January – it is the early stages of a new year.
A tempting time to compile lists of achievements to aim for. And possibly to set oneself up to fail.
Life as we comfortably knew it is on its head, so I say we have enough flux and change and uncertainty to deal with.
So this year I decided to simplify further, even my To Do lists.
I will not be writing monthly challenge emails, as I did every month in 2020, as I will not be challenging myself monthly this year. For those interested, I wrote a post which discussed what I learnt from these challenges.
This year my focus will be on my essentials, divided into the same 4 categories I used for my monthly challenges last year:
- Health (water, exercise, nutrition)
- Wealth (learning and creating meaningful work)
- Self (meditation, journaling, fun)
- Social (connecting with friends and family)
An example of these 4 categories in use can be seen here in a post about October 2020 challenges.
And everything within these 4 will be guided by the life advice or personal philosophy I have garnered along the way:
- Get outdoors (Health, Wealth, Self, Social)
- Breathe (Health, Self, Wealth)
- Keep It Simple (Health, Wealth, Self, Social)
As such here follows some simple life advice for living a good, simple life:
Get outdoors
Every day!
I will continue to preach this, forever.
Take deep breaths, move your body, change your perspective. And let the naturally good vibes roll in!
- Close the laptop.
- Put the phone down.
- Feel the breeze and the temperature of the sun.
- Take a few deep breaths.
- And let a sense of healthy perspective return.
Breathe
- to start the day, with meditation
- when things are feeling too much, too busy, too fragmented
- every 45 mins or so from the screen
- at the end of the day, to wind down.
Breathe. It is our life force. Prana. Chi. Energy.
Learn to meditate.
There are so many resources out there to support you.
I use the Calm app.
I hear Waking Up is great too, but living an intentionally simple life, I will use only 1 meditation app at a time (no affiliate links, just advice).
Meditation doesn’t have to be complicated.
Just a pause to be still, breathe, and slow down.
Keep It All Simple
Keep it ALL simple.
Keep that word – simple – in your mind whatever you do.
It is possible to simplify so many things to make your days and life easier, and therefore more pleasurable.
Whether you are:
- Preparing food
- how about eating a range of colours, and considering raw is better.
- Writing
- try keeping sentences short and using simple words.
- Exercising
- get outdoors and walk, or run, swim. No complicated gear required.
- Making plans
- give yourself space between activities
- Doing work
- have a simple schedule if you like planning,
- or set a timer to work in shorter productive bursts,
- prioritise one thing.
- Doing the laundry
- separate lights and darks,
- buy non-iron clothes,
- only wash 3x a week – depending on your circumstances.
- And on… these are just some examples of what I try to do, but adapt them to your situation and needs.
Whatever you do, decide to do it in a simple way that suits you.
Because why complicate and clutter life when you could clear and create breathing space?
- Keep it ALL simple.
- Do a little less.
- Own a little less.
- Eat a little less junk.
- Try on a simple wardrobe.
- Try to accomplish a little less, some days.
- Live a little more!
What will you try out?
So in simple summery summary:
Remember to live.
To pause.
To breathe.
To get outdoors.
To get into nature.
To do one thing at a time.
And to keep it ALL simple!
And if you like beach pics and quotes and simple living, please visit my instagram page at asimplebeautifullifesa.
Thanks for reading.
