{"id":1598,"date":"2010-11-19T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2010-11-19T04:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifewithhappiness.com\/?p=1598"},"modified":"2018-10-03T16:01:39","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T20:01:39","slug":"reduce-your-holiday-stress-simplify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theexecutivehappinesscoach.com\/2010\/11\/reduce-your-holiday-stress-simplify\/","title":{"rendered":"Reduce Your Holiday Stress: Simplify!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Create Our Own Stress<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Do you ever find yourself thinking: \u201cI have too much to do — I feel overwhelmed!?\u201d<\/strong> How we are is a result of choices we make and the way we surround ourselves with stuff and challenges.\u00a0 Sometimes our choices can leave us busy and full — yet unhappy.\u00a0 That\u2019s when we need to start dropping what does not serve us.
\nHappiness Principle #12 says:<\/span>
\n <\/strong><\/span>
\nSIMPLIFY.\u00a0 Automate, delegate, or eliminate tasks or goals that complicate your life.\u00a0 Being content with simpler pleasures increases your opportunity for awe.<\/strong><\/span>
\nWoven through many of the Principles of Happiness is a common thread I call \u201celiminate friction.\u201d<\/strong> Friction \u2013 as you learned in fifth-grade science class — is resistance to motion.\u00a0 Friction slows things down by removing energy.\u00a0 A rocket flying through the vacuum of space will move freely, but if it strays near a planet it gets caught in gravitational pull or the resisting force of atmosphere.\u00a0 The larger the rocket, the more friction it encounters.\u00a0 Eventually, friction will cause it to burn away until all motion ceases.
\nWhile the example is physical, it describes what friction does to you and your happiness.<\/strong> Think about the things that complicate your life \u2013 tasks, goals, relationships, commitments, and expectations (and email!).\u00a0 How many of those feel like appendages on the rocket, splaying out in all directions to catch the atmospheric resistance and slow you down?
\nTo Simplify is not necessarily about giving up goals or possessions or busy schedules, but rather a reminder to keep what we have and what we do in perspective.<\/strong> Simplify is about striving to remove the clutter in our lives in order to concentrate our energies toward those things that really matter.
\nOn another level, Simplify is a suggestion to avoid over-commitment as a lifestyle.<\/strong> When we surround ourselves with all the best and the newest, or try too hard to keep everyone else happy, we actually narrow our options for experiencing our own happiness.\u00a0 When we live a simple life, we increase our opportunity for awe.<\/p>\n

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” –Confucius<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Start Planning Now for a Less-Stress Year<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/em>
\nAs you race toward the start of the busy holiday season and year end activities, <\/strong>don\u2019t let the convergence of work, family demands, holiday gatherings, cooking, cleaning, and shopping push you over the edge into the Dark Pit of Stress.\u00a0 Start planning now to leave space to enjoy simple conversation and the best of what this time of year has to offer.
\nHere are some steps you might take to Simplify for a less-stress year-end:<\/strong><\/p>\n