If You Want A Less Chaotic Life, It's Time To Accept These 10 Essential Truths
How to simplify your personal and professional for a more harmonious life.
PeopleImages | Canva Life taught me that things get easier when we keep it simple. The road to simplicity is where you focus on fewer things but do them well. Living a simple life doesn’t have to mean shacking up alone in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. There are many practical and not-so-drastic ways to create a more simplistic lifestyle for yourself.
If you want a less chaotic life, it's time to accept these 10 essential truths:
1. Decide to have a simple life
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Committing to simplicity brings things into focus. The more you do that simplifies your life, the more this identity becomes part of you. From here, you’ll find it easier to drop the unnecessary.
2. Think less
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Thinking makes it seem like life is complicated, but as soon as we relax and get present to what’s right in front of us, everything is simple.
3. Develop small habits
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Habits are things we do every day that combine to create remarkable results. Don’t worry about the final result. Follow the right habits.
According to research from the American Psychological Assocation, a stunning 43% of everyday actions are enacted habitually while people are thinking about something else. Many of the actions people engage in daily are habitual, making them difficult to change.
4. Want less
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Nurture a healthy desire for less. “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” — Epictetus
5. Fall in love with your habits
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Prioritize the habits worth focusing on and then realize you have a choice about whether you struggle through them or let go and enjoy each task.
6. Ask why
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We get overwhelmed when we get lost in the details — the weeds. Regularly zoom out and look at your why (beyond getting more money). Everything will become clearer then.
7. Focus on the 'one' thing
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When faced with a decision, ask yourself what is the one thing you can do such that by doing it, everything else either becomes unnecessary or easier. Practice doing one thing at a time. That’s all there is.
8. Develop patience
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Most people are in a blind rush to get stuff, making them miserable. Move with a sense of playful urgency, but be patient. Good things take time.
9. Stop always trying to be right
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When we need to prove ourselves, we suddenly welcome drama, arguments, worry, rumination, and lost time. In one study, researchers examined how people’s belief certainty affects their tendency to be cooperative or competitive.
Correctness focuses on whether we think our belief is “correct” in some broader cultural or moral context. They found that the more strongly people believe their attitude is correct, the more competitive they will be in their discussions.
10. Drop the myth of ‘doing hard things’
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Pain as currency for reward is overhyped. You can enjoy your way to success without going through hardship. Humans overcomplicate their lives. That doesn’t have to be you.
Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient.