thought of the man’s advice once more, “You gon’ make it. Slow down.”

Aside from catching trains, where else can the man’s lesson apply? Work? Relationships? Life?

We work so hard to achieve success, especially in America where “success” seems to be the only thing worth pursuing. We start earlier, work harder, and stay later to get that next promotion.

Then, what? You do it all over again, starting even earlier, working even harder, staying even later. Why do we do it? Most people don’t even know.

“You like to work as much as most people like to relax,” a friend once said to me.

At the time, I took it as a compliment. I thought that they were complimenting me on my work ethic. Reflecting on it now, I think that I misconstrued the meaning of their message.

You see, in my haste to “catch up” with my peers, I immersed myself in my work to such a degree that I thought of nothing else. I became obsessed with productivity, constantly searching for ways to work more effectively and efficiently. I read books on personal and professional development, personal finance, investing, and more. I developed a habit of working from dawn until dusk.

Did it work? With great effect, yes.

Over the past six years, I’ve completely turned my life around, personally and professionally. I’ve gotten my net worth back in black and then some, found a career where I enjoy what I do and make good money doing it, and built a lifestyle that I love.

However, I need to learn to slow down. We all do.

As Ferriss Bueller points out, “Life goes by pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it.”

When was the last time that you stopped and looked around?

If you’re at all like me, it’s been way too long. You’re so focused on growing your career that you forget to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

“There’s a way to live life,” a mentor has told me over and over again. His point is always that, while you should work hard and become the best version of yourself, you should also enjoy life along the way. If you don’t, what’s the point of all the hard work?

This weekend, I made it a point to “live life” as my mentor says, enjoying time with my friends and family. I needed it and, more importantly, enjoyed it.

So take some time to relax and enjoy yourself. If needed, add some relaxation time to your schedule. Start treating rest and relaxation as seriously as your next board meeting because, without recovery time, you’ll find yourself overworked, overtired, and overwhelmed.

Remember that you’re gon’ make it. Slow down.