Welcome to The Simplifier, brought to you by…

Contents:

1. A Note From Shawn

Reclaiming a villianized notion

2. Our Featured Quote

by Thomas Troward

3. Article: Time to Get Intentional!

by PS Head Simplifier Shawn Tuttle

4. Your Simplification Tip

Revel in the joy of completion, and achieve more success

5. In the News

Quality study space in the home, sticking with a place for everything, and brand backlash

6. Featured at ProjectSimplify.com

The Latest Post in Each Category

7. Keep Smiling

Very Funny Cartoons

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1. A Note From Shawn

What’s the feeling you get when you are motivated? Do you stand up a little taller? Feel a buzz of energy gathering in your solar plexus? You feel inspired, right? You get pumped, right?!?

Isn’t this how motivational speakers rev you up? They talk about success and habits of successful people. They talk about productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. They talk about honing in on your goals and moving toward them with single-minded determination. When it gets right down to it, they are talking about focus and concentration.In a book I’m reading, Time Power by Brian Tracy, the author quickly clarifies the point that time management is actually life management. Good point. In order to truly benefit from focus and concentration, I want to know that what I’m working for has meaning. Which means that the preparation for knowing what to focus on involves a good deal of planning. And I want my planning to be dictated by my values. Quite a few hoops for the ole noggin to step through. But how else will I finish my book, share it far and wide, develop a successful assistant program, travel the world, spend copious time with loved ones, stay fit and healthy and maintain a happy home? Hmm, put that way, it sounds worth it. =)

The aim of this issue is to encourage you to flex your powers of discipline. Reclaim this villianized word, discipline! Transform the heavy feeling of the word with a wave of your hand. Blink away stern nuns and wrist-snapping rulers. Laugh at the old voice claiming “this is for your own good”–you never really believed that anyway!

Let discipline be a friend who supports your wildest dreams… Enjoy!

Shawn

Shawn Tuttle
Head Simplifier, Project Simplify
Co-editor, The Simplifier

 

 

 

2. Our Featured Quote

“Our repeated failure to fully act as we would wish must not discourage us. It is the sincere intention that is the essential thing, and this will in time release us from the bondage of habits which at present seem almost insuperable.”

-Thomas Troward

 

3. Article: Time to Get Intentional!

By Shawn Tuttle

The last article offered a definition of intention as “aligning with what you want”. By thinking about intention as creating a culture, we saw how being aware of your intention can inform the thoughts and actions that support a goal.

When referring to intention in the context of space and systems, as we did in the last article, you might get the impression of an a la carte menu–”I’ll simplify the office, my invoicing system, and my inbox.” This is comparable to the separating of subjects in school: there’s English, Psychology, and Economics. They have different textbooks, different teachers, and different objectives.

This is how we typically view our lives: we put ourselves in a central place then look out to the different aspects of our lives: work, family, household affairs, play, and self-growth. We set goals for each one, then do our best to achieve those goals.

Categorizing your life this way can be useful for certain activities, such as planning and goal setting. However, it can be harmful in that it invites a compartmentalized view of your life. In reality, a negative attitude about invoicing indirectly affects your relationship with loved ones; delegating your payroll to an outside agency has an indirect affect on your community volunteer work. Everything is interconnected.

Simplifying your life begins with your Simplicity Statement. But is a statement enough to change your life? Possibly. (Far be it from me to deny the possibility!) For most people though, there is more to be done. Time to get intentional! Meaning, time to line everything in your world up in support of your Simplicity Statement.

A different way of looking at your life
What is “everything” to be lined up? While spaces and systems are not to be overlooked, the emphasis is on focus, attitude, thoughts, beliefs, actions, relationships, communication, physical stuff and commitments—basically, all the ways you relate to the world. From this perspective, the means to your simplified self are your various ways of relating, and not the categories in your life.

Say you are working with a Simplicity Statement such as: “My thoughts and activities support my heartfelt goals in the spirit of fun and gratitude.” Using visualization exercises, you’ve developed a vision and feeling of what this Statement means to you–an inner experience of what it feels like to be thinking and acting in accordance with the statement. This feeling becomes your intention. Then, you set goals that are in line with your intention. (This is where compartmentalizing your life comes in handy!)

Enter: focus. Exercising focus within the culture of your intention can feel like strengthening a muscle that’s been flabby for years. When you recognize how distractions have been pulling you in all directions, training your mind to be decisive when determining what is or isn’t allowed can be like a magical transformation.

Enter: discipline. If each of the means to your goal is a pathway, then it’s your job to stay on the path. Whether you are spending time with friends or working on a project proposal, are your thoughts, attitudes, and words supporting your goals? It’s like building blocks. When you place the blocks strategically according to a plan, you can end up with a great building. But the number of details along the way can seem infinite! As with most efforts to become disciplined, sticking with your intentions gets easier with time.

The list of pathways is numerous, enough to drive anyone nuts trying to monitor all of them all the time. Try taking one at a time. For example you could begin with one that is easy to identify, like time commitments. If you’re a regular reader, you’ve already begun by taking inventory of these commitments.

What about a pathway, such as thought, which is more nebulous? Definitely calling on discipline here! Over the course of the day, as you transition into a new activity, clarify your big-picture intention and the focus of that activity. Then keep an eye on your thoughts, bringing them back to your intention and focus when they stray. Dedicate a day to being hypersensitive in this way for practice. Once you begin catching your thoughts wandering automatically, you can back off a bit.

You can try thinking about this as dedicating your undivided attention to your goals and intentions. A simple example: if one of your goals is to spend an hour of playtime outside with your family every week, then talking on the phone with a colleague during this time is totally inappropriate. As is thinking about the front yard landscaping project, or stopping to talk for half an hour with a friend you ran into. These don’t support your intention of engaging and being present with your family.

This holds true for most situations, ranging from family time, to processing your inbox, or running a meeting. Simplifying isn’t something to go do, it’s how you relate with the world. You do this by being aware of your means of interacting and pulling them in line with your intention.

”Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.” —William A. Foster

Since you have limitless possibilities for how your life plays out, consciously providing yourself with direction increases positive results. Let that direction permeate your interaction with the world!

—

Shawn Tuttle is founder of Project Simplify.

4. Your Simplification Tip

Revel in the joy of completion, and achieve more success

I read it in a book—it must be true. Brian Tracy, in his book Time Power, reports that endorphins are released into the bloodstream every time you satisfy the brain’s need for completion. Maybe not as intense a rush as a two-hour long triathlon, but it makes you feel good nonetheless.

Completion not only makes you feel good chemically, it makes you feel good about yourself, which increases your self-esteem, which increases your sense of personal power, and as would naturally follow, increases your productivity.How can you increase the completion factor in your work flow? Three tips: think about the results, work in uninterrupted blocks of time, and develop a compulsion for closure.

I can’t help but think that increasing your desire for closure with tasks and projects won’t flow into other parts of your life as well. And reaching closure in other situations can only help you be a healthier, happier person overall. Which is great! Because that increases your self-esteem, which increases…

 

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5. In the News

Compiled by The Simplifier co-editor Lance Brown.

Don’t underestimate the importance of a quality study space in the home (Boulder Daily Camera - CO)
URL: http://tinyurl.com/23ksj9
While this article specifically addresses study areas for children, it bears lessons that can be applied to any space where thinking work needs to get done.

Determine a place for everything - and stick to it (The Coloradoan)
URL: http://tinyurl.com/26kbax
This article goes one step further than just reminding you to put everything in its place—it’s got suggestions for most of the common places and things.

Trend watch: Brand backlash (CNN.com)
URL: http://tinyurl.com/yteq65
I wish I had $42,000 worth of brand-name stuff to burn, like the guy in this article. Or even $42,000 worth of nameless stuff, for that matter. Not that I would go shopping-crazy if I had the chance—it’s just that there’s this $40,000 tie I’ve had my eye on for a while…I feel like it’s just what I need to complete my image.

If you know of something in the news that should be featured here, let us know!

 

6. Featured at ProjectSimplify.com

By The Simplifier co-editor Lance Brown.

The Latest Post in Each Category

There’s an easy way to get an overview of what’s been posted at the site lately. In fact, if you wanted to check only one page to get updated on what’s been on the mind of Project Simplify, the Latest Post in Each Category page would be a pretty good nominee. And it has such a creative name, too! Who thinks these things up?

(Oh…good thing you didn’t rely on sarcasm-as-humor again, Lance. Great job. No, really…it was funny. Really…I mean it.)

(That wasn’t only sarcastic, it was self-deprecating, because I’m the one who came up with the name for that page. People love self-deprecating humor. Besides, you’re not supposed to try and explain the humor, genius—it defeats the point.)

(Congratulations on a job well done, then. No, really. You’re very good at this.)

You don’t need to stick around just to be polite. I’ll take care of those guys. Go ahead and check out the Latest Post in Each Category - you’re bound to see something you like. And I really do mean that. ;-)

 

 

 

 

7. Keep Smiling

Very Funny Cartoons

Funny cartoon. Click “Next cartoon”. Funny cartoon. Click “Next cartoon”.

Funny cartoon. Click “Next cartoon”. Funny cartoon. Click…well, you get the idea.

That’s the formula at VeryFunnyCartoons.com. Here’s a sample:

There’s plenty more where that came from.
Here’s the URL: http://www.veryfunnycartoons.com

 

 

 

 

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Thanks for reading!

Publication Information
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The Simplifier is published by:
Project Simplify
P.O. Box 597
Nevada City, CA 95959
phone: 530.205.5775
web: www.projectsimplify.com
e-mail: (newsletter@projectsimplify.com) newsletter (at) projectsimplify (dot) com