It Should Be SIMPLE

The things we do should be simple, but we invest a lot of time and energy making them complicated. We procrastinate to the point the little simple thing has compounded with more little simple things. Or we point fingers at others waiting for them to get something done so we feel like doing something.

It should be simple, so why doesn’t it feel that way?

#QuoteoftheDay

I needed to unpack some boxes. I told everyone I needed to unpack the boxes. I also provided a few things that I wanted to be done to make it easier for me to unpack the boxes.

When we packed up the next year to move to the new rental, I still hadn’t unpacked the boxes. Not because I couldn’t have, but because I made it so complicated that nobody wanted to take the project.

Making Things Complicated

When we make things complicated, it keeps us from getting things done.

Adding Hoops

Every time we pile up a requirement or parameters, we block the motivation flow. If you are so busy jumping through hoops, you often forget what you were trying to do.

Piling Up the Steps

Things get complicated when we add more steps just to add more steps. More steps won’t make something better, but it will make it more challenging to take any steps.

Expanding the Project

BIG DREAMS are powerful motivators, but there have to be little bits to the BIG DREAMS. And once you focus on a little bit then you don’t need to keep adding to it. Just do the little bit while keeping a focus on the BIG DREAMS.

Years ago, I had a series of prints to hang together. My husband wanted to measure the wall, lay out the prints, and make sure we had them all in the right place before we started.

I just wanted to hang my art. I waited until he was gone for the weekend and got it done.

When we moved into the new rental a few months back, I wanted to hang more art. While I was working upstairs, I heard my husband banging away. He was hanging up the pictures without a level or a measuring tape.

He has been working hard to pull away the complicated and just keep it simple.

What Simple Looks Like

When we keep it simple, we have more time, more creative abilities, and more energy to do other things. Simple is simple, or it should be simple. The stuff – schedules, toys, piles, laundry, and so much more – all seem to be conspiring to make things complicated.

S – strategic.

I – intentional

M – moving

P – purposeful

L – little bits

E – elevating

Have you ever been in a place where you couldn’t get started because things had gotten so complicated?

Strategic

Strategic choices are focused on the BIG DREAMS but flexible in the little bits that are required to build that up. Making a schedule and to-do lists are simple ways to keep it simple.

I love making to-do lists. When things got hectic, I kept shifting my to-do list to the next day. At the end of the week, the to-do list become so long that it was suddenly way more complicated than it needed to be.

I crumpled up the to-list and started fresh.

Make a list and then FOLLOW that list.

Intentional

Be intentional about what you are doing. Intentionality requires action. When you are intentional in the doing then it becomes easier to stay in the simple zone.

When we were packing up the last rental, we had to move half of our belongings from upstairs to the downstairs. Instead of getting stressed out, I begin intentional about packing up one box a day. I also was intentional about moving a box downstairs every time I walked down the stairs.

It became simple because I was intentional in my actions.

Moving

Keep on keeping on. It’s easier to move things when you are already moving. When you take one little step in the direction of your BIG DREAMS, you have the momentum to take one more step. Move on down the road. Actions beget actions.

My husband wanted me to finish the MG Tourism Fiction series I had started. I couldn’t. It’s not that I didn’t know what I was going to write. It’s just I kept thinking about it and not doing anything. Movement is needed to get started and you have to get started to finish.

When you start moving, you will be able to keep moving.

Purposeful

If it’s not on purpose then it’s probably not on target. Stay purposeful in your focus to remain focused in your purpose. The more complicated you let things get, the more difficult it will be to do what you know needs to be done.

Little Bits

Little bits added to little bits make a big impact. Instead of trying to leap over the board to the end of the BIG DREAMS, enjoy the process of the little bits.

I wrote a million words one year. Yes, you read that correctly. When I began the year, I didn’t think about writing a million words. Instead, I focused on writing every day. A few words every day led me to that place of a million words.

It’s the little bits that make the big impact.

Elevating

The actions need to elevate you to the next level, or at least fuel the next step. When we let things get too complicated then it holds us down (or worse, crushes us completely).

I took a job doing tasks for a company. The work had nothing to do with my BIG DREAMS. It did however take up all the time, energy, and focus I had so that I couldn’t do anything to pursue them. It was something, but it wasn’t elevating me to the next step in purpose.

When we aren’t elevating, we are deflating.

It should be simple – do what you love in little bits in ways that keep you moving towards your BIG DREAMS.

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What are you doing that’s causing too many complications in your life?

Share some thoughts on how you like to keep it simple.

Find the focus to make it SIMPLE

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