How To Lose Weight
The chime on Lisa’s phone was one I hadn’t heard before. “What is that?” I ask.
“It’s AirBnB,” Lisa says while reading the incoming message. “Wow, someone wants to rent our home. For 3 1/2 months. Starting in about a week.”
Homeless for the winter? What would we do? Where would we go? How would we celebrate the holidays?
A million reasons to pass on this one. It would take no time to come up with 10 quick ones.
Except it took our family less than 60 seconds — an animated discussion got underway — planning for the ultimate winter adventure. Mentally, our bags were already packed.
It wasn’t so long ago that a conversation about being homeless and embarking on a new adventure at a moment’s notice wouldn’t even get off the ground for us. My job and our daughter’s brick-and-mortar school were like glue that kept me stuck.
But, it wasn’t the job, the school, or any other system or institution holding me down. It was simply letting my belief system be covered up by other people’s belief systems. Other people’s time. Other people’s goals. Weight I let stick to me.
Much has changed for my family and me over the past year. I share most of these changes and evolutions right here at Sunday Morning Joe.
Not because you have a job to quit or an ocean to cross.
But each of us have a gap in our lives — and all of us need to become more aware of the weight that holds us back.
Sometimes, it is actually our own physical weight (it was for me.) But, go a layer deeper and it gets exponentially heavier.
The weight of time — or lack of it.
The weight of poor choices that leads to poor habits.
The weight of negative people.
The weight of presenting all our outside stuff to the world which suffocates an inner voice.
Countless times in my life I’ve found myself weighted down by the power of a river, which like life, applies endless opposition until I counter with one critically important concept:
Less Is More
The pursuit of better is built on a decluttered foundation, not on a pile of unwanted weight.
Unload the weight. Slowly. Consistently. Deliberately.
Less stuff Is More room to experience.
Less negative people Is More time to serve the relationships that matter.
Less noise Is More capacity to challenge conventional thinking.
Less technology Is More connection with your Inner Voice.
Less consumption of TV, Facebook, etc. Is More space in which to create.
Less thinking about what to do Is More momentum towards doing what’s important.
The added weight of the holidays is almost upon us. If closing out 2015 with Less resonates with you, sign up here for More.
As America’s first ever Olympic Gold Medalist in Whitewater Canoe Slalom, Joe promotes strategies and shares stories for living and performing at your best, doing the work that matters and engaging with purpose. His platforms include performance coaching and consulting, professional speaking, broadcasting and his weekly newsletter, “Sunday Morning Joe.”
