Resisting the lure of another’s request can be difficult.

“The fear of offending can be stronger than the fear of pain” Steig Larsson – The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo”

But to find your self, to find simplicity, to hold the chaos at bay – you need to say no to everything that doesn’t matter.  Practice saying no to everything by default, and only make rare exceptions to your new rule.  

Let go –  Let go of things, let go of situations, and especially let go of people.  The only person you can control is yourself.  Don’t try to control everything and everyone.  Give everyone their space to breathe and learn and grow.  

Like any process there are steps you can follow, and like any habit, the more you practice the better you will become.

People make mistakes – whats important is to learn a lesson from it and never repeat the same mistake again

Its hard to resist the siren’s call of a thousands of cable channels, millions of online posts and a free and ubiquitous online network overflowing with the sum of humanity’s knowledge:

The Internet contains everything in the whole wide world ever.  I don’t know about you, but I find everything in the whole wide world ever to be a bit distracting.” Dave Gorman

Unplug, even if it’s only for a half hour. Even a half hour’s respite from the chaotic flow of life can be refreshing and recharging

Make your bed every single day. It may sound simple and even stupid, but start every day by making your bed – a very simple yet effective task.  Charles Duhigg wrote about this habit in his book The Power of Habit.  He writes “Making your bed every morning is correlated with better productivity, a greater sense of well being …”

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed – Adm William H. McRaven

University of Texas at Austin 2014 Commencement Address – Adm William H McRaven

Read – read everyday be it a newspaper, an article a book, magazine, journal.   – It will give you a greater perspective on the life that surrounds you.  Reading improves your memory, it builds strong analytical skills, increases your concentration and will bring you new skill sets in your understanding of various cultures and customs.

Eat Properly – “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

Make time to relax everyday.  Make time for yourself, sit down relax your mind – meditate, do yoga. pray.  As you sift through your day’s events feel each memory, savour it for a moment and then let it wash away from you as the waves on the shore of your mind.

Make lists – lists remove trival things from you mind, they free the clutter in your mind so that you can concentrate on what matters. 

Journal daily – journaling helps you let go of the unproductive, hones your sense of what is,  and what is not important and helps you focus in on the positive in your sphere.  Plus the act of writing, putting your thoughts to paper, scribbling and doodling all work together to help exercise, and exorcise, your mind…

It takes courage and isn’t easy. But your life will be simpler and more profound.