We are constantly asked to carry less

Getting better doesn’t always mean doing more.

Sometimes the gateway to growth is less. We create blank space where there had not been any before. And in that void, the natural order emerges.

The most notable opportunity is with our schedules. Instead of scrambling from meeting to meeting, call to call, activity to activity, we install buffer for exits and reentries.

Instead of working right up to the moment we leave the office and head straight back to work as soon as we get off the plane, we take a few minutes, hours or even a whole day to reorient ourselves.

That way we can return feeling refreshed, not rushed.

Try that and see how your performance at work goes up.

Another place we incorporate less is in our thinking. Creating a blank space in our brains so all of those difficult thoughts can float up to the surface and teach us a few things about ourselves.

Fires, mountains, oceans, deserts, forests and any other picturesque natural settings are perfect for this mental space. These environments create a soft focus, relieving our brains from their typical high level of processing power, filling us with feelings of meditative stillness.

For example, ever had an epiphany about yourself while watching or swimming in the ocean? It’s not an accident. By choosing to do less in that experience, an inner space opens up a chasm of feeling, and that changed the way you see things.

Let’s talk about another way to get better by doing less.

Stop carrying so many things.

Not emotionally, but physically.

People have too much stuff on their person at any given time, and it’s not healthy. Walk down any street in any city in this country, and you’ll see pedestrians carrying bags like tons of stone on their shoulders.

Just looking at people carrying shit is exhausting. After schlepping my laptop to work everyday for a year, it finally occurred to me that my company had laptops for all their employees. Apparently, all you had to do is ask for one.

Who knew?

The next day, walking to work was pure bliss. I felt lighter physically, which made me feel lighter psychologically, which disproportionately improved my commute experience. Haven’t carried a briefcase to work since.

Are you making your life heavier than it needs to be?

Perhaps your gateway to growth with be less.

Remember, the armor that weighs us down, the heaviness that exhausts us, these things are rarely as noble as we think they are.

These boulders that we kick over our shoulders, heroic as they might make us feel, are often more trouble than they’re worth. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How might you effect small, concrete ways to make your life lighter?