28 Ways to Stop Complicating Your Life
Sun 15 January 2012
, Marc and Angel, Marc and Angel Hack Life
Life is not complicated. We are complicated. When we stop doing the wrong things and start doing the right things, life is simple. On the website Marc and Angel Hack life, dedicated to ‘practical tips for productive living’ you can find 28 tips to stop complicating your life. Here’s a shortened version, for the complete blog go to www.marcandangel.com
1. Stop berating yourself for being a work in progress. – Start embracing it! Because being a work in progress doesn’t mean you’re not good enough today. It means you want a better tomorrow, and you wish to love yourself completely, so you can live your life fully.
2. Stop doing immoral things simply because you can. – Start being honest with yourself and everyone else. Don’t cheat. Be faithful. Be kind. Do the right thing! When you break the rules of integrity you invite serious complications into your life.
3. Stop meaning what you don’t say. – Start communicating clearly. Don’t try to read other people’s minds, and don’t make other people try to read yours.
4. Stop wasting time and money trying to acquire more of everything. – Start focusing on quality. High quality is worth more than any quantity, in possessions, friends and experiences. Truly ‘rich’ people need less to be happy.
5. Stop spending time with negative people. – Start spending time with nice people who are smart, driven and likeminded. Relationships should help you, not hurt you. Surround yourself with people who reflect the person you want to be.
6. Stop trying to change people. – Start accepting people just the way they are. In most cases it’s impossible to change them anyway, and it’s rude to try. So save yourself from needless stress. Instead of trying to change others, give them your support and lead by example.
7. Stop being lazy and cutting corners. – Start avoiding future headaches by doing things right the first time. If something is worth doing, then it’s worth doing well.
8. Stop procrastinating. – Action and change are often resisted when they’re needed most. Get a hold of yourself and have discipline. Putting something off makes it instantly harder and scarier. And there’s nothing more stressful than the perpetual lingering of an unfinished task.
9. Stop worrying and complaining. – Start focusing on the things you can control and do something about them. And when you spend time worrying, you’re simply using your imagination to create things you don’t want.
10. Stop being dramatic. – Start spending less time gossiping about problems and more time helping yourself and others solve them. Stay out of people’s needless drama and don’t create your own.
11. Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – Start focusing on being everything to someone. Helping or pleasing everyone is impossible. But making one person smile can change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world.
12. Stop making promises you can’t keep. – Starting under-promising and over-delivering on everything you do. Period.
13. Stop blaming others. – Either you own your problems, or they will own you. Your choice. When you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give up your power over that part of your life.
14. Stop reacting without a plan. – Start planning and working toward specific goals. Make a list of your top 3 - 5 goals. Simplifying your life starts with these priorities, as you are trying to make room in your life so you have more time for these things. Because unlike other things in life – time is the one thing you can never get back once it’s gone.
15. Stop confusing ‘being busy’ with ‘being productive.’ – Start tracking and measuring your progress. Results are more important than the time it takes to achieve them.
16. Stop over-committing and trying to do too much at once. – In the beginning, you need to say “yes” to a lot of things to discover and establish your goals. Later on, you need to say “no” to a lot of things and concentrate on your goals. Focus on doing one thing at a time and doing it well. Also, leave space around commitments in your day. Whether you have appointments, or things you need to do, don’t stack them back-to-back. Leave a little space between things you need to do, so you will have room for contingencies, and you’ll go through your day much more relaxed.
17. Stop being inefficient simply because you’ve always done it that way. – If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Many times we live with unplanned, complex systems in our lives simply because we haven’t given them much thought. Instead, streamline your life by finding better ways of handling common tasks. Focus on one system at a time (your cleaning system, your errands system, your paperwork system, your email system, etc.) and try to make it simplified, efficient, and logical.
18. Stop cluttering your space. – Start clearing clutter. Get rid of stuff you don’t use and then organize what’s left. A clear space is like a blank canvas, available to be used to create something great.
19. Stop overloading your mind by consuming useless information. – Start unsubscribing from useless e-lists and news feeds, and keep the TV off. Limit your time on social media and your other favorite websites.
20. Stop obsessing over the past and future. – Start being present. Paying more attention to the current moment can make a huge difference in simplifying your life. It keeps you aware of life, of what’s going on around you and within you. It does wonders for your sanity and stress levels.
21. Stop waiting for things to be perfect. – Start thinking of how many things don’t get done in this world simply because people are waiting for the perfect time, place and circumstance. If you’re waiting for the perfect conditions, ideas or plans to get started, you’ll never achieve anything. A good idea without action is nothing at all. Keep it simple and just start. Focus on the next positive step forward.
22. Stop focusing so much energy on trying to avoid mistakes. – Start learning from your mistakes, then smile and move on. No matter how smart you are, you will make mistakes. Trying to avoid them will only waste time and complicate your life. There is a lesson in every mistake you make, and learning the lesson is how you move forward.
23. Stop making emotional decisions. – Start taking a few steps back so you can think things through. When you’re caught up in the moment and your emotions are soaring, you’re bound to make poor decisions that will lead to needless complications. The best advice here is simple: Don’t let your emotions trump your intelligence.
24. Stop being unhealthy. – Start taking care of your body. Start sleeping eight hours every night. A tired, malnourished mind is over-stressed and rarely productive. Your health is your life, don’t let it go.
25. Stop holding on to intimate relationships that make you unhappy. – It’s better to WAIT, and give your hand to someone who will never let go, rather than holding on to the outside of a hand that has never fully opened for you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot.
26. Stop holding on to hate. – Holding on to hate and anger is like grasping hot coals with the intent of throwing them at someone else – you are the one who gets burned. If you want to forget someone, and move on, you must give up hating them. It’s hard to forget someone you hate, because hate takes pieces of your heart – thereby keeping this person within your heart. If you want to forget them, let go of the hate, and create peace in your heart instead. Also, remember that whenever you hate something, it usually hates you back: people, situations, and inanimate objects alike; which will only further complicate your life.
27. Stop pretending like you know everything. – Start accepting the fact that there’s a lot you don’t know. Nobody has it all figured out. Nobody knows more than a minuscule fraction of what’s going on in the world. The sooner you accept this, the sooner you will stop making the same unnecessary mistakes, and the sooner new doors of opportunity will open in your life.
28. Stop giving what you don’t want to receive. – Start practicing the golden rule. If you want love, give love. If you want friends, be friendly. If you want money, provide value. It works. It really is this simple.
Read the full article: http://www.marcandangel.com/
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