CLARITY: How to Have More by Having Less
“A man (or woman!) who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”
This month is dedicated to clarity! My business is devoted to helping people get CLARITY of their finances, using the very best tools and processes on the market for maximum efficiency. Before I take on new clients, I like to start with understanding their “why” before jumping into their “what.” Ultimately it is all about FREEDOM, and you can’t be free if you are not clear.
Financial clarity is actually a by-product of life clarity (not the other way around as many people think). Focusing on the end result (finances) is like the tail wagging the dog. My approach is to understand what drives my client’s financial decisions in the first place so that we can ultimately design a system that gives them clear, accurate information and then they can decide if their financial habits support their “why” and puts them on a path to freedom, however they define it.
Throughout this month I’ll share a few thoughts and even tools that have helped me, and my clients achieve clarity in three areas:
Purpose and Time
Physical and Digital Spaces
Finances
Purpose and Time
This is the most important area because EVERYTHING starts with your purpose (why) and then flows into how you spend your time, which is the most expensive, powerful, and precious resource you have.
Your path is unique to YOU. So much stress and wasted time in life is a result of pursuing a path that is not uniquely yours. This may cause an obsession for more - frequently more money - as if that is the answer to everything (it’s not!).
Chris Guillebeau, whose website is The Art of Non-conformity, poses an interesting challenge in his post To Stop Comparing Yourself to Others, Decide in Advance What Success Looks Like.
Come to a decision for yourself on what is enough.
This simple but powerful task can dramatically clarify and simplify your life. Think about it - how many decisions do you make, how many things do you say “yes” to when you should have said “no” (or vice-versa), how much “stuff” do you buy because you have not decided on what is enough?
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits has a good framework for guiding decisions on how to simplify and clarify your life in his post 3-2-1: Eliminating tasks, optimizing for your interests, and sharing knowledge. The part I liked best were the three D’s:
Downsize - the rooms you don't have, don’t need to be cleaned
Donate - the items you don’t own, don’t need to be organized
Delete - the projects you don’t take on, don’t need to be finished
The basic premise is eliminating the things (projects, commitments, tasks and “stuff”) in your life that don’t bring you joy or are outside of your core purpose. We all have to do things we don’t want to do but are legitimately our responsibilities. That's fine - I’m not advocating being irresponsible. I am advocating clarity via elimination. Eliminate the insane amount of stress, time, and money that is wasted as a direct result of having too much of what we don’t need or even want.
Take a moment to list everything you have to do or buy this month and then ask yourself if these things are in alignment with your “why.” What can you downsize, donate or delete? Even small steps can have big results and will set us up for the next phase of clarity, Physical and Digital Spaces.