This tip originally appeared in The Simplifier #6.

Finding files easily comes down to filing cabinet organization and file folder labeling. Let’s review file folder labeling strategy to help you avoid unnecessary document searching.

Frequent problems I run across in file system reorganization include:

• titles that are so broad, they could contain any number of subjects, ex. “Misc”

• titles that are so specific that only one or two pages would ever be filed in it and you wouldn’t remember to seek that title anyways

Keep it simple! All you need to remember are Categories and Sub-categories.

Categories should be specific and unique. By unique I mean that running across this name, one and only one type of information will be called to mind. (ex.- “Website”, not “bio page”)

Sub-categories are where additional breakdown of the categories are indicated.

The way to label your folders is simple: “Category - sub-category”

Examples

Business files:
Forms – client intake forms
Forms – fax cover sheets
Forms – call logs

Home files:
Yard – irrigation
Yard – veggie garden
Yard – tree pruning

You can see by the examples that when seeking a file, I’m asking your brain to think in terms of categories, not sub-categories. I find this gives you less to remember. Once your fingers are flipping in the right category, you’ll find what you are looking for.

Finding files can and should be easy. After all, keeping those paper files is supposed to make your life and your business flow more smoothly!

This article originally appeared in The Simplifier #36.

Let yourself have more fun working!

By Shawn Tuttle

“I have to …” Anything starting with this is bound to carry a weight of dread or displeasure with it. “I can’t go out right now, I have to work.” Images of carefree fun and laughter are snuffed out by dark images of obligation. The gulf between “have to” and “want to” stretches wide and long. The word “enjoy” seems to have made the prohibited list somewhere between cut-off jeans and personal calls in the Policies Manual.

For years I’ve been driven by a desire to help people be their best selves by letting go of that which gets in the way of their dreams. These dreams stir up an excitement that leads them into the great unknown with courage and creativity. When focusing on what they love, the doldrums fizzle away. So whenever I hear someone say, “I have to ___ (fill in the blank)” I feel my stomach contract in a little cringe. Why do you have to do anything? The answer to this has roots in our reasons for being in our current situation—reasons resulting from choices and circumstances.

For most people, working isn’t an issue up for discussion, it’s a given. Whether we like it or not, it’s a necessity in the current state of our economy. In fact, we spend a hefty portion of our time doing what we call “work”. Many people spend more than half their waking hours engaged in work activities. That’s a lot of time! Setting the intention to enjoy your work makes a lot of sense. But whether you love your profession or not, the day-to-day experience of work isn’t always enjoyable.

Shortly after college, I worked as the office manager of a small retail store that sold game and pool tables. The storefront was on a street with minimal foot traffic; it was a destination location. Unfortunately, it was rarely a destination for anyone. I spent many an hour in the little office, jumping when the phone would shrilly upset the soothing tones of the classical radio station that was indubitably playing. “Work” became synonymous with “boredom”.

Soon thereafter I was an administrative assistant with a ToDo list at least a mile long. My employer, a non-profit organization, was short on many resources, staff being one of them. We were encouraged to work long hours in support of the always-important and always-timely issues at hand. I’d get home feeling like my brains might burst from my forehead if I thought too hard about what to have for dinner. “Work” became synonymous with “brain-fried”.

Boredom? Brain-fried? Was this to be the nature of work life I’d have to endure for the next 40 years? My sunny perspective on life couldn’t and wouldn’t allow me to believe it. Life was to be an adventure, a blank canvas onto which I could paint anything!

Wake-up call: back to the day-to-day activities in the workplace… informally defined as: “numerous tasks demanding your energy while rarely allowing the satisfaction of fulfillment”. Who came up with that?!? And there are countless ways that our minds can end up feeling like the contents of a shaken up can of soda (as if you needed to be reminded.)

Do any of these ring a bell?
-Feeling overwhelmed by the amount to be done.
-Feeling weighed down by numerous large, amorphous projects.
-Feeling confused about how to proceed with something.
-Feeling frustrated that important projects always seem to get procrastinated until the last minute.
-Feeling like your brain has short-circuited due to too much to think about.

When I worked for the non-profit, I regularly cycled through each of these. Sustainable work habits weren’t a priority.

There is always time for joy
Finding peace with your work, whether it’s the fun part or the has-to-get-done part, can make a huge impact on your life. Considering how many of your waking hours are spent working, just think how your life and peace of mind would be different if your work were easier and more fluid.

Of course there are many tips and tricks for this (several listed in the Tip section below), but first, start with the goal in mind. Let the vision of how you want to work guide the changes to your habits.

For example, I visualize a master builder. She knows what needs to be done given the foundation, the desired house specs, and the type of materials to be used. I see her as calm, confident, sure, skilled, thorough, competent, communicative, and working in a zen-like manner. Along with the foundation, she lays the groundwork for the utilities and services. (Electrical isn’t glamorous, but it needs to be included as part of the building!) I see her begin each day with a fresh perspective and a positive attitude. At the end of the day she may be tired, but it’s that good kind of tired—resulting from hard work, combined with the satisfaction of seeing her vision manifest right before her eyes.

A quick reminder on visualizing: see and feel the vision. Not only create a picture of the work style you desire, but also explore how that work style feels. Experiencing this during a relaxed time will help the changes happen more rapidly. I refer to this as living it before it’s actually happened.

Joy—the coffee substitute
Reinforcing the reminder that most of our attitude is a head trip, I’ll close with a story from this morning. Faced with workshop preparation, the newsletter to complete, client work, and two more deadlines for other organizations, I found myself beginning to feel harried as soon as I got out of bed. Resisting the temptation to get right to work, I stuck with my morning routine of yoga and meditation. While sitting in meditation I felt a sudden shift followed by the phrase coming to mind: there is always time for joy.

What a beautifully simple reminder. It immediately pulled me out of my worried head and back into my heart. The overwhelmed feeling was replaced with a quiet confidence. Not only would everything be completed on time, there would also be plenty of time for joy. And so there was.

—

Shawn Tuttle is founder of Project Simplify

This article originally appeared in The Simplifier #35.

Problem Solving vs. Solution Creation

By Shawn Tuttle

Imagine, it’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon…the schedule looks clear and the river is calling. Yay! Where’s that tote bag?

Oh. Right. It’s in the closet. THAT closet. The one that’s been on your list for months to clean out. Thoughts of relaxation are slowly overtaken by feelings of guilt and duty. You actually have the time to deal with it—but wouldn’t an afternoon at the river be great…?

The real cost of the messy closet can include:

• money lost from buying items you already have but can’t find
• the heaviness and energy drained every time you think you should clean out the closet
• the wasted time digging and searching for things

Simple and effective changes
The way you talk about the messy closet is a reflection of how you think about it. Think about some of the ways you’ve talked about a persistent mess over time. Pushed off for months or years, an unfinished project can seem to take on monolithic proportions. “That closet is a disaster! It’s like it was hit by a tornado!” And of course the closet can be anything—your desk, email inbox, or filing cabinet, for example.

Your thoughts greatly affect how you deal with your life. This understanding is often overlooked, but it embodies a very effective strategy for simplifying from the inside out: your choice of words.

Let’s take a phrasing choice with big ramifications: problem solving vs. solution creation.

Problem Solving
Focusing on “problem solving” holds your attention on the problem (i.e., what you don’t want.)

Say for example your problem is a knot—a big, gnarly, messy, complicated knot that needs to be unraveled. Where is the impetus and inspiration to unravel this knot? For the sake of an unraveled knot?

This highlights the problem of focusing on the problem: namely, lack of motivation for wanting the situation cleared up. In other words, focusing on the problem fails to make you think about the benefits of having the mess straightened out—and organization for the sake of organization is not a strong motivator.

Solution Creation
On the other hand, focusing on solution creation puts your attention on the benefits of solving the problem.

The first time I introduced this in a workshop, one of the participants asked if she was missing something. “I want the closet organized—isn’t that the solution? Why isn’t it working?” The solution of an “organized closet” just wasn’t doing it for her.

Now we are getting to the real question: How does a messy closet truly affect my life?

When you focus on the solution, energy and thought goes into creating a situation that replaces the one which is cluttering your life. You have a better sense of the cost of the messy situation because now you are aware of what you aren’t getting.

The original target of the solution—an organized closet—often doesn’t provide the inspiration needed by most people to take action. This changes when we expand the scope of the solution. You begin to define the scope by asking questions such as:

• What would you rather be doing?
• How would you prefer to be spending your time?
• How can you work effectively and calmly?

Now, imagine yourself living your solution. Try to feel what it would be like to do what you want to do, have free time, and have your affairs easily taken care of.

Notice there is no mention here of the messy closet. When you focus on the solution, you will naturally be inspired to clear the way for your desired situation to grow. You’ll be driven to clear the obstacles obstructing the solution one by one, as your time and energy allow.

Another problem the workshop participant noticed was that she’d organize the closet but it never seemed to stay organized. Since you are creating this new situation for yourself, you’ll also affect your habit patterns, which will help keep the closet clean once it does get organized. (Yes, you’ll still get in there and clean out the closet—but it’s not like you are having to move a mountain…it’s just a simple road clearing.)

So what’s the biggest change you can make to replace problem solving with solution creation? Listen to your words. If you hear yourself say, “I’m such a mess!” or “I’m so disorganized!”, replace those thoughts with, “I’m creating calm and efficient work habits” or “I’m creating a smoothly flowing life.” Then stay the course with patience and perseverance. You’ll move mountains with ease.

—

Shawn Tuttle is founder of Project Simplify

This article originally appeared in The Simplifier #34.

Healing Journeys Interview - Shawn Tuttle

By Suzie Daggett

Note from Shawn: This interview/article was intended to run last week in Suzie Daggett’s weekly column, Healing Journeys, which is published every Friday in The Union newspaper. The article is a co-creative effort of Suzie and myself, in a question and answer format. Unfortunately, the editor of the newspaper pulled it because I had been granted front page above-the-fold coverage for an organizing story in January. I’m still not sold on that logic, but I don’t make the decisions at The Union. Luckily, Suzie has given me permission to share the interview with readers of The Simplifier. Here it is!

Healing Journeys

The art of simplicity - seems so simple, right? Well, it depends on your personality, your belief system and how you choose to live your life. When you need someone to come in to your home or office to determine how to filter through the confusion you have spent years creating, you may need the services of someone like Shawn Tuttle of Project Simplify - an angel of a simplifier! Shawn lives the art of simplicity and she has the techniques down pat, so you can learn how to live with less, de-stress and be relieved of things that are weighing you down. Shawn teaches classes and inspires her clients to new heights of simplicity, to create the synergy between their internal and external worlds to achieve their goals.

Was there a defining moment when you realized the need for simplicity?
More than a defining moment, I would say there were two primary factors that led to my desire for simplicity. One was my experience performing administrative and bookkeeping work for several Santa Barbara-area non-profit organizations. They seemed to constantly function in crisis management mode, always stressed and rushed no matter what was going on. It just seemed so unnecessary! A little more planning and organization would have made a world of difference, yet the impetus to change just was not there.

The second factor was a question I learned to ask myself after working as a bicycle tour guide in Italy and France. My job was to make sure other people’s vacations were enjoyable, smooth, fun, and safe. We visited Florence, Italy to visit Michelangelo’s famous statue of David. The renowned artist was asked how he created this masterpiece out of a large piece of marble. His answer…”I just took away everything that was not David.” His answer struck me profoundly. His clarity of what David was meant to be made it obvious when something did not belong. Similarly, even working 16-hour days as a guide was a piece of cake because I was clear in my purpose and was not hindered by distractions. When I returned to the states, I discovered I could integrate the sweetness of that enjoyable lifestyle into the life I wanted by living a focused simplified life - removing what did not belong.

What are some benefits for living a life directed by less chaos and more simplicity?
For one thing, there is a lot less stress! Unfortunately, most of us have come to expect stress as an unpleasant but necessary part of the modern world, and have forgotten what life is like without it. We have also forgotten that there are tangible steps we can take to reduce stress in our personal and professional lives. I help my clients identify the steps that work for them with my business, Project Simplify. I have found that once my clients start practicing those steps, they experience much more than just reduced stress. They usually free up lots of time for the things they love to do. They have better success at reaching their goals, and they get to enjoy more quality time alone or with family and friends. Once you begin to experience benefits like these, it is hard to turn back. Simplicity becomes less of a task and more of a lifestyle that goes far beyond getting rid of the stress and clutter in your life. The result is a more peaceful, fulfilling, sweeter, richer life. Plus, your choosing this lifestyle choice gives inspiration and permission to others to shift their lives in a positive way as well.

What are some of the tools you use when you work with your clients?
I co-create solutions with them by using a variety of tools, dealing with time management, work flow, clutter control and chatter-brain management. While the tools are varied, they have the common theme of identifying what is hindering them and their goals. In a single session, we might go through a guided visualization to connect with your goals and then strategize how to best organize your filing system to support those goals. As a Simplifier, I draw from the tool sets of Professional Organizers and Life Coaches. A Professional Organizer focuses on your external life and a Life Coach focuses on your internal life. I tie the two together because I believe your surroundings play a huge role in supporting your dreams, and your internal state of being provides the momentum to create order in your surroundings.

Can your ideas be used in both your business and personal life?
Of course! In fact, most of my one-on-one clients are self-employed or run small businesses. They choose a one-on-one format because they want fast, customized solutions for their mess. The workshops I teach focus on time, clutter, and chatter-brain management, all useful skills for anyone with a schedule and stuff to manage—whether for family, oneself, or for a business. The overarching theme is for your activities to support your goals-personal or professional.

What do you get out of your work?
I love this work! I get to engage with interesting, creative people, all with different needs. I love the diversity and problem-solving challenges. When it comes right down to it, supporting others to manifest their dreams in a practical way is incredibly rewarding and fun.

Shawn Tuttle, Project Simplify is offering two April workshops, Wednesday April 4th (6:30pm-8:30pm) and Thursday, April 5th (9:30am-11:30am). Register by calling 530-205-5775, or go to projectsimplify.com/speaker.

—

Suzie Daggett is the publisher of the INSIGHT Directory of Healing Arts Practitioners; she can be found at www.insightdirectory.com.

This article originally appeared in The Simplifier #32.

You Run The Show

By Shawn Tuttle

Imagine you are on a game show. The bright set lights are blinding you, the audience sounds like 300 of your closest friends and family wildly cheering you on, the bright game show colors are flashing and changing.

You get to choose your prize! You go for what’s behind:
-door #1, the car of your choice + fuel for a year, or
-door #2, an all-expenses-paid, year-long sabbatical anywhere in the world, or
-door #3, a year’s worth of full-service, extremely-talented support staff for the endeavor of your choice.

Being three very different possibilities, one of them probably jumped out at you and said, “Pick me!” Add your own flavor to that one and get ready to welcome your host for today’s show… Mahatma Gandhi! He enters stage right, takes the microphone and says:

“Ehem, testing, testing, is this on? Ok then. Welcome, everyone! Our theme for today is:
Action expresses priorities.

“Here’s your complimentary flashlight. Ready, set, go!”

Now, when you were invited to come on the game show, they didn’t tell you there was a little obstacle course to complete in order to reach each of the doors. Pshaw, what’s a little obstacle course? Suddenly, trap doors all over the stage pop open and hurdles, ladders, rolling logs, and small pools of gooey stuff suddenly appear where before there was open stage. And these props are dynamic! The audience can come on stage and move them right in front of you! (Maybe they aren’t 300 of your closest friends and family after all!) They are shrieking and yelling from all directions. They can misguide you toward a course going in another direction. They can set time limits that you must follow. They can rearrange the courses so you don’t know if it is leading to your desired door or not. They can throw someone else’s prize on the middle of your stage. A couple of them come close and try to lure you into conversation, or distract you with little mind games. Your door of choice is starting to look more like Tantalus’ evasive fruit, as he sat in the pool just out of arms reach of the branches overhead.

Your actions are still moving towards one of the doors…well, kind of. Your speed definitely isn’t expressing the strength of your desire for what’s behind the door of your choice. In fact, things are starting to look and feel a little muddy. Every once in a while you are so deep in the obstacle course, you don’t know where the door is. You find yourself forgetting which door to go for first and find yourself zigzagging between the courses. The lights go dim and you don’t remember where you put the flashlight. Hey! You see that one course has been totally cleared, but you’re in the middle of another, and you can’t reach the open space until it’s too late.

None of the doors, let alone your chosen door, seem any closer than when you started. How does that feel?! Argh!

Have you had enough? Do you want to jump up and scream, “Stop! This is ridiculous! Who made up these rules, anyways? Who says this game has to be this difficult? I want to win!”

A-ha. Bingo. You just bumped into the other rule the game show people didn’t tell you about, which is:

You have more control over the obstacle course than your audience.

Once you realize this, you do stop. A calm settles through your limbs and deep into your gut. Your mind, as if it had been a camera that was out of focus, regains its clarity. Your eyes brighten, a feeling of power and vibrancy connects your head and heart and flows all the way to your fingers and toes. You grow 6 inches taller, your chest puffs out, and your feet plant firmly on the ground.

You slowly raise your arms up and over your head; a mighty roar slowly gathers force deep in your diaphragm. Finally your head tips back and the roar explodes out of you, silencing the audience and disintegrating the obstacle course that just moments ago kept you from your prize. Your head comes back to level, your eyes locking on the chosen door. With solid stride you move across the stage, seemingly oblivious to the shrieks and attempts to distract you that pick up as soon as you move forward. Your arm stretches out in front of you, hand open; it takes only a moment to confidently wrap your fingers around the doorknob and push the door open.

Success.

—

Shawn Tuttle is founder of Project Simplify

This article originally appeared in The Simplifier #30.

Relax!

By Shawn Tuttle

It’s early Wednesday afternoon and Karen feels drained. What a week. Monday started with two brutal Marketing Department meetings–berated by a control freak in one, bored to tears in another. Tuesday found her running around putting out fires all day with an ever-worsening headache. And today she’s trying to finish yesterday and today’s deadlines, but she’s finding it very hard to concentrate. Her frustration rises with each phone ring. Must be the 50th time, she thinks.

She vaguely wonders what would happen if she deleted her entire email inbox. A faint smile crosses her lips before she jolts back to reality. A more realistic plan? Getting another cup of coffee to make it through the afternoon. She decides to grant herself 10 minutes to go get a mocha.

On her way there Karen is reminded of a colleague she met with last week—Tom, a real estate agent. He used to have a daily ritual. He’d go to the café on the corner and get the usual: a double shot espresso with two packets of sugar. He claimed there was no fatigue that couldn’t be remedied by a double shot. It seemed to work for him—he was the top producing agent for his firm in 2004.

Several months ago Karen was in the café and she heard the baristas talking. One asked jokingly, “The sky must be falling. Tom didn’t come in yesterday.” Another answered, “Didn’t you hear? He had a heart attack…they say he’s OK.”

It was a couple of months before they saw Tom again. Now when he went to the café, he ordered herbal tea, typically chamomile or mint. He no longer pushed through his fatigue, and he actually took to sitting to drink his tea. He had a more easy going air about him.

When Karen saw him last week she said, “You really look great these days, Tom.” He definitely looked better than she felt. Seems like she was always feeling drained. “Thanks!” he responded.

For some reason she suddenly she found herself asking, “Can I ask you about your heart attack? Do you have a few minutes?”

“Sure thing. What would you like to know?”

“Why did it happen? I mean, did it just happen out of the blue?”

“While I was in recovery, I started looking at my life from an objective perspective,” Tom said. “I could see that for years, my body had been telling me to slow down and I’d ignored the signs. I fell asleep exhausted every night and was responding to emails by 6 a.m. every morning. I saw anything in my way as an obstacle, and, whether it was or not, responded in anger. I used to consider myself a patient person. Looking back, I see that I wanted everything ‘done yesterday’.”

He paused for a moment as he watched a pair of laughing children walk by. “I thought I was a good-humored person but all my humor seemed to have become sarcastic and cutting. The scariest part was that I was convinced I’d enjoy life later because there was always something more important to do. The heart attack made me realize there is no guarantee for a ‘later’ day.”

He continued, “It may sound weird but the heart attack was a good thing for me. I’ve acknowledged my mortality. I used to think that my work and what it accomplished was the most important thing in life. The attack encouraged me to consider that how I do my work is just as important.” He smiled big, “I laugh more easily. I’m enjoying my client relations more. I notice the blossoms blooming on the trees because I walk more. And I take time to talk with people.”

Karen wanted to know how he stayed so calm. He was so different than the old Tom. “So you changed your life, just like that…and now you are calm all the time?”

He couldn’t stop a burst of laughter from escaping. “Are you kidding? Old habits die hard. It’s a constant monitoring process. The main difference is that before I had to reach an extreme level of exhaustion before backing off. Now my tolerance level is much lower. If I feel my breath getting shallow, or my shoulders tensing, or if I’m craving a double shot of espresso,” he smiled wryly, “I know my mind and body are calling for a break.”

“Tough lesson to learn, Tom,” was all she could think to say at the time. He shrugged and smiled as if to say, ‘it is what it is.’ “Time for me to go. Have a good one, Karen.”

Now, at the cafe by herself, Karen swirls her cup, watching the foam on her mocha as she contemplates her conversation with Tom. She is shaken from her trance by her watch beeping, letting her know her ten minute break is up.

On the way back to the office Karen feels that the rush and frustration of the morning have lifted. She is beginning to understand she has a choice in how she does her work and lives her life. “Curious,” she thinks. She stops at the market for an apple and some cookies. While in line for the register, she watches the new checker dropping groceries and practically ignoring the customers in his frazzled effort to get everything done correctly.

When the woman in front of Karen reaches the front of the line, she looks at his name badge and says, “Ian? Stop for a second. I mean it! Just stop. Take a deep breath.” And she breathes along with him in encouragement. “Another. And another. Good. It’s going to be fine.” She gives him a huge, reassuring smile. And he actually smiles back! Karen notices that his shoulders relax down a couple of inches. His movements have visibly slowed, and he doesn’t drop any more groceries.

When it is Karen’s turn, Ian the checker looks her in the eye, smiles, and asks how she’s doing. She takes a deep breath, feels the smile of relief on her lips and replies, “You know what? I’m doing fine.”
—

Shawn Tuttle is founder of Project Simplify

This article originally appeared in The Simplifier #29.

Measuring Your Gross Personal Happiness

By Shawn Tuttle

How do you value your time and energy? Do your indicators of success reflect those values?

These are rhetorical questions; you probably don’t have easy answers.

You get side-tracked by information that bombards you from all directions. You juggle multiple demands on your attention from people, responsibilities, and your own interests. You confuse yourself by thinking you are making important progress, only to realize later that the end result wasn’t meaningful. Wouldn’t it be great to know that all your efforts were contributing to the bettering of yourself, and thus the world?

We can increase the efficacy of our efforts with useful indicators. Something to remind us of our chosen direction, something by which to evaluate the progress made since the last marker. Just as important as the use of of markers, is what is being measured. Indicators that are aligned with your values unify your efforts, clear your course, and turbo-boost you towards your goals.

The importance of effective indicators is evident when considering how you would know that you are on track if you didn’t have them. When hiking a path for the first time, we depend on landmarks, trail signs, and a cleared path to know that we are on track.

Markers based in your values serve as those landmarks and trail signs. You’ve heard the stories of people who wake up one day, look around them, and realize they are in a career they don’t care about. Where were the markers to keep them on track with their dreams?

If losing sight of indicators is familiar, know you are not alone! In fact, it can happen on a huge scale…

A great example of flawed measuring methods on a large scale is our commonly used measurement of economic “progress”, i.e. the Gross National Product and/or Gross Domestic Product. These two, GNP and GDP, basically measure money flow. Specifically, they measure the total value of final goods and services produced in a year either by a country’s nationals (GNP) or within a country’s borders (GDP).

Looking into this unveils a confounding paradox: What is good for our nation’s economy, according to the GDP, can be potentially terrible for our nation’s citizens. Simple example: While billions of dollars in sales of bottled water (which many would argue is an environmental nightmare) increase the GDP, local sources of clean, free, safe, and drinkable water have no influence on the GDP.

Closer to home, there was a burglary at the yoga studio I attend. The burglars took $65 and a key to the front door, but they didn’t vandalize anything. In reflecting upon the unfortunate situation, our teacher Katie suggested “gratitude” as our intention for that class. I was grateful no one was hurt, not more was taken, and there wasn’t reckless vandalism. Even more so, I was grateful for the community that Katie has fostered over the years—a community that was strengthened by this little adversity, and whose members would have volunteered to clean up and repair damage should there have been a need.

A strong, supportive community and volunteer efforts are not factored into our GDP.

There are at least two tragic flaws in our nation’s system of measuring economic progress. One is that it lacks discernment. Money spent cleaning up a dangerously toxic Super Fund site is treated the same as money spent on measures taken to prevent the pollution from occurring in the first place. In fact, there will probably be more money spent on the clean-up—what a distorted way to measure success!

The other flaw is that it omits factors that make for a healthy society but for which no money exchanges hands, such as the work in parenting a child and volunteerism. By excluding these activities, the GDP/GNP is essentially ignoring their value. By ignoring their value, they are ignored when setting policies to encourage the upward swing of those economic indicators.

In an attempt to encourage an economic indicator that is in line with the best interests of people, a group called Redefining Progress has published a Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). They maintain that a healthy economy is more than money flow. It is directly tied to the health and sustainability of people and their ability to live a good life now and in the future.

To determine the Genuine Progress Indicator, they start with the GDP, add in values for activities that contribute to a healthy society, subtract costs that detract from society’s health, and subtract costs that simply correct the symptoms of an unhealthy society, ex. pollution, health issues caused by pollution, costs associated with divorce and so on. (This is a very brief run-down of their much more sophisticated calculation.)

While the GPI is an attempt to adjust the GDP to reflect the actual state of our nation comprehensively, there is another country that has chosen to use a completely different set of indicators to measure progress.

Bhutan is a small country sandwiched between India and China. In 1972, their king declared, “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product”. Their use of Gross National Happiness (GNH) as an economic indicator reflects the value placed on its citizens’ holistic well-being.

The GPI and GNH call attention to overlooked values by instituting a new national indicator. While financial health is important and necessary, the good health of families, communities, citizens, and of the world we give to our grandchildren is essential for survival.

Bringing it back to your indicators, you can see the parallels in how you measure your success. For example, if your only measurement of success is financial wealth, you may have little care for how that wealth is gained. It may be unethical, or at the expense of loved ones, or distracting you from doing what you love.

Conversely, if you make sure your indicators keep you in line with your values and true goals, positive results occur. Preventing pollution can increase your health (and thereby decrease medical bills) and contribute to your enjoyment of your surroundings (outdoor activities improve mental and physical well being and can increase family time).

Naturally, financial goals are important. The concept of Gross National Happiness is based on the premise that true development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development occur side by side to complement and reinforce each other. The same is true at the personal level. Indicators valuing multiple aspects of your well-being are essential to promote your Gross Personal Happiness.

Now you may be in a better position to answer the questions posed at the beginning of this article:

How do you value your time and energy? Do your measurements of success reflect those values?

—

Shawn Tuttle is founder of Project Simplify