Everybody wants what they don’t have.
Don’t be everybody.
When you want what you already have, you close the loop.
You can finally focus on enjoying rather than having to constantly bear the feeling of lacking.
When you choose contentment, the byproduct is happiness.
When you choose discontentment, the byproduct is unhappiness.
Let growth come from your happiness, don’t let unhappiness become the crux of your growth.
Your first priority each day should be doing that which improves your state.
Because the byproduct of an improved state is more of the same. It overflows from your being. It starts a positive upward spiraling loop. Your happiness increases their happiness, which increases yours even further, which increases theirs further and so on.
Influencing others becomes a joy, they find joy in influencing you, and it’s hardly a task.
If you start from a place of lack, discontent, and busyness—then, that too, will attract more of the same. It overflows from your being. It starts a negative downward spiraling loop. Your discontent increases their discontent, which increases yours further, which increases theirs further and so on.
Influencing others positively will become a chore because it will be in direct contradiction to your own state—and it’ll hardly be a joy for anyone involved.
Start each day with a conscious series of efforts designed to improve your state. Whether that’s exercise, meditation, reading, writing, walking—it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you identify what works for you and you prioritize it each morning in a non-negotiable way.
Less stuff; more space.
Less clutter; more clarity.
Less noise; more harmony.
Any decision I’ve made with minimalism in mind has almost always been good one.
You know what one of your top priorities should be?
Figuring out what your top priorities are.
Imagine if you spent your money without any notion of what needed to be budgeted for bills.
Maybe you even remember living like this at one point in your life.
…Probably not for long though.
Because what usually ends up happening is you spend more than you should’ve and then are left short when it comes time to pay bills.
And not because you didn’t have enough money, but because you didn’t properly prioritize your money.
This is how it works for spending time, too.
Spend/budget time on your top priorities first and then spend what remains how you’d like.
The other way around almost always ends with regret.
P.s. 23 Greg McKeown Quotes from Essentialism and How To Live Better Via Less
From where do you allocate extra time when you get really busy?
From:
Or:
Here’s the thing: Certain priorities should never be touched.
If they are, you’re too busy.
Or, hate to break it to you, they aren’t (really) a priority.
Period.
“Out of sight, out of mind” can be an excellent model for improving the overall quality of your life.
Put what you want IN your mind, IN sight.
Take what you DON’T want in your mind, OUT of sight.
As obvious as this might sound, I can’t tell you how many people keep what they don’t want in their mind in sight and keep what they do want in their mind out of sight.
Look closely at what you allow to stay in (and out of) sight for the entire duration of a typical day and adjust accordingly.
And not just physically—digitally, too.
Don’t underestimate this.
I’m not one to be difficult but I’ll fight like hell to protect my mental space.
Some things are worth being difficult over and it’s important to recognize that.
When I’m reading/ writing/ or otherwise doing deep work, for example, my phone is on silent, my internet tabs are closed, and my headphones are playing white noise on full volume.
It’s incredibly difficult to get a hold of me once I’ve entered this space.
Why do I do this?
Because I can’t do deep work with constant interruptions. And if I’m going to maximize my time in a deep work state, then I need to fight the resistance that comes with these efforts to protect that space.
And fight I will.
And when it comes to your mental space—so should you.