By pairing essential activities with enjoyable ones, we can make tackling even the most tedious and overwhelming tasks more effortless.
If you want to make something hard, indeed truly impossible, to complete, all you have to do is make the end goal as vague as possible.
What if, rather than fighting our preprogrammed instinct to seek the easiest path, we could embrace it, even use it to our advantage? What if, instead of asking, “How can I tackle this really hard but essential project?,” we simply inverted the question and asked, “What if this essential project could be made easy?
In order to succeed at something, you have to get it done.
Life doesn’t have to be as hard and complicated as we make it. Each of us has – as Robert Frost wrote – “Promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.” No matter what challenges, obstacles or hardships we encounter along the way, we can always look for the easier, simpler path.
To avoid diminishing returns on your time and effort, establish clear conditions for what “done” looks like, get there, then stop.
A Done for the Day list is not a list of everything we theoretically could do today, or a list of everything we would love to get done. These things will inevitably extend far beyond the limited time available. Instead, this is a list of what will constitute meaningful and essential progress.
Getting more sleep may be the single greatest gift we can give our bodies, our minds, and even, it turns out, our bottom lines.
Producing a great result is good. Producing a great result with ease is better. Producing a great result with ease again and again is best.
Why would we simply endure essential activities when we can enjoy them instead?
Essentialism was about doing the right things; Effortless is about doing them in the right way.
There is no such thing as an effortless relationship. But there are ways we can make it easier to keep a relationship strong. We don’t need to agree with the other person on everything. But we do need to be present with them, to really notice them, to give them our full attention – maybe not always, but as frequently as we can.
What is the Effortless State? The Effortless State is an experience many of us have had when we are physically rested, emotionally unburdened, and mentally energized. You are completely aware, alert, present, attentive, and focused on what’s important in this moment. You are able to focus on what matters most with ease.
Reading a book is among the most high-leverage activities on earth.
Gaining unique knowledge takes time, dedication, and effort. But invest in it once, and you’ll attract opportunities for the rest of your life.
What if the biggest thing keeping us from doing what matters is the false assumption that it has to take tremendous effort? What if, instead, we considered the possibility that the reason something feels hard is that we haven’t yet found the easier way to do it?
Whether it’s “miles per day” or “words per day” or “hours per day,” there are few better ways to achieve effortless pace than to set an upper bound.
When you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have. When you focus on what you have, you get what you lack.
Listening isn’t hard; it’s stopping our mind from wandering that’s hard. Being in the moment isn’t hard; not thinking about the past and future all the time is hard. It’s not the noticing itself that’s hard. It’s ignoring all the noise in our environment that is hard.
Have you ever found that the more you complain – and the more you read and hear other people complain – the easier it is to find things to complain about? On the other hand, have you ever found that the more grateful you are, the more you have to be grateful for?