Do less

I know that doing less is very uncomfortable. Particularly when we are told we need more, we need to be better and work harder at nearly every turn. It feels wrong, lazy, selfish to do less. And perhaps that is the very reason we need to practice this skill.

Behaviorally, there is no contest that building on small successes over time is the best way to establish and maintain new habits. Doing less can actually be more effective than trying overhaul your life and habits all at once. Typically what results from the overhaul is a pendulum swing back and forth from frenetic energy to complete malaise and back again. Obviously that will not do well for sustainability and maintaining habits.

Typically when clients come into a session with goals, I tell them to cut their ideas of what they should do in half, then in half again, then in half again, starting with a fraction of their ideal. Because we want long-term success, and not just a short stint of changed behaviors.