- How do you lose fat? Diet more!
- How do you gain muscle? Train more!
- How do you become more successful? Work more!
The above is perhaps the most common advice you hear, and 2 years ago I would have agreed. But today I can tell you it's flat out wrong.
Doing more is a rookie's mistake. It's the knee-jerk reaction we get on a topic we know little about. It's why most people fail.
Why More Doesn't Work
Most problems in life aren't simple problems, they are complex systems that require more brain than brawn. For example:
A simple problem is a tight pickle jar that you have a hard time opening.
A complex problem is finding the ideal amount of pickle jars you need a year.
So while doing more often works in simple problems, it doesn't in complex problems. Just buying more pickle jars won't magically land you on the ideal amount of jars you need.
We've reached our limit
The other reason more doesn't work is that, in many ways, a lot of people have already reached their limit.
No, not their absolute limit. But most people are already doing the maximum amount they can within the current set-up. For example, if you track the evolution of cars you will find early designs being limited to X speed. That doesn't mean cars in general are limited to X - as we now know - but that this specific design is.
And that’s why we’re going to change your set-up from the roots, so you can get more done with less time and energy.
5 Ways to Do Less and Get More
1. Destroy wasteful activities.
Everyday you spend hours doing stuff that makes you more depressed, tired and poor.
Why would anybody do that, you might think. Well, why do smokers keep smoking or diabetics keep drinking barrels of soda?
They just do, we all do. So identify these activities and destroy them.
Like
- Obsessively checking Facebook
- Playing video games when you don't feel like it
- Going to the drive through in the morning
Solutions
- Put hard limits on these activities, e.g. once a day or 30 minutes total.
- Check your email and other messages only once a day
- Find alternative activities and hobbies that give you energy
You have a choice, exercise it! Take control of your life and start doing what you want to do.
2. Stop spending money on garbage food
You don't like fast food. Really, you don't. You just settle for it because you don't know any better. You have been conditioned to crave it and seek it out.
Next time you finish that double whopper, think how it makes you feel. Do you feel, "Wow, really enjoyed that delicious meal. Want to do that all over again!"
Or is it more like, "Goddamnit, why did I eat this crap!"?
Instead start buying and preparing your own meals. It's really easy and barely takes any time.
Start with sandwiches and wraps:
- Chicken/turkey slices from the deli
- A loaf sourdough bread or Corn tortillas
- Cheese: cheddar, mozzarella, brie, etc. or Avocado
- Seasonings like salt, pepper, mustard, hot sauce
- Veggies like tomatoes, lettuce, onion, peppers
You can make dozens of sandwiches and meals out of this above. We even have a new potato salad recipe.
3. Lower your expectations
You don't know it but you use high expectations as an excuse not to do anything. Lets see how that works.
 |
| No, we aren't there yet. |
It starts with you thinking “I want to lose weight at a rate of 3lbs/week.” Then when you notice you are only losing 1.9lbs/week, get discouraged, and quit.
Instead, don't even set expectations at all. Do you really care if you lose 0.5 or 2 pounds per week? If after 3 months you had lost only 15lbs and not 30, would it all have been a waste? With your old lifestyle you were gaining weight.
If you want to change that, just get started today. Focus on doing the right things, and you'll get there way faster than when you keep asking "ARE WE THERE YET, ARE WE THERE YET".
4. Take smaller bites
No, you can't wake up at 4am, go to the gym 7 days a week, and eat an 800 calorie diet. Most people fail because they try to do too much.
- If you are totally sedentary right now, focus on walking regularly.
- If you are going to the gym twice a week now, focus on training three times a week.
- If you are waking up at 7am, focus on getting up at 6:30. You do this, by the way, by going to bed before 10:30.
I know you want to turn into WonderWoman overnight, but it's just impossible. Not like, it's really hard, but actually impossible.
I've discovered this after working with over a thousand clients and giving everything I’ve got to try and get them to change as quickly as possible.
The result? Everybody made incremental improvements. Some bigger than others but everybody had to climb the ladder one step at a time.
5. Rest more
"Sleep is a waste of time" I hear this every day, and almost always it's uttered by the person who is complaining about low energy and tiredness.
For real?
Unless you are super energetic, focused, motivated, and able to accomplish everything you want to then you need more rest. That's 99% of people, especially in today's world.
Some ways to rest more
- Sleep better, just follow this sleep guide.
- Spend pre-bed time doing quiet activities
- Walk more
- Have relaxing conversations
- Shut down your computer
- Turn off your phone
- Read a book
That's it
I love doing less. Embrace your inner lazy-self and start cutting back. Rest. Save. Balance. You'll double your energy {insert joke about multiplication by 0}.
Question: What are some ways you got more done by doing less? Share your tips and stories in the comments below.
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