Be-Do-Have. Simplify and De-Clutter Your World & Create More Abundance

A few weeks ago I posted an article titled “Simplified Living for A Simplified Life: A Process for Creating More.” In this article I shared with you my experience as it relates to overwhelm and unnecessary consumption. My thoughts about living a simplified life were shared and why it is beneficial for the purpose of a meaningful existence.

My ideas about consumption don’t just relate to what we buy and possess but also in regards to what media we consume as well as what tasks and activities may, without great purpose, fill our daily lives. Things accumulate and without conscious awareness they can begin to consume us.

Today I wanted to share with you some practical thoughts that might of benefit in order to simplify and minimalize your life so that you can be more focused and effective, less overwhelmed and stressed, and more able to live life with greater freedom, fulfilment and happiness.

To do this I want to share with you the “Be–Do–Have” model. It is a new paradigm in approaching life. I have discussed this before but will recap briefly. This model requires us to look at firstly how we wish to be in life and from there finding the actions, the “do”, that will best take as towards this ideal state of being. From there all that we need or desire to “have” can be found and attained.

For most of us we have been taught to approach life in a counter direction to this model. Know what you want to have, do what you need to do to get it and then you will find yourself in a certain state of being. The problem with this model is that what we think we need to have may not be conducive to how we truly want to be in life. And for what we thought we once wanted may not actually be a desire at all.

The real challenge in when we discover that how we are in life is not bringing us any deep happiness but actually causes much of our suffering and then to try and reverse the process presents some level of difficultly. Because what you are now is reliant on what you do and have and results from the accumulation and formation of your beliefs and behaviours. Challenging to change, but not impossible.

Life is not about what we do or have it’s about how we live it. Know how you want to be then tackle life with that vision in mind. Keeping this model in mind I wish to share with your ideas, thoughts and suggestions on how you can use it to declutter and minimalise your life.

If like me, you find that your life is not conducive to your ideal state of being one must seek to assess why it is so and do the work to remove the cause. For what we have and do affects how we are. If it is not as you wish simplifying it will assist the change. What is necessary for the purpose of your ideal state of being?

The Be

How do you want to be in life? What is your ideal future vision? This sets the foundation of life and what I teach at The Hidden Why. Do the work to discover your why. Do the work to define your Life Compass. Essentially this becomes your mission statement, your guide to navigate you on your journey. It will assist you to make better decisions and take more purposeful action.

If you want more inspiration on how to connect with your why, define it and use it head to THY TV and watch the 3 part “Why” series I have put together. I have also produced the “Discover Your Why: Life Purpose Questionnaire,” that has a series of questions to help you delve within and align you with your why.

Once you know your why you can begin to do the work to reduce the noise in your life. Let’s start with the do.

The Do

What are you doing daily, weekly, monthly, continually that has no greater purpose to the why and your journey towards your ideal future vision. The best way to assist you in doing this is to become aware of it. You may be surprised to find just how much clutter there is on your daily to-do-list that is unnecessary.

Undertake the “Prioritisation Exercise.” This is how it works. Spend a day, and week if you can – the longer the better, noting down everything you do. Everything! Be like a fine tooth comb in search of lice. It might seem tedious at first but the benefits it will bring will pay off in dividends.

I did a similar task not so long ago as it related to my diet. I was asked to take photos of absolutely everything I ate, noting the times and some other details. It was a very insightful activity in becoming aware of what I ate – the necessary the unnecessary, the good and the bad.

This practice forces us to become more observant and it will assist us moving forward when we are about to do a task to pause and reflect upon the worthiness of it. We are in better position to respond. For most of us we are just do, do, do without thinking. This becomes a main cause for our overwhelm.

Once done with that we can look at all the little tasks that have accumulated in time and cluttered our lives. It is nice to be busy but often it is the wrong type of busy. We can be busy our whole lives without achieving anything of great importance.

“Productivity is more about what we don’t do than what we do.” Jocelyn Glei

Looking at your list what can you immediately see as unnecessary. Remove it!

Next what are those things you think are important but could be better managed. You may think checking your emails 30 times a day is important just in case you receive an important message but is it? Could you be more effective if you batched checking emails once or twice a day for half an hour at a time? Will the world stop if you don’t respond to a message immediately as it is sent – likely not! And we can set up auto-responses to help combat this by giving out a contact number for emergencies.

Finally, what are the most important activities that you should be doing every day? How are they being treated? We should incorporate what is important first every day. We should give these task/activities priority. When we do not we will find them not getting done.

We are all guilty of giving priority to what appears urgent and not to what is important. Your why is important. Your ideal state of being is important. Is what is conducive to achieving your goals, meeting your why given the attention it deserves?

Set themes to your day. Here are a few suggestions. Health, learning, passions, family, and fun. What tasks are on your list that meet these daily? What could you add. Schedule these with priority.

Next, what is the task or activity that will have the most impact in meeting your needs today to help push you towards your ideal future or accomplishment of a goal. That comes next.

Finally, do the work and make it happen. Stick to the schedule. Remind yourself when you are doing something or better still, prior to doing something, of what is important to your why and your life. Don’t do what is not. You will find greater beauty with this approach.

The Have

The shit that we own ends up owning us. I think that’s a Fight Club quote. It is so profoundly true – don’t you think? Think about how reliant we have become on technology. How much the TV or social media platforms dictate our lives.

Technology is addictive and much like giving up smoking, reducing your reliance on technology is liberating. The act of checking social media, “the doing,” that is important to recognise here. Be aware of how much technology is too much. How much has it infiltrated your life?

10 years ago I lived in Japan. I purchased my first mobile phone when I arrived on the shores. It was a phone for the purpose of making calls and sending/receiving messages. 10 years later I have a smart phone. I can do anything and almost everything from it which is very convenient. Yet how beneficial not only to my health but also the journey and direction of my life is it? I would argue that it is not.

It takes us away from the moment and creates clutter of the mind. It has raised our attention and anxiety of both the past and the future. We have difficulty switching off. Such conditions promote stress, cause tension and make us focus on trivial shit that has little to no significance in the life we truly wish to live.

To switch off, remove the temptations of technology. If you lack discipline to only checking for emails once a day and find yourself continually checking social media from your phone a hundred times a day – get that shit off your phone.

When it comes to doing the work, in which you have batched a chunk of time to work on one particular project, remove all the technological distractions. Phone, pop up notifications, TV, TV remote, coffee machine and anything else you can think of that may tempt you.

Other distractions such as interruptions from colleagues or family members can be avoided by setting times to allow for chit-chat, banter or connection. And in that time allow your full presence – no technological distractions. The phone is not a tool that is needed at the dinning table.

Apart from the distractions they cause are they really necessary? Do you need that extra TV in the lounge room? If so why? “It makes me feel good!” Pleasure for now, sure, but it will just become another annoyance, distraction and a cause of your suffering later on.

What about everything else you own, or think you need to own? What is its real purpose? The wardrobe with garments that you’ll never wear again. The second draw down in the kitchen filled with a mishmash of cutlery that are duplicates and broken tools, or gifts that have no use. The furniture and trinkets that look great and at the time of purchasing them provided great satisfaction but are now often in the way and require regular cleaning and upkeep.

What serves purpose and what does not. Remove that which does not. Keep that which does. This doesn’t mean to thrown out a nice painting. If you are an art lover and if items provide ongoing appreciation and satisfaction that may be good for your well-being.

It is all the other stuff that has either become a distraction and makes us less effective and cause for much of our suffering. Firstly, due to the upkeep and secondly, because of the inability it allows us to focus on what is important – creating the life you wish for. Doing things of meaning.

That should assist you to getting started. If you have ideas of your own or things that have assisted, you I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments field below. If you would like more information also let me know. Here’s to a simplified life, yet and amplified one.

If you are looking for assistance or help with simplifying you life get win touch with me and schedule a time to have a chat. I coach people with this stuff and would love to assist you also if I can.