The Ultimate Life Hack for (nearly) everything you want, consists of only two words: letting go.
So, what do you want to improve at?
Productivity
Simplicity
Finance
Happiness
Weight Loss
These two words, if practiced and lived, can be the key to all the self-improvement in your life:
By letting go of trying to do everything, or be updated about everything, you can focus on just what’s important. This simple focus can make you incredibly effective, and you’ll accomplish more.
„Doing nothing is sometimes one of the highest of the duties of man.“ – G.K. Chesterton
Let’s look at a few more examples of how letting go of all that we want to do allows us to be more focused and effective, and accomplish more:
Read: 23 EASY HABITS TO IMPROVE FOCUS + GET SHIT DONE
Our lives get filled with clutter and complexity when we constantly want to add things. By letting go of what we want to have, and some of what we already, we can simplify, declutter, create space, let go of complexity.
This past week, I started decluttering different areas of my life. I had to let go of a lot of hopes and dreams, because the reality is, I am not going to have time to do everything. That means I can let go of books, hobby equipment, and all kinds of other clutter that represented my aspirations.
Holding on to how we think our lives should be … stands in the way of simplicity. This attachment clutters our lives, both with physical clutter and with days filled with complexity.
Instead, we can let go of some of these aspirations, and focus on the truly meaningful ones.
The clutter is flowing out my door, as I practice letting go.
Our finances would be much better if we didn’t spend so much. Of course, you could argue that we could just earn more, which is true. But spending less AND earning more is better than all of that! Anyway. Letting go of things we want to spend on is the key to better finances.
„When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need.“ – Tao Te Ching
Recently I took a close look at my finances and identified areas where we could trim down – especially business-wise. It was a long-overdue look at our spending, after years of letting things creep higher and higher. I’m so happy I did it, but it meant letting go of things we have gotten used to.
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Now, I’m putting things on wishlists. And for my wishlist, I’m practicing changing the heading of that list from “wishlist” to “letting go of list”. I visualize all of these fantasies I had of buying the “perfect” anything and letting them go into the breeze. It’s both frustrating and freeing.
Letting go isn’t easy. But if you do, your finances can become so much healthier.
When we are frustrated with someone, disappointed with ourselves, unhappy with our situation, angry at something in the past … what is standing in the way of our happiness?
“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.”
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience
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We could blame the other person, or ourselves, or our situation, or the thing in the past … but actually, the thing preventing our happiness is being stuck on an idea or expectation.
We could let go of how we want others to be, how we want our lives to be, how we want ourselves to be … and find contentment in the way things are.
This is hard for people to accept — because they aren’t good at letting go yet.
Eat less, by slowly reducing portion sizes and eating more vegetables and beans (low in calories, high in bulk). This is a simple recipe for weight loss (I would add strength training and other exercises, but let’s keep things simple), but what stands in our way of eating less? Wanting to eat pleasurable foods, junk foods, comfort foods, bigger portions. If we let go of these wants, we could eat less. Yes, it’s possible (I’ve done it many times).
If you have seen me recently (propably on Insta, because I don’t leave the house), you might not expect me to struggle with my weight.
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But as a matter of fact, I have a history of weight loss and weight gain that was extremely unhealthy and utterly unneccessary.
And I know, that many of you struggle with their weight, too. The internet is full of crazy diets and tips and tricks on how to eat less, how to be healthier, how to loose weight etc. It’s overwhelming.
Everybody starts out with great intentions and everything’s working just fine, until the next holiday comes around, or a vacation, or a family gathering, or a really delicious pizza.
It’s hard dealing with the urge to eat these delicious comfort foods. The trick is, to see the urge and let go.
Loosen my grip on these tastes, and let them blow into the wind.
Also, plan for some splurge. I don’t think, that cutting your favorite food out of your meal plan is the solution to loosing weight.
Plan to eat a pizza on friday and allow yourself to enjoy it without thinking about calories.
Letting go will help you open yourself up to enjoy the yumminess of the food you already planned to have and let go of temporary temptations.
Weight loss is that simple if you practice letting go.
What does it mean when I suggest that we let go? It means that we are attached to something (we all are, most of the time), and to let it go means to loosen that attachment.
It’s opening up of our grip and letting the cherry blossoms blow in the wind as they will, out of our grasp.
When you are angry at someone, you are unhappy with how they acted. You believe they should have acted some other way. The should have acted is what you’re holding onto. If you didn’t have the should so firmly attached in your mind, you wouldn’t be angry.
So the answer is letting go of the should.
The answer is to loosen the tight grip on the way you think things should be. And let the should blow away in the wind. Because in reality, we have no control over the should of reality. We can’t make other people act the way we’d like them to because they’re not puppets. We can’t even make ourselves act the way we want, much of the time.
We don’t control the should, and so letting go of our tight grasp of them, loosening up and learning to accept the uncontrollable nature of life, leads to many benefits. Let’s look at some of them below.
So it’s all easy and breezy, right? Not so fast. Letting go is the ultimate hack, but in truth, it’s hard as hell.
We don’t want to let go. You might already have had that reaction to some of the things I’ve written: “But I like my (insert the thing you’re attached to here)! Why should I let go of it?”
Because of your attachment.
If you get in the habit of letting yourself hold on to all your attachments, you’re going to develop many difficulties in life. Maybe you already are dealing with those difficulties. Practicing letting go is a way to greater happiness, health, and focus.
So practice. In small doses, try noticing your attachment, and letting go of it, just for a few minutes.
Try letting go of your distractions and need to be updated for one hour. See what that’s like.
Try letting go of your electronics for two hours. What can you open up to instead?
Try letting go of your usual comforts, for one day. What deliciousness can you experience instead?
Try letting go of the things you want to buy, for one week (no buying anything but necessities like soap and toilet paper). What is that like?
Practice letting go, just for a little bit. Every day.
This daily practice is how you master it. And that’s mastering life.
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