What are you going to Let Go?

Image Courtesy: Paul Gilmore, Unsplash.com

Everybody knows about to-do lists. We make them to get things done everyday, week or month. But how efficient are we when we are so focused on reaching our goals and don’t realize the unhealthy practices we adopt that create obstacles for us?

For example, if my goal were to complete a task that requires weaving words that form a meaningful pattern then a notification on my mobile would break my chain of thought. Picking up the thought would depend on my ability to not attend to the uninvited distraction. But a distraction, even momentarily, could be the difference between failure and success.

Imagine, you are in a 100 meter sprint, you know you are in first position because all you can see is the finish line. You shift your gaze from the finish line for a split second and before you say “Jack Robinson”, someone has overtaken you by a hair. You would be gutted, as I was when it happened to me in 9th grade.

It’s human to get sidetracked and we can tell ourselves to not allow our focus to waiver. However, it's easier said than done. So here is a technique to improve our efficiency. It is an inventory of habits or behaviors that when changed or discarded would improve the quality of our lives. It’s called a stop-doing list. All the things that come in the way of achieving your agenda or goal become part of your not-to-do list. It could be things that make you unhappy or stressed; it could be habits that impede your professional progress or behaviors that ruin relationships.

Writing down the things that you want to stop doing is essential for its success. When you pen it down, you are making a statement acknowledging what you value most. You are making a commitment to yourself. It is a strong empowerment action, which helps you commit to those goals even more. You become more conscious about how you are spending or wasting your time. You become aware and more motivated to stop doing it the next time.

Sometimes, your stop-doing list will be bigger than your to-do list. It is nothing to be ashamed of since the aim is to eliminate self-created hurdles in your path to success.

To jump start this system, here is a stop-doing list that may resonate with you.

I WILL STOP…

Spending Time with the Wrong People. We all know of a few people who are always whining or complaining about anything and everything. Everyone has problems so you can do away with people who are chronically negative or unkind.

Trying to Change People. The truth is that people aren’t always going to behave the way we want them to. You really only have control over your own feelings, beliefs and actions. You can show others the way you want to be treated, but ultimately, they will do what they are going to do. It is up to you to accept them as they are or walk away.

Settling for Less Than I Deserve. A simple compromise here and there can quickly turn into a new normal.

Doing the Easy Stuff. It’s difficult to do things out of our comfort zone but that doesn’t help us grow.

Doing It All On My Own. Asking for help is not a bad thing, neither does it reflect badly on you.

Some other areas that are worth exploring could be…

Expecting others to make you happy

Listening to negative self-talk or limiting beliefs or

Storing past regrets or grudges.

Saying "Yes" all the time.

Over-committing.

In short, give some thought to what and why you are doing things every day that are not contributing to your goal. Making room for more of the good stuff in your life is vital to your overall well-being.