Today’s post is a guest post by Carl Phillips.
Distractions surround us, a constant tension in our day. Some distractions are obvious, some are subtle. Some are new to us, others are old foes.
Dealing with distractions, in a world that often just seems to be getting busier, can be a challenge. Many of us feel buried in commitments, our diaries always overfilled. Never leaving us quality time for the things and people we care about most. Never truly feeling we are on top of anything but always taking on more. Constantly busy.
That’s where the age-old wisdom of simplicity can help.
Embracing aspects of simplicity and minimalism into our lives means we learn to let go of distractions. As we do this, we will find we get something else back.
When we let go of the distraction of keeping up with others, we can focus on what it is we truly want, and what makes us happy, instead.
As we let go of the false need to have more possessions than we need, we find more freedom. More freedom to travel and taste adventures that may otherwise have remained out of reach. ‘Experiences over stuff’ becomes our mantra instead of ‘more is better’.
Letting go of comparisons and idle gossip, we focus on what we have, rather than being upset by what we don’t have. More gratitude, more happiness and less tension.
We learn that if we let go of the false hope of getting everything done at once, through multi-tasking, we can single-task instead. As a bonus, we achieve much better results and outputs. Our quality of life also improves. Less stress, more focused effort.
The Purity Of Learning To Let Go
Simplifying our lives involves a personal exploration of reduction and paring down. We seek to streamline our lives and reduce the friction that may have built up, as much as we can. We pare down to a baseline that we are happy with, that gives us most back.
Simplifying means learning to let go. Learning to be selective with what and who we let into our lives. Learning to be more careful with what we say yes to, being more liberal with the art of a polite, but firm, no. It’s about reducing the trivial and unnecessary. It’s about sourcing the signal in amongst the noise. It’s about protecting the white space in our lives and making time for the things that matter most.
There is a purity in letting go of distractions. We narrow our focus. The noise around us has the volume turned down. The essential presents itself, we learn to let the unnecessary fall away. We channel our effort and energy. We develop a laser-like clarity of purpose.
As we learn to let go of distractions, we begin to reap the rewards of a focused, good life – a simpler life. And a simple life can be a wonderful life.
Todays post by: Carl Phillips writes short books full of big ideas. He is also the proud owner of Frictionless Living which is focused on helping readers find simplicity, focus and clarity in distracted times.
