Creating a simple life can be complex. That seems paradoxical I know.
Removing the things that don’t give you joy, serve a purpose or add to your energy can certainly help you to simplify your life. Clearing the clutter, while it can be cathartic, and keep you focussed on the things that make your life happy can mean saying good bye to some old faithfuls – friends, possessions, habits.
Writing yourself a simplicity manifesto which clearly sets out your intentions, motives and goals for simplifying your life can help you re-focus when things get in the way, as life does sometimes.
It can also give you the words and phrases that you might need when negotiating your way out of a prior commitment.
Start simply
Try starting with “I want …” – a statement about how you want to feel, how you want your life to be arranged, organised or otherwise.
Add a list in dot point form about why you want to simplify your life – what do you think the benefits will be? How will your life improve when it is simplified?
Then create a list of the things you no longer want in your life – the feeling of being overwhelmed, the hectic pace, the inability to find things when you need them and so on.
How will you feel when you are living your best simplified life?
How do you want to show up in the world? Do you want to be kind, courteous, unassuming, powerful, clever, witty?
Then Write
Then start writing. Be it in a journal or an old note book, just write. Write it out about how it will feel and how you will live your life when it is as simplified as you want and need it to be.
Write in long flowing paragraphs, add hand drawn images if it helps. Aim to write for between 20-30 minutes allowing the ideas to free flow.
Then go back and review your writing and draw links between ideas which connect together. Find the similarities and group them.
You might find you end up with 3 – 5 key ideas. Then put it away, for at least 24 hours.
Draft It
When you come back to it, review what you have done, and have a go at drafting it into a version which makes sense to you. If drawing is your thing then you could create an infographic style image instead of using just words.
Once you are happy with the first draft, put a copy in your phone, in your wallet or stick it to your mirror. Let it sit for a week or two. Then come back again and tweak and refine until you are happy with it.
Read it and live it
Then post it where you will see it and read it every day – remind yourself why you are simplifying your life. Feel it. Every. Day. Live it. As often as you can.
It won’t always be easy and people don’t like you to change – it shakes up their perceptions, their comfort and their own beliefs about themselves as well as you. You will need some resolve to stick to it, but in the end, you know you will be happier for it.
A simplicity manifesto is a great declaration of your core values, the things that are most important to you. Remember that as you grow, learn and change your manifesto might need to change too, so schedule time to review it occasionally, maybe once a year around your birthday or another significant date.
When someone challenges your choices then you can mentally refer to your manifesto, remind yourself about what’s important to you and kindly decline their advice or solution if it doesn’t fit with your simplicity manifesto.
So, in the end that complex process of writing a simplicity manifesto is really simple. Find what you love, do more of that and let others live their own life too.
Share It
I’d love to see what you come up with! Post in the comments if you’d like to share.
