Fish are scaled. Teeth are scaled. Images are scaled. And so, too, should we scale our lives.
Making big changes all at once can be difficult, if not futile. But making small changes, a little bit at a time, can make a big difference.
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.” —Albert Einstein
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” —Confucius
Consider how these three “small” changes can affect you.
Coffee
If you’re among the 83% of Americans who drink coffee, simply make sure to drink black coffee. Black coffee is a whole food. It contains antioxidants and highly-coveted caffeine, which should increase your metabolism while providing you with mental acuity and heightened physical performance. Of course, if you want to sully the effects of coffee, add cream and sugar. You will 10x caloric content, slow caffeine delivery, enjoy a sugar “high” and then a “low,” and be well on your way to gaining unwanted weight.
Outsource
Do you have any necessary (but outsource-able) tasks that extract much-needed time from your life? If, for instance, you do not greet mopping and vacuuming with a smile and open arms, hire a housecleaner. If you dread yardwork every weekend, hire a gardener. If you do not consistently make time to buy high-quality produce, there are now companies that deliver groceries. And while once reserved for the ultra-affluent, it is now fairly affordable to hire a chef to cook meals for you at your home (or even better, to cook meals at his/her home and then deliver them to yours). This type of outsourcing is not for everyone, but if you find yourself consistently mad-dogging the clock because you have more passion than time, consider scaling your life accordingly.
Clothes
It is fairly well accepted that students who wear school uniforms have more time in the morning than their self-ruling counterparts. Unfortunately, instead of taking a page from the student playbook, many professionals seem to invest far too much time in a ritualistic selection process requiring layered garments, accessories, and mirrors (and even a second or third opinion). While you don’t need to arrive at the other extreme (picture Mark Zuckerberg and his characteristic grey shirt), there is great value in a life-scaled ritual. Devote enough thought to the development of your ritual or routine, and then allow it to become a natural part of your life. Try this: assign one ensemble to each workday in your week. Assign the same ensemble to the same workday in the following week. Do this for one month, and see if you notice a difference. As Zuckerberg famously noted regarding why he wears a grey t-shirt every day, “I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community.”
Life-scaling techniques should be introduced incrementally, and their effects should be surprising, especially regarding productivity, lifestyle, and happiness. Similarly, business-scaling techniques can be implemented by small businesses to increase morale, motivation, sales, and customer satisfaction. ABS has expert consultants in life-scaling and business-scaling. Reach out to us today. Let’s have a conversation about your needs.