It is at the end of one calendar year and beginning of the next that we give some thought to our lives. What has the past year been like? What are my hopes for the future? And we either make resolutions or resolve NOT to make resolutions.
I’m going to encourage you to take a different approach – that still involves the reflection but has the ability to take things off your “to do” list, to simplify your life, and to create space and breathing room. In our Evergreen Leadership process, we call this shedding. It is based on a simple, natural trait that evergreens possess – and one that makes them so resilient, and able to thrive in a multitude of environments – even hostile ones. Unlike deciduous trees, that experience deep and long cycles, evergreens remain in a steady state of “green” by shedding a little of what they no longer need every single day. You’ll not see a bare evergreen, but you will see green ones all year long with a carpet of shed needles – testament to the fact that although virtually invisible, new growth has replaced old growth in a never-ending process.
This idea of removing rather than adding shows up in Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Analysis. As Lewin studied what forces helping organizations moved forward toward their goals, he noted that there were two forces at work – those that helped forward progress (accelerators) and those that held progress back (resistance). While it takes both, Lewin found that the action that produced the best forward progress was to remove or reduce the forces of resistance. Here is an easy example. You are in your car and you have one foot on the gas pedal and the other on the brake. You want to go faster. Taking your foot off the brake will enable you to go much faster, even without giving the car even more gas. With your foot on the brake, you will never be able to realize the full acceleration of the car.
So what might happen if you began to shed things from your life?
Here are some thought starters of things you might shed:
- A work project that is no longer providing value to anyone
- Busywork
- A volunteer commitment that drains you
- A long standing grudge that you carry
- People who bring you down rather than build you up
- Beliefs that no longer serve you well
- Doubt, fear or insecurity
- “Stuff” in your life that takes more energy to maintain or care for than it returns to you
- Sustained contact with negative people
- Work that saps your energy and spirit
- Clutter
- Unfinished projects that are highly unlikely to ever be finished
- Unrealistic expectations of perfection
- The need to control
- The need to “do”
Shedding some of these will take some effort. Clearing physical or emotional clutter takes time. But it is a onetime investment – whereas if the clutter remains, it drains you day in and day out. There was nothing more freeing than an afternoon where I sorted through my craft closet and gave away at least 10 project that I had started but was unlikely to finish. A bit painful, but until I did that, I never realized how, even though they were hidden away in a closet, there was always a bit of me thinking I needed to tackle them.
Freeing yourself of toxic relationships (even casual ones) and draining or unproductive work also is a journey – but the energy spent purging them from your life is far better spent than the energy they suck from your life a little bit at a time.
Shedding inner thought and beliefs also requires work – deep inner work to identify and examine and then evaluate them. But letting go of a grudge or a belief like “I don’t have what it takes.” Or “I always screw things up.” Or “I don’t deserve to be happy.” all yield amazing forward momentum when shed.
So, while I tackle cleaning the clutter out of my office, what are you going to shed? I’d love to add to the list above – what other things might we shed to lighten our load, free our energy, or make room for something that is life enhancing?
