Dropping Dead Weight: Traveling Light
Let’s begin with the concept of “drag”. Drag occurs as a result of many different things such as emotional vampires, too much debt and uncontrolled spending, addictions, and too many options in decision making.
Emotional vampires are those people who, no matter how much you do for them or give them, they always want more. These people will drain your energy, your drive, and your will. Do yourself a favor and eliminate them from your life. They will take too much of your time, they won’t respect boundaries, and you will be wasting precious energy on someone who doesn’t appreciate your efforts but, instead sees you as a vehicle for their immediate gratification.
Debt and uncontrolled spending will forever keep you a slave to your masters (creditors/retailers) and will severely limit your options for your future. Learn to delay gratification and free up options for your future. Likewise, addictions, whatever they may be, will keep you focused only on serving your master. Free yourself and become your own master.
Often, we think that if we have multiple options regarding any decision we make, that we are better off. Not true. Studies show that too many options presented actually hinder effective decision making. Instead, strive to narrow options down to the best few and decide from there rather than considering every option available.
Distractions also keep us from moving forward. If working on a task, turn off the phones, turn off the email alerts and avoid the temptation to check email multiple times daily. Often, these things are nothing more than an excuse to deviate from the task at hand because of our limited attention spans. The best approach most often is to “power through” a task from start to finish ignoring all else. So, if you are serious about attaining your dreams, then you need to get serious about “managing” your life or someone or something will do it for you. You have the power to soar to new heights in your life and your pursuits but, to get there, you need to learn to eliminate drag and distraction and travel light.
Any other approach virtually guarantees needless failure. It’s completely unrealistic to think that you can carry a ton of weight around your neck and function at full capacity. Free yourself up and allow your creativity to flow unimpeded by drag and distraction. Now is your time to shine. Make it happen!