If you don't want to be like everybody else, stop doing what they’re all doing.
In a world of short attention spans, speed dating, and quick solutions, intellect is a tool, and wisdom is a guide.
Life sometimes seems to be going and going, and we’re trying to keep up with it.
Day in, day out, we run and run. Forgetting to breathe.
We are so focused on winning we lost sight of the real prize.
What's the key then? Try slowing down and doing things intentionally.
Napoleon Bonaparte, the famed emperor of France and herald of modernity for the nation, is attributed to have said, “Dress Me Slowly, I'm In A Hurry” to his military wardrobe personnel.
Although a controversial figure, he understood what many of us struggle to.
Taking the time to “Dress Slowly” in a world that always seems “In A Hurry” and being calculative and specific in the short term pays dividends beyond imagination in the long run, no matter the losses or times you fall.

Born in Corsica, a small French territory in the Mediterranean, to a poor family and being of Italian ethnicity, learning French at age ten, Napoleon Bonaparte is an unlikely candidate for any involvement in the royal hierarchy.
Yet, he is among history's most famous characters, having earned the title of emperor of France.
Through years of disciplined study and a love for reading, the young Napoleon earned himself a scholarship to a military academy. He entered the army in 1785 as a second lieutenant and slowly rose ranks in the troubling and uncertain times we know as the French Revolution.
By the ripe age of 24 in 1993, his station was general, and he would go on to play a role in establishing a new form of government for the country. Later, with an army at his command, he would plunder resources from Europe only to return in 1799 after being defeated by the British and Egyptians.
Overturning The Directory, a five-member committee governing the nation, he established himself as first counsel, later counsel for life, and most famously, emperor.
During his lifetime and reign, Napoleon did many good things for the French people and many arguably questionable ones as well.
Through what became known as the Napoleonic Code, he established consistent laws that did not vary from region to region, standardizing regulations surrounding family, citizenship, and property and paving the way for economic development within the country.
His life would be characterized here by many wars and won battles enabling and widening Frances's reach.
Until he was beaten in by an alliance of Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Sweden (backed by British funds) and exiled to the Island of Elba, from which he escaped a year later, returned to France, gathered an army, and again tried to confront this allied powers, losing once again at the battle of Waterloo and being sentenced to exile on the island of St. Helena where he later died from a form of stomach cancer.
Years after his death, in 1840, Kind Louis Phillippe ordered Naploen's remains to be victoriously returned to the state and set in an imperial tome in Les Invalides, a set of grounds containing museums, a church, and the remains of war veterans, in Paris.

Now, independent of your personal beliefs or opinions regarding Napoleon, he is undoubtedly a vital character in history's canon and a man from whom we can learn much.
Yes, he made his mistakes, yes, he was blinded by ambition, and yes, not all of his revolutions benefited all parties or were altruistic in nature.
But even so, one must admire his life and see how much he accomplished despite his failures, losses, and setbacks.
Not many would have dug their way out of relative poverty and made a name for themselves when the country was being pulled in all directions.
Yet of all his admirable accomplishments and the many lessons we can extract from his life, I believe one stands out: his calm and willingness to be tactical when he was expected to “go-go-go.”
While eventually, his ambition went hand in hand with a desire for control, his strategies and willingness to be present reveal, in the earlier portions of his cusses and life, that he was much more decisive and practical than perhaps many of us give him credit for.
Throughout his career's drawbacks, Napoleon never seemed to lose sight of the one thing he could control, the one thing he had relative power over: himself.
That’s the wisdom in these famous words: “Dress Me Slowly, I Am In A Hurry.”
He recognized that by taking the time to do things right now and doing them excellently, he prepared and equipped himself for success later.
His love for reading and education earned him a position in the military academy. His hard work as a second lieutenant led to the position of general. His leadership paved the way for his emperorship.
These things did not happen in a day or two but over the years. He understood the slowness that greatness comes with.
Eventually, his hunger for power and domination made him lose sight of this key insight, but while he held it, his accomplishments are undeniable.
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While no one expects any revolutions any time soon, this week, take the time to intentionally and adequately set yourself up for success.
Take time to slow down in a fast-moving society to be ready to jump on “once-in-a-lifetime opportunities” because you are properly dressed for the occasion.
Resources:
John Greene, Napoleon Bonaparte, Crash Course European History #22:
Musée de l'Armée Invalides: https://www.musee-armee.fr/en/your-visit/museum-spaces/the-dome-tomb-of napoleon.html#:~:text=In%201840%2C%20Napoleon%20had%20been,carried%20out%20major%20excavation%20work.
Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon Crossing the Alps:
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