Can You Simplify Your Life And Be Successful?

Just this week I was going through some boxes in the garage. Not looking for anything in particular. I came across some old photographs of when I had hair on the top of my head. Plaques acknowledging all the boards I used to sit on. Great memories. Then I came upon a box that had some books I had read years ago. One of then a little gem. "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff" by Dr. Richard Carleson. So I pulled the book out of the box and brought it in from the garage.

What a wonderful and light thinking book this is. Each chapter is just two or three pages with a little nugget in each chapter. I felt it would be fun to read just a couple of chapters a day. I smiled to myself thinking this would be a great way to help me really concentrate on slowing down. My life too can be hectic with all the community service work I do. Yes I do over commit. I surrender. But I get so much back from all the giving I do.

One of the little nuggets I read this morning was this. "There will still be things on your to do list the day you die". The to do list is a working document. It lives and has a life all it's own. That's why there is always things on it to do. Weather or not the screen on the patio door gets repaired today or next week is not life altering. The lesson from this is slow down and enjoy your life. Many things in our lives can indeed, wait until tomorrow.

So the question remains can you slow down and still achieve success? Absolutely. So how do we approach this? It's always a great time to plan for the coming year. So lets not leave it until December 28th or 29th or make them News Year's Resolutions. These changes in the way we lead our lives will take some reflection and some planning. So let's have some fun. If you have the ability to laugh at yourself this exercise will be easy. Why you ask? Because we all know we have these little quirks. Quirks about ourselves that we know we should change. Are you are a list completer? Having lists are good. Having them control our day in and day out lives is tragic.

So here we go.

1. Pull out your to do list and see what lays there.
2. Next is to start a new list but put the items in order of importance.
3. Now is a good time to add or delete items with the emphasis being on delete.
4. The next step is to put completion dates on them and makes sure you have left lots of time to complete them.
5. You may not add new items on the to do list unless it something like the garage door stopped working. Only "have to" things can be added to the list until you have mastered management of your list.
6. The second last step is to schedule these "to do" things in your diary. Yes, the day on which you will do them.
7. The last and most important step is to schedule free time in your diary. Time to read, sleep, go hiking. Go to a movie with your kids. Schedule time you are not doing task related activities.

Here in lies the prize. I expect your saying this is to simple an approach. That's the purpose of this exercise. Simplification. Why should we choose to live life the hard way? I personally believe we can achieve our goals and stay on track and enjoy your down time. Going slow from time to time will allow you to better enjoy the journey. Going slow will allow you time to reflect and to make better decisions because you thought them through. I suggest you learn to embrace your to do list. Once you take this approach you will take ownership of the list instead of the list taking ownership of you. Your family and state of mind will thank you.

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