80. Simplify Your Life

Hey, Hey. Hey, my curious friends, what's up? Welcome to episode 80. Today we're jumping into how you can simplify your life. Starting right now, starting today. All right. Are you ready? Okay. Before I get started, if you're fan of the show, please do me a favor. Go ahead and click that five star rating on iTunes and write a review, please. Intentionally curious, only grows to reach other listeners when awesome humans like you take the time to rate and review the show and to share with other people that you think could, you know, benefit from the community. So let's get together band together, my friends. Okay. So let's jump in. When you think of the words, simplify and life. Where does your brain go? Does your brain say yes, please, please, please. Let's do this. Or does your brain say to you? like that'll ever happen. You're a hot mess. Your life is a hot mess. Your relationships are a hot mess and there's nothing you could do about it. Nope. You're going to live a complicated, hot mess of a life forever. right. So there's like, that's where our brain goes. When we talk about simplifying our life. But I know, I know from my work that everyone on the planet needs help simplifying their lives. The question isn't a matter of need. It's not a matter of need. It's a matter of whether you want to simplify your life or not. And the gatekeeper to that, the gatekeeper to whether or not you wanna simplify your life is your brain. And it's the thought you have about what it will take to simplify your life. Right? Your brain wants to keep you safe. So it's like, oh, that's too much work. So we're not gonna do that. Here is good enough. All right. So what are you thinking right now? Yes, please. Let's do this, or are your thoughts more of the hot mess kind either way. Ask yourself this question right now. What do you actually need to be happy in life? What do you actually need? Is it a strong and fulfilling relationship? Is it money? Is it freedom? Is it to be better organized? Is it to feel calm in your house? Is it to have a, a strong partner? And a great family, regardless of what your answer is, remember this is you. As you move forward, everything in your life takes up space, literally and figuratively. I'm gonna say that again, cause it's really important. Everything in your life takes up space, whether it literally takes up space in your house or your closets or your garage, your attic, or it figuratively takes up space in your brain. Think about it, you buy a lot of crap. You really don't need, it takes up space in your closet. It takes up place in your drawers, your attic, et cetera, buy into a lot of negative thinking. And that also takes up a ton of space in your brain. And that space could be better used to focus on getting what you want from life, rather than focus on what you don't have or what you think other people think about you, which isn't something people really are focused on because you know what, they're too busy, focused on themselves. Do you spend a lot of time just running around. You got it, right? The calendar is another place that takes up space. Your calendar and the items on it. Take up space. And your calendar's probably not all that organized either because you focused on the urgent and not the important in your life. My friends, abundance is a good thing. When it comes to living the most fulfilling life you can possibly live. And an abundance of negative thoughts, an abundance of negative stuff, an abundance in a busy calendar. That's not the way to get it done. So what do you really want from life? Think about that for a moment. Ask yourself that question right now and answer it. Press pause. If you have to, what do I really want from life? And then say it out loud and then get really excited about that, about that idea that you can actually have it, that you can actually get what you want from life right now. Are you excited to do that? Are you ready? Are you pumped up because I'm gonna tell you how you can do it right here right now. Okay. First and most importantly, throw out the negative self-talk. Throw out the negative self talk. So shame, pity, living in the past, not being in control of your personal power, that's got to go. You gotta get rid of those things and it should be the very first thing you throw away. The sooner you get rid of the negative chatter in your brain and kind of sweep out all the negative thoughts, the easier it is for the other things I will share with you today for you to accomplish them. The single greatest question, you can ask yourself, whenever you find yourself in negative talk land is how does this thought serve me well? Or how does this thought serve me in this moment? Or is this thought going to help me move forward in life? I like to think of it. Like, how does this thought serve me? Well, that's what I, that's usually my go to, and it's a single question to say, is this helpful right now? All right, so it's gonna bring you back. If you ask yourself that question, it's gonna bring you back before you cross into the land of spiraling and anxiety and everything that's going on in your life. When you start to have those toxic thoughts, come up, press pause, literally like a big button, just press pause, take a deep breath and say, how is this thought serving me at this moment? And once you answer that question for yourself, then ask yourself what is a more positive thought I could have, right now? What could help move me forward as opposed to hold me back. Okay. Here's an example that might. It's Friday night after a long week, dinner is done, the kids are in the bed and you say to yourself, I deserve some, some wine. I deserve a glass of wine or a couple of beers or a bourbon. And you know what? I might deserve some ice cream or cake or cookies, you know, whatever it may be knowing. Full well that by deserve you really mean you're probably going to finish that bottle of wine. You're probably gonna have too many beers. You're probably gonna have a half a bottle of bourbon. You're probably gonna Polish off that Ben and Jerry's or half the cake or way too many cookies, you know, whatever it is in that moment. If you ask yourself, how is that thought serving me well, right now, what comes up for you now ask yourself what be a more positive thought to have what comes up. What comes up in my experience, in my experience with, with the work that I've done, the work that I do with my clients, a more positive thought is not, I deserve this by the way, using the word deserve with any bad habit is kind of the kiss of death for breaking that habit. So if that's something you wanna get out of, when you say I deserve, we're gonna step away from that. But right now, if you say I want one glass of wine and one cookie by changing your thought from deserving to wanting and giving a. It removes the inevitability of the shame. You'll feel later Friday night more definitely on Saturday morning when you're hungover or your stomach is in shambles because you overindulged. When you take control of your behavior and put limits on it, you remove the negative self talk that comes from the shame you will feel when you have overindulged, because you believe you deserve it. As opposed to in this moment, I want this and I only want one of it. Okay, second, cut out the people in your life that are not on board with the person you want to become. Whenever you want to make a change in your life. Whenever you want to better yourself, that's gonna be uncomfortable for you because you're gonna make change and you're, and you're gonna, you know, if you're you're listening for a long time, long time listener, or you, you, you follow other things that I do, you know, it's gonna take time to get there and you're gonna sacrifice things and that's. Right. You've, you're making a commitment to be improving yourself. And, and when you start to do those things, it's gonna become uncomfortable for other people as well. And so I fully believe you're the person you are because of the five people you spend the most time with. So if you wanna level up your life, if you wanna simplify it, cut out the toxic people in your. Right. The, the thought here is similar to the one you use to clean up your thinking. But instead of, of, of, of a thought, you'll say a person. So how does having this person in my life serve me well. And if you find yourself getting lost in thoughts about needing someone or that you don't wanna be alone, or they're my only friend, those thoughts don't serve you. Well, let that sink in. Right. How does this person serve me? Well in my life, if there, if there are people in your life who are toxic, they don't serve you. Well, period, they don't, you have to set boundaries with the people around you, especially if they're people that never take personal responsibility for their lives. People who are negative people who blame everyone else, but themselves for the state of their life, because you are going to become a person who does take responsibility. You're gonna take personal responsibility for yourself, and there's no room in your luggage for those people on your journey of simplifying your life, who don't do the same thing. You're gonna get a over baggage fee on the journey of life. Okay. So we're gonna cut those people out. Third is taking control of your calendar. Time is the greatest gift anyone has on this planet. So when you are not in control of your time, you're giving up your personal power. Because time is the one resource you can never create more of in your life. Do you waste time complaining? Do you waste time thumbing through social? Do you, you just kind of hang out, waiting for someone or thump thing to give you what you want in your life. Life should not be about being busy and just waiting for time to pass until the next day, the next month or the next year. You need to think hard about the activities in your life, that waste time and do not bring you joy. So cut 'em out. Cut them out right now. You can do that. Starting today. Start scheduling things into your life. That matter schedule a course, make time to learn something new, go outta your way to meet new people. Go watch the sunrise, go watch the sun set. Be in the moment every day, I find that when I schedule time to focus on being more than, you know, just doing life, life becomes simple. Now, does it mean you shouldn't take action in your personal professional life? No, not at. It means you shouldn't focus only on doing, because being is what restores you, and it makes time for your brain to learn, right. Being allows you to grow and, and to be thoughtful and creative number four. And this, this possibly is my personal favorite is declutter your home. Do you know how awesome it feels to be outside on a spring day with a sun in your. Or on or near the water or to go to, for a walk in nature. All of those things feel good because we are drawn to the peacefulness of nature. And when you declutter your home, you create that same piece because your environment as your environment, always a hundred percent affects your physical, emotional wellbeing. So if your, if your house is messy, right, that's gonna affect you physically and emotionally. Have you ever spent time, like lots of time looking for something in your. What about kind of sighing every time you open your closet, because it's just crammed full of stuff. Here's where too much stuff in junk zaps, the physical resources of your home nature feels calming because there's a rhythm to it. And having a clean, organized home will do the same for you. Now, the truth is the fewer things you have, the less you have to keep up with. And that alone is freeing making your life more simple. And I'm not saying you shouldn't get overwhelmed here. Right? Start small, start small, pick one room, one closet, one drawer, and work on it a little at a time. What haven't you used in forever? What no longer brings you joy and then ask yourself, do I really need this in my life? And things are just like people at thoughts. Like if they're not serving you well, they've got to go. All right. And finally, number five. How are your finances? My. How's money in your life. And this is true, like regardless of how much money you have, if you don't have control of your finances, your mind will be cluttered with how to get more. And you'll always be focused on the lack of it, and it will rule your world. Most of the time, it will be subconsciously. So not having control your finances creates mental clutter. It creates physical clutter because you're buying crap. You don't need time clutter because you'll waste time worrying about your finances. And it all creates toxicity in relationships because most couples do not have control of their finances. And this can cause huge problems. So in hindsight, taking control of your money should be number one on your journey is to simplify your life because not having control bleeds over into the other four areas of your life. I talked about today in this episode. Now the final step to simplifying your life is to start small. Go slow to go fast. My friends go slow to go fast because trying to tackle all of the clutter in your life, trying to tackle what's going on in your brain, trying to, to tackle what's going on, physically around you trying to tackle time and money and people that can be overwhelming. The mindset here is to ask yourself, what is one thing I can subtract from my life today right now? Like what's one thing today. Think about it, press pause. If you have to, you know, I'm a big believer in press and pause and thinking. But what is one thing you could subtract from your life today to clear out some mental space to tighten up your calendar and remember less truly is more what's one thing you can commit to today to clean up in your life. One thing. Do you have it in your head? Great. Now head over to jasonramsden.com/episode80 and drop in the comments, what you're going to get rid of in your life today, simply by making a comment, you're making a commitment to yourself and you're having me join you as your accountability partner. So if you need to, again, stop this episode, go there right now. jasonramsden.com/episode80. And I'll personally respond to your comments and support you on your journey to simplifying your. All right. My friends, that's a wrap on this week's episode and always remember, be willing, be curious and be intentional. And until next week, keep doing the work. You've got this.