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Establish the reason
Living at the world’s pace is generally the default for most people. It’s what happens when you simply react to the external environment, without questioning whether you can choose differently. Now you’re waking up to a chaotic, exhausting life and the journey towards taking control of that madness isn’t going to be easy. You need a solid reason to keep you going after the initial motivation has fizzled out and you’re tempted to fall back into default mode.
Make a decision
As with anything you want to achieve, you need to decide to live a slower, more purposeful life. This decision is a single step but it’s the critical first step in the right direction. Use your reason as a launch pad for the decision to do whatever you must to make this change.
Prioritize
You need to know what’s important if you’re going to simplify your life. The premise here is that you will remove excess and “trim the fat” in your life. You’re not going to abandon your duties and you won’t give up the things that energize you. Take time to examine your life, searching for anything that drains you and making the decision to focus on what’s truly beneficial to you and your loved ones.
Say no
If you can master this one skill, you’ll be miles ahead in your endeavor to live a slower, more sustainable life. Say no to excess, say no to overconsumption, say no to yourself (that one’s hard!!). Your “no” can also be in the form of “not now”, so don’t feel stressed if you have to temporarily scale back on your favourite hobby in order to manage the rest of your life.
Let go
Another hard one! Start with your physical environment. Ditch the clutter in your home, on your work desk and wherever else you need to function. Managing less stuff will free you up to manage the important aspects of your life. You’ll find that once you start with physical possessions, it spills into other aspects of your life (your calendar, inbox, your mind).
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