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“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary can speak”
Hans Hoffman
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Home  Organize Your Wellness The Organized Good Life Three Steps to Double your Energy Today
Living the Good Life
Three Steps to Double your Energy Today
ARTICLE RATING One of the fastest ways to increase your energy is to eliminate everything you tolerate. Tolerations are things you put up with, bear, and endure. They range from something as small as a leaky faucet to something as significant as your children treating you disrespectfully. Tolerations drain your energy. Tolerations block the sunshine. This quote pretty much says it all. To live your best life you’ve got to eliminate everything standing in your way. So let’s get started! Step 1: Identify Your Tolerations Here are some general categories of things you might be tolerating. They can be routine or more serious. Tolerations are things: • You’re putting up with • You don’t you like about your life or work: That irritate you • That make you angry • That need to be fixed Tolerations aren’t always “in your face”. Sometimes you don’t realize what you’re tolerating until something happens. Luisa worked for a large Oil and Gas company. She basically had an office at home and as well as the "office". Even on weekends she answered email and phone calls. On vacations she checked messages and respond to "emergencies". One night, she finished a report, turned off her computer and heard a little girl singing the most beautiful song. It sounded like someone on Broadway. She figured the kids were watching TV. But when the song ended, her husband and sons shouted “Bravo” and clapped. Luisa ran downstairs. Her daughter wore a frilly white dress and bowed low before the boys. She’d been taking singing lessons and had a concert that night. No one had told Luisa because she’d been “swamped”. She really didn’t have the time. A lot of times when you get organized, you focus on what you do want. Looking at tolerations is a different approach…looking at what you don’t want. Now, go ahead and list all of your tolerations. You may have 200, you may have 50. Sometimes, like in Luisa’s case, your tolerations might be hidden. So, if you have trouble, just go back one day or look at everything that has happened since you got out of bed. Step 2: Zap Your Tolerations “Our life is frittered away by detail…Simplify, simplify”. Henry David Thoreau Imagine you're a hot air balloon and that each thing you tolerate is a weight on the balloon. Eliminate a toleration and you're lighter. Zap all of them and you break free to fly. When you eliminate your tolerations you’re going to free up an incredible amount of energy. The fastest way to double your sustainable energy is to drop a weight from the balloon… eliminate a toleration. Before you zap your tolerations, look at your list. Notice how some things you're tolerating will be much easier to take care of than others? For example, let's look at five possible tolerations: 1. I'm not happy with my hair 2. My partner constantly loses things 3. I'm tired of the color of my house 4. My office is cluttered, my desk is overwhelmed with paper 5. I'm invaded by telemarketing calls To get momentum, have more energy and feel more powerful, it's best to organize your list from easiest to hardest and start with the easiest. In this example, you might rearrange the list to: 1. I'm not happy with my hair 2. I'm invaded by telemarketing calls 3. My desk is overwhelmed with paper 4. I'm tired of the color of my house 5. My partner constantly loses things Now that your list is organized, start with the easiest and begin to eliminate every single toleration. Using the five examples, let's look at five approaches: 1. Do it yourself. You probably don't have the skill to style your hair. But, if you're physically able, you could, paint your house. You can definitely organize your office. 2. Get someone else to do it. Or, as the joke goes, "throw money at it". If you've got the money, this is the fastest and easiest way to eliminate many tolerations. Find a master stylist for you hair. Pick out a paint color and call the painters. Hire a professional organizer to work on your office. 3. Get rid of it. There’s a joke, the best two days of a boat owner’s life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it. There are so many things we do that don’t really matter and no one cares about. As we get rid of things we create energy for the things that matter. One of my clients continued to attend meetings at a professional association that no longer met his needs. After he identified it as a toleration, he quit. Another client hates yard work. She bought a condo. In our example list, while you could "get rid" of everything you're tolerating, you probably don't want to shave your head, sell the house, throw everything in the office into the garbage and get a divorce. The invasive calls are another story. Sign up with the National Do Not Call Registry and you won't receive telemarketing calls at home. However, the registry doesn't include charitable foundations. Therefore the second step to getting rid of this toleration is Caller ID. Notice how the first three approaches were tangible? You or someone else actually takes action. With the “Head Zap” approach it’s all about changing the way you look at it. Make a few twists and turns with your hair, add barrettes, etc. for a different perspective. Spend some time reconsidering the color of your house. Did you love it years ago? Maybe you can love it again. Play around with different ideas and you'll find your answer. 5. Accept it. (internal/intangible) Head Zap I was playing bridge with a group of friends and I posed the question..."What are you tolerating in your life that you have decided to accept rather than change?" Every answer had something to do with a husband! I shouldn't have been surprised because in any long-term relationship we accept things about our partner. The key to accepting a toleration without allowing it to drain our energy is to stop reacting. For example, a client whose husband can't find things chooses not to participate in his drama. When he loses something she doesn't react and he deals with the situation himself (they've been happily married for 38 years). Step 3: Make the Commitment The bottom line is that you don’t want to give any of your precious energy toward living with tolerations. As simple as it sounds, this is a proven way to increase both the clarity in your life and your energy, to feel more powerful and ultimately open up the space to live Your Life, Your Way. Like the quote at the beginning said, to allow the necessary to speak. So make the commitment to eliminate every single toleration!  RELATED ARTICLES |
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