How can I achieve more by simplifying my life?

How can I achieve more by simplifying my life? I think this is one of my favourite TED talks ever. Bethany Butzer achieved a PhD in psychology, but then quit her job at Harvard Medical School because it no longer felt authentic. She struggled with self-doubt and perfectionism, and was treated with anti-depressants and therapy.

Bethany then made her health and well-being her priority, and took up yoga, meditation and personal development. She also realised that she was addicted to achievement, which led her to overwork towards goals and then burn out.

Being constantly busy affects our heath and well-being. We need to try to make things easier for ourselves by focussing our efforts on areas that are more meaningful to us. Bethany calls this “downstream effort” because it is in the same direction as the current, or flow of our life, and we are more likely to be in psychological flow.

Success means different things to different people, and we need to define what authentic success looks like for ourself. This helps us make decisions in life to help us reach our authentic goals.

The simplest way to do this is by working out our own values, and then staying true to them. They will act as our compass to guide us through life in the direction of downstream effort.

Top performers remind themselves of their dream, and how they will feel when they achieve it, when they come up against obstacles, which motivates them to continue towards their goal.

We need to understand our values and feelings, and then use them to make authentic life decisions. Although it sounds simple, our authentic life choices often differ from what friends and family think we should be doing. What is important is to live your life with integrity.

Downstream effort feels like being in psychological flow, where we are utterly absorbed in what we are doing and lose track of time. Our effort feels effortless, and authentic success is likely to follow. This feels successful to us, no matter how it looks to other people.

Sometimes we need to change direction in order to make room for downstream effort. This may involve giving something up. Bethany suggests we “stop trying so hard at things that don’t matter to you, and start trying at things that do”, which I think is one of the most powerful suggestions I have read in a long time.

I have decided to simplify my life, to slow things down to reduce my stress levels and improve my well-being. Living authentically, according to my values, is definitely improving my life so far. Hopefully this talk will inspire you to look at your values, so you can attempt to life your own life as authentically as possible!

Project 365

I set up this website after deciding that I want to build a more creative life for myself, so I can give up my job and be in control of my own destiny.

I have set myself a goal of publishing an article on my website every day this year, to document my journey from employment to self-employment.

The name I chose was Project 365 because I see this as a year that I have dedicated to learning and self-development, as I countdown to freedom. It started on 1st January 2021, so I have 299 days to go!

Why not check in on a regular basis to see how I am progressing, and what I have discovered?