05 Feb If you want more happiness, DO LESS of these 14 things…
Here at The Happiness Institute we usually focus on positive things to do MORE OF if you want to enjoy MORE happiness and success.
But sometimes happiness requires doing LESS of certain things; or stopping specific actions or thoughts.
This article provides some suggestions with 14 things you must do less of …
from ProlificLiving.com
You’ve heard it. Less is more.
I first heard this counter-intuitive phrase in reference to fancy restaurants. You know, the ones which serve you up a teeny tiny portion of elaborate food on a fancy plate with a shocking price tag. Less is more. Less is more attractive, more desirable, and creates a higher sense of scarcity and desire, they insisted.
That made no sense to me. Less is less. More is more. What kind of wacky marketing are they using to sell this message? And who would be foolish enough to believe it?
Now I finally get it. Less is more and it’s not just with eating less (although it doesn’t have to come with the price tag of a 5-star restaurant either!).
Less is more in many areas of our lives because over-indulgence, as you may have found out through sweet experience, is not the way to either success or happiness.
The lure of over-indulgence and mindless accumulation
Over-indulgence and mindless accumulation are the surest way to confusion, frustration and even misery. Sweet, tempting and desirable as they seem on the surface, they are not a way to a happy heart for the long-term.
They can give you a momentary sense of delight or pleasure but that evaporates after a day or a week, and you come crashing down fast from their empty promise of happiness.
And if you are not careful, your lows will lure you into going back for more. Maybe you didn’t get quite enough: maybe you didn’t eat quite grandiosely enough, drink quite heavily enough, work quite hard enough or spend quite extravagantly enough.
And maybe that’s why you are not quite yet happy enough.
So, you talk yourself into doing just a little more – buy more, eat more, work more, drink more – then maybe the magic will happen. But no matter how much you do, you feel further from the promise land.
Your inner voice screams at you about how insane this all is, and to stop, to slow down, to be more intentional and less anxious. But that’s neither interesting nor sexy because you have lofty goals and doing less is sure to yield in average results.
Well, I don’t care about average any more than you do so I would never dispense any advice that would give you an average anything in your life. Average is boring and uninteresting, I agree but more is not the answer to, well, more.
The problem with more: More does not necessarily result in better, higher and happier anything. More is a reaction we have to not knowing the real answer. And when we don’t know any better, we do more of what is familiar in hopes that it all “adds up”.
I know it’s counter-intuitive but some facts of life are just so:
Eat less to feel better.
Drink less to enjoy life more.
Work less to get promoted and get a raise.
Spend less to have more.
And you may need to do more of certain other things (fodder for another blog post, hmmm!) in order to reach your goals and dreams, but today, let us focus on less and here’s why.
Your mind and your heart are your treasure boxes. You can’t add new wonderful things into your treasure box until you take out or do less of what’s not working.
Today we empty the box. We look inside. We clean it out and get it ready. We become both conscious and intentional of what goes into the box and we prepare the box for a great treasure hunt ahead.
14 Things to Do Less to Get More Success and Joy in Life Now
1. Eat less: I was shocked by how much I eat, thanks to calorie tracking with MyFitnessPal. Mindless eating, emotional eating and social eating can lead to those extra pounds that make you curse the scale down the road and go on a radical diet in reaction. Just eat less. Research has shown that you are far healthier if you stop eating before you are really full. Try it for a week. You’ll feel, shall I say, more satisfied, not to mention healthier?
2. Buy less. Ever since I fell into an accidental minimalist, I feel more content. Me! The over-consumer, materialistic, stuff-loving gal. I haven’t gone into radical extremes. I admit, I still buy stuff I don’t need but want, and I am not ashamed of it. But I am very intentional about my purchases. Buy with a clear mind and never on an impulse.
3. Watch less TV. I didn’t say watch no TV (or telly). Watch just a little less. Give your mind a chance to consume higher quality of information (and entertainment). Watch less mindless TV. If there are 3 TV shows that bring you joy, watch them, but if you turn on the TV because you are bored, do less of that…
…keep reading the full list HERE