Wouldn’t you like to make anything you do easier? We all say we do, but we don’t. Not really.
Ever have just the right answer to something you’re working on land right in your lap out of the blue?
I mean the exact thing you need right now… in your lap… like it fell from heaven? Something that made it easier.
Well, a very simple question to ask yourself before you take on most any new task or project did just that for me, and I’m going to share it with you in a moment. No looking ahead!
Something I’ve been publishing each week on LinkedIn for a while is what I call the week’s Essential Question.
The question can be somewhat provocative at times, but not always. The goal is to get you to think about everyday things from a different perspective…
To dive just a little deep than what you’re used to.
This week’s question wasn’t vexing at all. It was more of a gentle smack to the noggin to help you clear your buffer and get to the bare bones of any task at hand.
Why? Because we humans are cursed with many flaws—not the least of which is an eternal desire to complicate absolutely everything… until it’s beyond recognition. We are masters at making anything, especially life, far more complicated than it needs to be.
So here goes—how to make anything easier…
Think of a project or a task you need to get done. It’s better if it happens to be that something you’ve been putting off—Sorry, I forgot, you don’t procrastinate.
Here’s a newsflash—EVERYBODY procrastinates! And one of the reasons they do, I believe, is they scare themselves away by dreaming up how difficult this thing might become.
Back to that endeavor you’ve not been procrastinating. Ponder it long enough to where you can see it in your head. Let it start to take form.
Visualize it. Is it beginning to feel big? Getting even bigger and clearer?
Good. Now stop and ask yourself this question…
If this were easy, what would it look like?”
— Tim Ferriss, author of the 4-Hour Workweek
I’m betting you’ve conjured up a rather elaborate creation… am I right?
One even worthy of an award?
You’ve heard that making a mountain out of a molehill expression, right? Well, I know a guy who can make a molehill into an entire mountain range. Don’t be that guy.
Now let go of that image. Completely. Clear your buffer and start again.
Ask yourself, “If this were easy, what would it look like?” How does that feel? You’re keeping things simpler, less complex. You’re not adding to the mix unnecessarily. It’s working, isn’t it?
So, the next time a project, or whenever life is beginning to look too complicated and overwhelming… And before letting your imagination get ahead of itself, remember the question, “If this were easy, what would it look like?”
Let your creativity run wild with that.
Take a nice long, deep breath. Relax. And remember, except for rare life-and-death matters, nothing is or needs to be as complicated as it first seems. Most anything can be easy, or at least easier if you don’t make it difficult, to begin with.
Be untucked.
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Copyright © 2020 Jeff Meister – All Rights Reserved
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