It’s so easy to take on too much…
Too much work… too many projects… too much fun… to much of anything…
This is the phenomena of taking on “too much.”
What is “too much” anyway? What does it look like?
And why does it matter in the first place?
WHAT IS “TOO MUCH”?
I would say that “too much” happens when the essential functions of a thing is being sacrificed by some form of overload or overstimulation…
When the reason the thing, tool, technology, structure, human, was created, suffers from overload or overstimulation.
When we recognise that we’re not willing to pay the price of “too much” is when we’re ready to deal with it…
Some examples:
1. “Too much” happens to the smart-phone when there are so many apps downloaded so that the basic functions & trust of it suffers…
2. “Too much” happens to the CEO who’s ashamed of the fact that he’s not taking any real quality time for his kids, but working…
3. “Too much” happens to the company that is sacrificing their essence, their people, for money.
“Too much” is when we sacrifice the essentials by replacing it with nonessentials.
And with “essentials” I mean: Things that truly matter.
With “nonessentials” I mean: Things that truly don’t matter as much.
So, to be able to see when this “too much” occurs, and be ready, we have to determine really what is essential in our lives… What truly matters to us… The kind of things we would not like to sacrifice for things that doesn’t really matter to us as much…
In short… The phenomena of “too much” has everything to do with “loosing sight” of what is truly essential; the heart of the thing, the essence, the core, the root, the main cause, the very reason it was created… and we replace this with things that is not truly essential, such as short term wins, money, status, looks, self-gain, outward appearance, pleasing people & avoiding momentary discomfort.
+ When I say we have to define what truly matters to us, I concretely mean, defining about 3 life goals, things we wish to have built our life upon. It could be things like:
Strong relationships, excellent health & adding value to the world.
Our essentials, is a combination of fundamental things we want to be able to combine in a lifestyle.
Even more concretely speaking; our essentials are the key priorities that we look at when scheduling our days, weeks and months. 🙂
HOW TO DEAL WITH “TOO MUCH”?
Well, as we mentioned before, it all starts with defining what is truly, and then I mean…. truly essential to you… And this search takes some serious reflection…
And in order for productive reflection to take place, we do a great deal in slow down a bit to tale the time and ask ourselves some essential questions, to figure out what truly matters to us.
THE QUESTION
So, there’s this question that, sort of, makes a lot of other similar questions trivial.
So, here we go…
Pull out a piece of paper or your journal or open a blank page on your computer.
Let’s define your essentials, what you truly care about, the things that you will not sacrifice for things which are less essential.
Part 1.
Imagine your on a funeral, you can hear beautiful music in the background. A lot of people are gathered and you see that all of them are people you know, people you’ve met. Your family, friends, mentors. Everyone that has been a part of your life…
Now, you see someone in your family, perhaps a brother, a sister or a friend, go up in front of your loved ones, and starting to hold a speech… As they go along, you see that they are doing the speech for you… it’s your funeral. They share stories, lessons learned and highlights from your life…
What would you like them to say about you? About who you where, what you stood for, what you created, what you prioritised? Who where you?
Part 2.
After you’ve written down your ideas, then go through and underline the pieces of information, values, dreams and principles you with to embody…
Seek out a common thread to define what is essential of all this… What truly matters most to you.
Then write a summary on another piece of paper. Keep this close, always… Read it when you feel scattered, un-motivated or overwhelmed… Notice the sense of ease & confidence that comes forth naturally.
Stay close to truth.
If you really take time and engage in this funeral exercise to “begin with the ending in mind”, as Stephen Covey would say, then you will know your essence, the core things to focus on.
***
My encouragement to you is to really pinpoint what truly matters to you…
I believe that when we do this, and begin now to live and express these values which matter most to us… that’s when we really start living.
With love!
– Daniel Galovan
Ps. Pursue less, but better.
Deep in the rapid rivers of “too much”?
Here are some resources to help you define what truly matters to you and deal with the challenge of taking on “too much” in your life.
* Essentialism by GregMceown
* The One Thing by Gary W. Keller & Jay Papasan
* The Power of Less by Leo Babauta
DANIEL GALOVAN 