“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”
– Confucius
After devouring Lorna’s new book, “MORE of the Fit Woman’s Secrets”, and participating in My MORE Mantra project, it has really got me thinking. This edition of Monday Motivation is all about, what “MORE” means to me?
I used the past weekend as an experiment to seek and discover how I get MORE out of my time and came to a shocking realisation. I am such a little busy body! I successfully try to cram as much into my day as humanly possible, because if I don’t, I feel a wave of regret surge over me, as if my precious time has been wasted.
Anyone else feel that way?
So, I have been trying somethin’ a little new. I have discovered that my special way to get MORE is to do LESS. Yep! Wrap your head around that one. You can actually be more productive by being intentionally unproductive, (within reason of course). HA! Who would have thought?
Being a YES woman and over-committing myself frequently, I very rarely get to stop, take a breath and smell the roses. But this past weekend, I did exactly that and discovered that the scent of roses were oh-so sweet.
While immersing myself in Lorna’s book, I drew inspiration from the two segments: ‘overcoming fear’ and ‘rituals’.
I soaked in Lorna’s wisdom and related it to the topic at hand:
How do I get MORE out of my time by doing LESS?
Overcoming fear:
I came to an awareness that I was carrying a bit of fear toward lightening my load. I found that it all stemmed from the feeling that if I wasn’t doing something with my time, I was being unproductive. What a crazy, yet common feeling to have. I knew that if I kept up this routine of late nights, early starts, training, duties, chores, and the other engagements of life – I was headed down a road with a destination named “BURNOUT”. After only recently getting over glandular fever, I knew that I had to pull back the reigns and get myself out of this fearful headspace so I didn’t find myself back in the same position.
How did I do this?
I unravelled my day from all the obligations that I had made and freed up that time for me, myself and I. Ensuring that I did so with zero guilt. Once I had put everything aside, I asked myself, what do YOU want to do Bec? At the time, it was a perfectly sunshiny day outside but all I honestly felt like doing was watching my favourite TV series, Suits. So I did just that.
I don’t watch TV at all really, so when it came time to jump in my pajamas at midday with my fresh organic green juice from the markets’ and a room lit with deliciously smelling candles… I can tell you that there wasn’t an ounce of guilt present in that room. Instead, I felt so thankful! I let out multiple sighs and even a little giggle as I relished the “nothingness” that was encapsulated in that moment in time. It was so invigorating to know that an unproductive afternoon was actually a proactive step to re-fuelling myself and de cluttering my mind.
After this rewarding experience, I learnt a lesson: Take time out for the things that YOU want to do. And i nstead of doing multiple tasks assuming it’s better, focus on doing less and doing it well.
Why not…
Read a book, brainstorm, create a list of new goals, get your creative juices flowing by painting and drawing, go for a stroll, lay under a tree and watch the clouds roll by, take a bath, go to a lookout and immerse yourself in the beauty surrounding you, invite a friend over for a baking session and meaningful conversations, put on some music and dance, or like me, watch a TV series and treat yourself to a piece of dark chocolate!
If you are a busy body like me, loosen yourself from a weekend of endless commitments, structure and regime and just go with the flow.
Get MORE out of your weekends by doing LESS because some of the greatest fun and joy that you will experience come from the things unplanned.
Rituals:
Having a million things pull for my attention at once means that it’s hard to keep any ritual consistent in my life (and it doesn’t help when you are easily distracted). You know how they say that there is always an area in a person’s life that they cheat on with time? Well, mine would be my rituals. I chop and change my rituals around the (over) commitments that I make, which basically ends up looking like never having a fulfilling and satisfying ritual because I am scrapped for time or too tired when it comes around to making it happen.
After overcoming the fear of feeling like I had to fill my day with activities, I made a decision to have at least ONE ritual that I could stick too. It had to be something that would raise my ‘energy levels’ and make me feel ‘good about myself’, one that would essentially become part of my (in Lorna’s words) “DNA”.
My chosen ritual?
A REST DAY!
The rules:
My rest had to be weekly and I couldn’t use it for chores and other than that, there were no rules.
It was to be completely unplanned and at my disposal. How liberating!!!
So, there you have it. My MORE MANTRA, with my newly appointed rules. Fighting the fear and creating healing rituals, to help me extract more out of my days… by doing less.
For those of you who cram your day with activities and busyness, this concept can seem a tad daunting I know, but I challenge you to use this following weekend to feel the fear and do it anyway!!!
Untie yourself from commitments and set your own ritual in place that is restorative for your soul. I highly recommend a rest day but whatever it looks like for you, make sure you are doing “less” so you can be focused, more deliberate, less hurried and more present in the things that you are actually doing and deeply yearning for.
You are going to LOVE yourself for it!
Now SPORTY SISTERS, give yourself a break, get MORE REST and feel FULL by doing LESS!