To Get More Out of Life — Do Less
The Zen art of trimming fat
Our lives are cluttered with things to do and people to see.
We struggle to even find the time and energy to cook a meal, or to see our family.
Yet, we still want more to make us happy — more friends, more money, more knowledge, more stuff and more things to do.
But maybe to take back our lives — to be successful and at peace — we don’t need more at all.
Maybe true success if having and doing less.
Your life is cluttered because your mind is cluttered
Georgia and I were stuck in the ice cream aisle.
We don’t normally get ice cream, so we wanted to make the right choice — this might be the only ice cream we have for months.
We peered into the giant freezer, and we were faced with the wall of choice:
Cornetto, oreo cornetto, magnum, magnum with almonds, magnum with caramel, white chocolate magnum, maxibon, caramel maxibon…
We stood there for 10 minutes and still struggled to make a decision.
I thought to myself: If only there were only three choices, we could’ve just quickly grabbed one.
Life’s like that freezer.
It’s cluttered with way too much stuff.
We have:
- Multiple social circles to upkeep
- Books we’ve been meaning to read
- Wardrobes full of clothes that we never wear
- Emails to read that are longer than the books
Sometimes there’s so much to do that you don’t know where to start.
And the funny part is, we think that to have a better life — a less stressful life — we need more money, more friends and a new addition to our morning routine.
But that’s like adding curry powder, paprika and cumin to your pasta — what you needed was just a good quality salt.
To declutter your life, trim the fat (the 80:20 rule)
Legend has it, there was a Zen monk who lived under a bridge in sixteenth-century Japan:
“Most people try to know more to become more clever every day, whereas I attempt to become more simple and uncomplicated every day.”
To approach the elusive state of peace and happiness, we must become simpler.
- Trim out everything that we don’t want or need
- Focus on what we love and cherish it
Jim Rohn has a tangible way of trimming the fat.
The 80:20 rule:
“There is inevitably going to be some time spent with people you don’t gain from, limit this time.
Spend 80% of your time with the top 20% of people in your life, and spend the other 20% of your time with the other 80% of people.”
This rule is about people, but it’s gold for you and me as we try to trim all of the fat in our lives.
- Trim the 80% of clothes you own (that you probably don’t wear)
- Trim the 80% of things in your morning routine (that don’t move the needle)
When you focus on that top 20%, you cultivate quality.
Companies pay millions of dollars for marketing experts to cut the 80% and put their whole ethos into a slogan → “Just do it,” “I’m lovin’ it” etc.
A piece of writing, or a good speech, cuts out the 80% in the editing process.
Trimming the fat is one of the most impactful and effective exercises you can do to improve the quality of your life.
It’s asking yourself: What do I NEED, and what can GO!
Because:
- Less friends means more quality experiences with the people you love and care about.
- Less clothes means only quality items are in your wardrobe.
- Less tasks in your routine mean everything moves the needle.
- Less words mean your writing is only the highly dense and necessary information
Less is more because it puts more weight on the ‘less’.
The 20% doesn’t get diluted.
Ruthlessly trim to find beauty in the ‘less’
We’re born with everything we need to succeed — we need to simplify things, not pile more on top.
Be ruthless and cut the 80% of your life — the bullshit.
You’re not saying I hate you to the 80%, you’re saying I love you to the 20%.
The more you focus on the 20%, the more beauty you’ll see in it.
- You’ll find beauty in simple clothing.
- You’ll reach amazing depths in your relationships.
- You’ll notice your little sisters growing up in front of you.
And you’ll make time to enjoy the smaller things.
By saying no to that breakfast you don’t want to go to, maybe you get to have a coffee, sit with your thoughts and watch some birds fly by.
Maybe just stopping and focusing on that coffee and on those birds — reflecting on the day before and thinking about the day ahead — will bring you to a state of bliss that no activity ever could.
Maybe you don’t need to do more, maybe you need to do less.
Thank you for reading.
I’m just sharing the lessons learned on my path to building my Mental Fortress - an impenetrable and stable mind.
If you found it helpful, that’s great. I figured, why not share it with the world as I crystallise my own ideas.
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Sincerely,
Eren