Essential Strategies for Sustained Success (Part Four): Simplify

When to Simplify, Why It's a Game Changer And How Less Really Can Be More

If you’ve been following along this year, you’ll know I created a series designed to help you set a solid foundation with actionable steps to achieve your most important goals. This is because I want you to be successful at achieving what’s most important to you in the new year.

If you have important goals for the coming year, you’ve struggled to achieve what you set out to in the past, or if you’re feeling a little unclear as to what your goals are, the good news is that there are simple, effective techniques that do work.

I invite you to take a few minutes each week to set yourself up for success as you define it in the new year. 

Want all the steps now? Download the full (PDF) Guide with Five Steps to More Sustainable Success.

These steps are powerful whether you’ve got big changes to make or things are going pretty well and you’re ready to take it up a notch.

If you haven’t read or completed Step One: Be Strategic and Step Two: Be Specific, Step Three: Be Structured & Steady you’ll want to do these first. Set aside some time to take stock of where you are and to consider how you want to feel and act differently – so that you can bring your best out at work, grow your business in more intentional ways and live a more satisfying life.

Want all the steps now? Download the full PDF Guide with Five Steps to More Sustainable Success.

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Why Less Really Is More

A friend and colleague asked me recently how I do it all. In fact, she stated it. “I don’t know how you do it all. I just don’t have the energy you have.”

My answer was that I don’t do it all. Not even close. Learning when to say yes and when to say no, even to people, events and opportunities that are really interesting, takes intention, clarity and practice. It's an ongoing practice for me - one that has literally been life-changing.

If you're a high achiever and regularly manage to artfully keep an incredible number of balls in the air, you may be skeptical at first. I was, too, and it's understandable. Yet after over two decades of working as a strategic consultant, project manager and success coach, I believe there is a myth in the worlds of time management and project management that if we’re just more organized or work faster or harder, we can get it all done.

While it’s true that being more organized and working smarter can help us achieve our goals more easily, the reality is that we all have a certain amount of energy and time each day. Much of our success – and our enjoyment of that success - comes down to managing the energy and resources we have so that we're spending it on what's most important. This is where more meaning, enjoyment and fulfillment come from. And it may not be the same for you today as it was ten years ago.

Simplifying your work and your life in an intentional way leads to more focus - and more traction - on what matters most. This is such a game changer! It can lead to:

• less stress and overwhelm
• improved physical, mental and emotional health
• increased effectiveness in your business or workplace
• fewer yet more meaningful social commitments, and even
• less physical clutter in your home or workspace

Simplifying in key areas gives you the freedom to be more present with those people, opportunities and things that matter most.

1. How can you be less busy so that you are more productive?
2. How can you engage more fully in each moment and enjoy yourself more?

Once you’ve completed the first three steps, you’re ready to look at where you can streamline and simplify. This is where you commit to managing your own finite resources in a way that supports more day-to-day enjoyment and sustainable success. For most of us, having fewer commitments to worry about and less stuff to take care of means more time to focus on what matters most.

STEP FOUR: Simplify

Even if we’re working at our best – well-rested, creative, productive – we’re also human. This means we must manage our own energy – including physical, mental, emotional and spiritual resources. And today's reality is that for many of us, the way we're working is not working very well.

Often we're surprised by the challenges and the complexity that comes along with our success. As our business grows or we're promoted, as we commit to relationships or a bigger home or to starting a family, things can quickly become much more complex than before. We can find our success taking a toll on our relationships, our time and even our own energy and health.

Many of us are working longer hours, spending more time outside work on digital devices or social media, and taking less time to renew, reflect, or prioritize. This can leave us tired, overwhelmed and not as engaged or alive as we deserve to be.

Not only is this not sustainable, it’s not very fun or effective. We are humans after all, not robots. And as humans, we’re at our best when we regularly move between work, play and rest.

When we expend a certain amount of energy, we need to refuel. When we do this regularly, we'll be more engaged in our days and our lives and we'll perform better. We’ll also feel more positive, which means we’re more likely to achieve our goals, have more impact and enjoy the journey of life more.

We understand this about our cars. If the tank is low on gas, we know that we need to pull over and refuel. And intellectually, most of us get that this also applies to ourselves. Yet it can be challenging to translate this our day-to-day lives - especially when we've not been in the habit of doing so or we seem surrounded by others that aren't making this a priority either.

When you're juggling running a business, managing a team, leading an organization while trying to make time for family, for fitness, for some fun… where does rest and refuel fit in?

Start by streamlining and simplifying so that you create more time for yourself. Try the following process today to begin.

How to Simplify

This isn't necessarily easy or straightforward. In fact, this can be the most challenging of the five steps. But it gets easier and can become second nature with practice. Try this 3-step exercise right now to start:

1. Clear Your Mental Clutter. Take a moment to write down everything on your mind, to-dos you need to take care of at home, projects and priorities at work or in your business, commitments you've made to customers and existing projects, personal priorities such as exercising or starting a wellness program to eat better... whatever your tasks, commitments and even your ideas. Jot down anything - whether it’s a project you’re actively working on, something that’s been lingering on your to-do list or just something in the back of your mind that needs doing and isn’t getting done.
2. Categorize. Now categorize by key areas (which relate back to the vision you set in Step 1). My categories include health and wellbeing, business, social time and relationships. You might include categories such as “Business” “Home” “Health” “Social” “Spiritual” or “Play.” You can do this by circling each item you wrote above in a color that corresponds to a specific category.
3. Prioritize. Now prioritize your lists, ranking them from most important to least important. In each category: what are your “Musts” – things you’ve committed to doing or that drive the most revenue in your business, for example? What are your “Wants” – things you want to do but aren’t committed to? Finally, which projects or tasks are really "Nice to Do Someday" or “Ideas” that can be filed or stored for later in a “Parking Lot” or “Someday/ Maybe” file? This is also where you edit your list... what can you move to your "not-to-do" list to make room to focus on more of what's most important? Putting something on your "not-to-do" list doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't get done: you can delegate it to a team member, hire someone to help, or you can simply delay it for later.

As you begin, start small. Consider one step you can take to clear and to simplify in the areas in #2 above - or create categories that are meaningful to you.

Start by intending to focus on what’s most important, to free up your time for those things that are a “hell yeah” – whether it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a trip or the focused work that will multiply your business revenues if you stay with it.

Simplifying can and does lead to more room for what matters most. Having a consistent practice to edit what's non-essential sets you, your business and your team up for more sustainable success. We don't need to have it all to be happy. Yet most of us do need more time and space for those people, opportunities and commitments that are most important.

When we simplify, we shift our focus from the trivial and non-essential to make room to invest our whole heart into what's most important and meaningful.

Step Four can be the most challenging of all. This is why it's such a game changer! And you don’t need to do this all at once. You can start with one area such as your workday or your social calendar and identify a few edits you can make.

• What are you willing to say no to in order to say yes to your most important commitments?
• What is on your “not-to-do” list?
• What commitments can you let go of that are no longer helpful or healthy for you, your business or your career?
• Where in your life can you simplify this year?

I hope these steps help you to achieve more of what’s most important to you in the year ahead – while enjoying yourself more.

Remember that when you are on the threshold of making changes, it can be supportive to talk about your thoughts, goals and feelings with a trusted friend, family member, colleague, or even with a skilled professional who can help you make sense of what is going on – as well as what steps are most effective to help you achieve what you’ve set out to.

Want all the steps now? Download the full PDF Guide with Five Steps to More Sustainable Success.

If you're looking for professional guidance, I'd love to chat. Contact me to learn more or complete this form to see if you qualify for a complimentary strategy session. If I don't have a solution for you, I'll recommend you to someone in my network.

You can also learn more about me, read more blog posts, download free tips to create a business and a life you love, or check out the stories of people who have worked with me.