Arts
Saying no more often could lead to a more curated and enjoyable life, by Real Window Creative, read by Megan Kumakura. Support us on Patreon for much more at https://www.patreon.com/realwindowcreative “The pieces I chose were based on one thing only — a gasp of delight. Isn’t that the only way to curate a life?” ― Maira Kalman, My Favorite Things The Onslaught of Things Every single day, my inbox is full of valuable offers for things I can acquire that will supposedly enhance my life. My favorite is an email I get every few days from B&H Photo. They sell a lot more than just photography gear and send out a daily deal email with three or four items heavily discounted. I love electronic gadgets and over the years this one has drawn me in the most times. Heck there is not tax and the shipping is free! So I see it, click in and purchase that Police Scanner I apparently could not live without. Or another Bluetooth speaker, set of headphones or earbuds, even special finger-less gloves. Then there’s the two microscopes that take up and entire workbench in my office. Or the outdated Tamron Photovix that I had to have, but have never used. Start Saying No In an article by Michael Simmons titled Warren Buffett: “Really Successful People Say No To Almost Everything” he writes “When Bill Gates first met Warren Buffett, their host, Gates’ mother, asked everyone around the table to share the single most important factor to their success.” Gates and Buffett both gave the same one-word answer: “Focus.” My interpretation, gleaned from a lifetime of studying what successful people do, sounds like this. Say no to everything that does not add value to, or is not in alignment with my mission. In other words, ruthless prioritizing and curation. I stopped going to the grocery store years ago, my food is now delivered. Same with the lawn, the 4 to 8 hours I save every few weeks not doing those tasks can be spent creating new artwork, or writing. I decided to say no to spending my time on these two tasks, instead using it for tasks more aligned with my passion. These decisions took a while, Its likely counter intuitive for most of us. Doesn’t doing more actually bring abundance and opportunities into my life? The answer is not always yes. Recently, I also stopped answering the phone for all the automated sales calls. It was irritating, same recording over and over from different numbers. I now spend the time saved to block the phone number. This choice effectively replaces the discomfort with a feeling of accomplishment, just one choice. I’m not sure why, but there were no classes on decision making from elementary school through to college. Looking back, it’s clear that I could use some coaching in this area. This idea has brought writing on Medium into a critical light for me. The jury is still out, more on that later. Read the entire article and enjoy illustrations on Medium. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/realwindowcreative/message