Do Less, Live More

One of my favorite stories is that when Henry Thoreau told
his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, that the key to living
well was to 'simplify, simplify, simplify', Emerson
supposedly replied that, 'one simplify might have sufficed.'
I love the reminder that in many situations, less is more.

The mantra of our age seems to be, 'better, faster, cheaper
and more, more, more!', and the problem is that it's not
always helpful.

This week I told Mary that while the past few weeks have
been unusually busy, and very productive, I'm not having as
much fun as I would like. We are making more, but enjoying
it less, and that's not a good thing!

As we talked it through, it was clear that two different
processes were involved and we had to sort them out.

The first was being clear about our values.

We both love doing stuff, learning things, building things,
starting things. We love things that challenge us or
promise to enrich our lives, so we are suckers for every
great new idea that comes along - and there are lots of
great ideas!

But our values are not around glamour or excitement or
even, primarily around money or success. Our values tend
to be more about relationships, quality time, travel and
education, peace of mind and personal integrity, and the
problem is that our culture rarely encourages or talks
about those things.

The media tends to applaud public displays of wealth or
power or popularity, and our culture celebrates things that
result in 'progress' or tangible profit. And those are
good things! Don't get me wrong - I love both progress
and making a profit!

But, as Emerson observed, 'sometimes money costs too much.'
We noticed that in our rush to jump on several recent
opportunities, we were getting caught up in what Michael
Angier calls 'the thick of thin things' and it wasn't
working for us. A return to personal values is called for.

Secondly, we had failed to plan, and as the saying goes,
'those who fail to plan, are planning to fail.'

In our case, the failures were not obvious. In terms of
profits, we are doing very well, and that is exciting!
It's wonderful to see things come together and to receive
the applause of friends and business associates. It's fun,
it's good - and it's seductive.

We were off balance and off track. We were canceling
private time and postponing important priorities. We were
missing the joy of time together and the daily activities
we value. We had failed to plan, and so the distractions
of life were running away with our schedules, and again,
that is not a recipe for success!

So, we've cut back on activities and are talking about our
values every day. We talk about what we love, what we
cherish, what we stand for. It's not that we had forgotten
these things, but we have realized (again) that it is our
personal responsibility to align ourselves with our values,
and to do it on purpose, every day.

And, we have re-committed to investing time and money and
energy in the things that mean the MOST to us. We have re-
committed to planning our lives, to living from values, and
to making the most of our talents, our relationships, and the
opportunities to live well, rather than to being merely busy.

by Dr Philip Humbert