Imagine you have an ugly lump of granite infront of you.
And a chisel and hammer in your hand.
The work of art you want to create is in there waiting for you.
Getting to it is not a case of adding anything to the granite.
It’s a case of, bit by bit, removing all the excess until what is left is what you desire.
Too many people try to improve their lives by adding.
Adding more stuff, more complexity, into already busy and challenging lives.
It’s why nearly all weight loss / fitness / health attempts fail.
They add lots of extra things in for that person to do.
They can squeeze it all in for a while.
But, eventually, something has to give.
And it’s often last in, first out.
Contrary to popular belief, when people come to us with weight to lose, they haven’t been sat on the couch doing nothing but shovelling food into themselves.
They’re often some of the busiest people you could meet.
Long hours at work.
Kids and all time they take up.
Busy social life.
Other commitments.
So little time for ‘healthy stuff’.
The key is not to add more stuff in.
It’s to remove or replace.
Trim away the unnecessary.
Realise that being ‘busy’ isn’t the same as being effective.
Do you have to work that many hours?
Could the same work be done in 80-90% of the time (or less) if your life depended on it?
Often 80% of someone’s results comes from 20% of their efforts (the ’80-20 rule’).
What are the key things you get the most from?
And what are the other things?
Can they be trimmed?
Can less time be spent watching TV or doing other activities?
Can less mental energy be directed to the small stuff (and, remember, it’s all small stuff)?
What stuff do you not need to spend money on.
If you received a 20% pay cut, what adjustments would you make to work round that?
As you trim away this excess use of time, energy and money, it can be replaced by the stuff you need to do to get what you want.
The better you get at trimming, you’ll actually end up doing the important stuff and still have more time, energy and money.
The beautiful life that was buried in that ‘ugly lump’ will be revealed 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Terrible at art’ Hall and Matt ‘Spelling is my downfall’ Nicholson