Take Off the Cape: How to Do More With Less
Our challenge every day is to do what matters, to tune out the noise, and focus on the essential things. But that's hard when we have bills to pay, people to please, children to raise, goals to meet, emails to answer and LinkedIN to scour. How can we possibly do more by pursuing less?
I just read and re-read two pages from Greg McKeown's New York Bestseller, Essentialism, and I think these two pages might be the most stop-me-in-my-tracks, get-my-wheels-turning, call for self-tithing that I've ever read.
Every day* I try to spend the start of my workday giving back to myself. I often liken it to self-tithing: giving yourself the first fruits of the day by doing what YOU decide you need to do rather than jumping up and running to do what others demand of you.
I start by writing out a list of things to do, and as you can see, this isn't an ambitious achiever list. It's a just what I need list.
I don't set time limits for anything, I breathe until I'm ready to read and read until it hits me–until that lesson, that idea, that thing I'm supposed to see in my reading grabs me by the shoulders and stares me in the eyes asking, "Do you see me?"
McKeown's Essentialism is an instruction manual of sorts for getting more done by deliberately and strategically pursuing less. And as someone two and a half years into starting a business that hasn't become the life-sustaining work it will become, this is the right read for me right now. But today's word isn't just for entrepreneurs; it's for everyone who finds themselves caught up in the busyness at home, at work, or in their minds.
Our challenge every day is to do what matters, to tune out the noise and focus on the essential things. But that's hard when we have bills to pay, people to please, children to raise, goals to meet, emails to answer, and LinkedIN to scour. How can we possibly do more by pursuing less?
First, acknowledge that you can't do it all. I can't. You can't. Take off the cape. We're not superheroes. We are people with limited capacity and focus, and realizing that should help us see why narrowing our scope is necessary to getting what we really want out of life and work. McKeown writes, "saying yes to any opportunity by definition requires saying no to several others," and we can either "make the hard choices (of identifying and protecting our boundaries) for ourselves or allow others–whether our colleagues, our boss or our customers–to decide for us." If we don't identify and protect our boundaries, if we don't acknowledge what we won't do, we'll try to do it all, significantly reducing the likelihood that we achieve any of what we really want for ourselves. Hello Hamster, meet Wheel.
So stop. Busyness is the manifestation of living reactively. We are rarely, if ever, productive when we are constantly reacting. This is the magic of self-tithing. When you give to yourself first, you are deciding th’s pace. You are finding the frequency of the radio station you want to tune into for the day. You are programming yourself to listen to and be guided by what truly matters–what you want for yourself. Without taking that time, you unintentionally put everyone else’s priorities ahead of your own–giving them free rein over your time, focus, and energy. But you need that time. You need that focus and that energy to create and fully engage in the life that you want to live.
Per McKeown–
To discern what is truly essential, we need space to think, time to look and listen, permission to play, wisdom to sleep, and the discipline to apply highly selective criteria to the choices we make.
Amen and amen.
I want to bring all of myself to my life. For that to happen, I need to know what kind of mom I want to be, what kind of coach I want to be, and what kind of person I want to be, so I can say ‘yes’ to experiences and opportunities that get me closer to what I want and ‘no’ to everything that gets in the way. This is how we create full lives rooted in what matters most. I deserve that. My kids deserve that. My clients deserve that. I deserve that. (Yes, I meant to write that twice.)
You deserve that.
This is how we bring our best selves to our work and our lives. This.
Aisha Crumbine is a life and leadership coach who works with people who are ready to live braver, bolder, more abundant, unleashed lives. When she’s not coaching individuals or facilitating leadership development for organization as a Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator, you’re likely find her in workout clothes hanging out with her husband Dave and their two kids.
This notion of self-tithing was inspired by The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM). Other books I've read this year that support self-work: Amy Cuddy's Presence, Shonda Rhimes' Year of Yes, and Brené Brown's Rising Strong. If you have recommendations for my next book, share in the comments!
