Less + More
I loved a quote from a colleague today — “For the first time, in as long as I can remember (possibly ever), I rang in the new year without a giant wish for change in some aspect of my life. Instead, I found myself just thankful; thankful for a husband I adore, a job where I feel appreciated and inspired, and good health. I wish the same and more for each of you.”
HOW AWESOME IS THAT?
The pressure to resolve to start doing something or stop doing something during these first few weeks of January is immense. It’s like gratitude is reserved for December, and change is reserved for January.
I don’t buy into this. I see the notion of resolution — of reflecting and tweaking and reflecting and tweaking — as an ongoing effort, not a one-time event. It’s a constant process of thinking about what we want to invite into our lives and what we want to minimize.
Beyond crafting your wellfesto, one of the simplest tools to do this — now or anytime during the year — is to put together a straightforward LESS + MORE LIST. This can be done in five minutes; in my experience, the most important things filter to the forefront of our minds within a minute or two. Here’s how to make your list:
- Grab a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle
- On the left, list out the things you’d like to do less of in your life
- On the right, list out the things you’d like to do more of
- Put the date somewhere on your list
- Tack your list up someplace where you can see it every single day
- Live your list
- Add + change your list as you need to
Here’s mine:
The idea behind this is to minimize the things that make you feel crummy and maximize the things that make you feel great. The items don’t need to be absolutes. For example, I have “less sugar” on my list. This doesn’t mean I’ll never ever eat sugar again, but it does mean I’ll be thoughtful every single day about how much of it I put into my body. This list is about living life on purpose – as much of the time as possible.
What would you like to do more or less of during the year ahead?
Green bean photo by tony.bailey, via Flickr Creative Commons.
wellfesto 
Love this! So simple yet so powerful. It eliminates that grey area and makes it easy to be successful. Sooo much easier to meet a goal of “more exercise” than “exercise every day…forever.” Haha. 🙂
less stress and more being in the moment
I think this type of list is an excellent idea – much less anxiety to create and not as ominous as a long detailed list of resolutions hanging like a big old anvil over your head. Thanks for sharing and I’m also endorsing Lauren Kinde’s comment on exercise 😉
Reblogged this on Living Life: Day by Day and commented:
When Less + More = A Creatively Meaningful (and At-A-Glance) Resolution List which may not be as overwhelming as more traditional over-detailed lists. Why not try it? The worse thing that can happen is that your more will become less, and your less more 🙂
Love this…a positive, mindful approach, rather than a guilt-inducing “all or nothing” dictat!
Amongst other things I need to cut down on coffee and this helped me this morning to have just one rather than 2 or 3
THANK YOU!
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Great post Brynn! It made me smile as I had done the exact list (obviously the content is different) over New Years!
This is great Brynn….do you mind if I use this for my fitness classes??? It is just AWESOME!
Rebecca – I would be thrilled if you shared this. Thanks for checking. Be well!