Happy New Year! I LOVE this time of year because it feels like a fresh, clean slate. BUT, I often fall into the trap of trying to do TOO much. Can you relate?
Ryan Holiday’s new book, Stillness is the Key, has a whole chapter dedicated to “limiting our inputs”. Holiday says, “it’s very difficult to think or act clearly (to say nothing of being happy) when we are drowning in information.”
Right?!?!
Never-ending news. Unlimited podcasts. SO MANY books. Endless emails, mail, and catalogs. Text chains galore.
Our brains were NOT designed for this.
So this year, I challenge you to limit your inputs. Think about consuming LESS information so that you can focus on what’s TRULY important.
Here are 3 tips to get you started.
Make it a habit to un-follow and unsubscribe.
Be a ruthless unsubscriber of email promotions and newsletters. (Hell, even this one, if it doesn’t float your boat!) Mel Robbins suggests an Un-follow Friday, where you un-follow all the feeds and “friends” that don’t spark joy.
Your email inbox, your social media feeds and your notifications should be filled with information that lifts you up, energizes you, inspires and educates you. Leave behind all the “shoulds” and the “maybe one days” and the “I wish I had thats”.
Get in and get out.
When it comes to news and social media, do a surgical strike.
Do you need to check a Facebook group? Great, go right there. Check it out, and get out. Do not linger on your Aunt Joan’s cat videos. Do not feel pangs of envy as you scroll through your neighbor’s profile featuring all-blonde children making kale chips in matching homemade outfits.
Want to get a news update? Great, access your favorite site, and read for 15-30 minutes. (When you start reading a story about a cat that got stuck in a giant snowball in Minnesota, your time is up.)
With books, go deep before you go wide.
Ok, this is my BIGGEST challenge. There are so many good books out there, and I could make it my full-time job to read them all. #dreams
But that’s just impossible.
So this year, I’m choosing a few “bibles”. Instead of reading every shiny new personal growth book, I’m going DEEP on the books that already made a significant impact on me in 2019. I’ll be ear-marking them, highlighting them, doing the exercises, and squeezing every last drop of wisdom out of them. (Spoiler alert: My #1 bible for 2020 is Atomic Habits. There is some real life-changing magic in this gem.)
Sooooo … will you give limiting your inputs a try! Send me an email and tell me how YOU are going to limit your inputs this year.
Because as Ryan Holidays says …
“Knowing what not to think about. What to ignore and not to do. It’s your first and most important job.”
Wishing you a wonderful year of less noise and more joy, friends.