To do anything well, it requires you to sit with it. To give it your thought, attention, time. To be with it, fully. To grow it, slowly. To allow for intense flow and times of more rest.

The past month I’ve been doing a lot less training. It’s been a conscious decision. I also told you about my effort to be less on my phone.

As I slowed down with these things, I felt fear raising up in me. 

Was I going to lose my edge? Was people going to forget me if I didn’t post as often online? Was I going to leave momentum behind and become “lazy”?

Lot of doubts filled my mind with this change of pace. But as I embraced more and more this “less busy” version of my life, I quickly started to notice parts of myself I never gave full attention to. I realized how I used training at times as a shield to the outside world. How I hid in it, isolating myself in order to maintain a sense of control only training seemed to provide. I neglected in person connections, complaining about being alone or people “living online”, yet being myself part of the problem. 

The other day I attended an outdoor full moon meditation event. As we lay down and got ready to meditate, the music started to play. I allowed myself to relax and feel the wind above me, watching the moonlight slowly claiming more space, as the sky darkened. As I closed my eyes, tears started running down my cheeks. I felt…

tired, tired of running.

I wanted to let myself be, just I didn’t know how. I was tired of chasing love, trying to be better all the time, staying “busy” (because busy means productive, right?), proving my worth or success. It has gotten exhausting.

This was another sign that doing less wasn’t just something I wanted to do for a weekend, it was a mindset I wanted to embrace: to live more fully, intentionally, even after coming back to my full training schedule. To shift through the bullshit and reclaim what was really important.

HOW CAN WE DO LESS AND GET MORE OUT OF LIFE?

SLOW DOWN.

My bestie Candis is a huge advocate on the matter. She has influenced me enormously. The first step to reclaim your life is to become more present with how you spend your days, and it requires you to slow down. (Check her out here!)

DO ONE THING AT A TIME.

Are you one of those people answering an email while ordering coffee, while talking on the phone? Stop. If you need more time, wake up earlier. Nothing is more unproductive than trying to juggle 10 things at the same time.

SIT WITH A PROJECT LONG TERM (GET OVER INSTANT GRATIFICATION).

As I said at the beginning, to do something well you gotta sit with it. Choose one of the many projects you might have, that looked too big or scary (writing a book, creating a business plan and follow it) and start. Drop the rest. Let it take the time it takes, feel your resistance, yet keep moving toward that goal. Delay instant gratification for a bigger return. We forget that great things take time.

TAKE IN THE BEAUTY OF NOW. NO MORE WAITING.

We are conditioned to wait for something “big” to happen before we can be happy. To get to our perfect weight, to earn more money, to find the love we crave… we think we gotta “do more to get more”. Life is begging you to pay attention now, instead. In the simplicity of this moment there is so much to appreciate and pay attention to. There is nothing you gotta do, nowhere you gotta go. If you’re conditioned to wait (or run), when a wonderful moment actually happens, you won’t have the practice under your belt to enjoy it. Life is here now, not in your memories or perfect fantasies.

When I wake up in the morning sometimes I smile, thinking “How generous life is! Another day, another chance to get it right!”

Till next time.