A Year of Less

As we head into a new year soon, I took a few minutes to sit and think about what I wanted the next year of my life to look like. I am always looking to simplify every aspect of my life and practice living with intentionality but oftentimes, I fall short of that goal, there are so many distractions out there that make it hard for me to practice simplicity all of the time. I hear a lot of talk about picking your WORD for the year, a keyword that will be your guide, your mantra, and your plan for the year coming up. I’ve seen people choose words like fearless, courageous, joyful, adventurous, playful, and so on. I love this idea but have a hard time coming up with just one word. It makes me a little anxious that I will pick the wrong one or that I’ll be so focused on the word that I will miss out on something else that I should have paid attention to.

I’ve never been a fan of New Year’s Resolutions, it’s always too much pressure, anxiety, and guilt when I fall short a few weeks into January. I just don’t hold myself accountable to resolutions. If you’ve never taken Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies Quiz, you must check it out! I took it and was surprised to find out that I’m a rebel. It did validate my behavior finding out I’m a rebel because a rebel breaks their own rules just because they can, they want to do things on their own terms and not be told what to do by society or even themselves. Well, at least that explains why I can never keep a resolution.

I still like the idea of a new year, a new start, and trying each year to improve. When I think about what I want in my life, it is always LESS - Less stuff, less commitments, less busyness, and less noise so I will choose that as my goal for the next year- LESS. When I feel that I’m doing too much or things are starting to overwhelm me, I will ask myself, what do I need to do to simplify this right now? Here are some of the areas in my life where I think LESS is MORE.

  • Less Worry - More Joy

  • Less Stress - More Peace

  • Less Talking- More Listening

  • Less Technology- More Reading

  • Less Spending- More Saving

  • Less Distractions- More Focus

  • Less Judgement - More Acceptance

  • Less Junk- More Health

  • Less Noise - More Quiet

  • Less Screentime - More Sleep

  • Less Expectations - More Adventures

  • Less Want- More Gratitude

What would you add to this list? I’d love to hear! I hope you have a great start to the new year and have a life full of what is most important to you. Sometimes that means we need to get rid of the clutter (both physical and mental) to focus on the most essential.

SimplicityErin SteeleDeclutter, new year, less is moreComment