8 Important Things to Simplify to Live a More Balanced and Joyful Life

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A balanced and joyful life is a life that you live intentionally and enjoy doing things that add value and meaning to your life. It’s a sum of those precious moments when you are at peace with your inner-self. To live such a life, you need to be able to focus more on the things that are truly meaningful, appreciate all the good things – big or little, and deliberately get rid of the things that distract you from living your best life. For that, there are certain things or areas you need to simplify.

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1. Your possessions

Most of us have way more things than we actually need or use. Most people acquire more stuff because they believe the more they own, the more satisfied they will be. But the reality is just the opposite. Too many material possessions hold us back and complicate our lives. They drain our bank account, exhaust our energy, and divert our attention from what matters most.

If you take time to identify and declutter the non-essential or useless possessions from your life, you will never regret it. Read this post to know why you should make decluttering and simplifying your possessions a priority today.

2. Your goals and priorities

Simplifying your priorities and goals means identifying what matters most to you and focusing on these things on a daily basis.

Without simplifying your goals, it becomes difficult to achieve them. And without a clear list of your priorities, it can be difficult to know where to spend your precious time and energy. After all, when everything becomes a priority, nothing really is.

Reduce the number of goals you are striving for in your life to a few important ones. Try simplifying your goals based on your core values and priorities. Reevaluate your priorities if needed. Make a clear list of your priorities. Think about the people, experiences, places, stuff, and activities that add most value to your life. Remember, we can say our priorities are whatever we want, but the choices we make will more clearly show what we truly value.

3. Your thoughts

One of the important areas that you need to declutter and simplify to live a more balanced and joyful life is your thoughts. Notice if your thoughts are mostly positive or negative. If your mind is full of negative thoughts and emotions – fearful, unhealthy, and toxic beliefs, worries, and problems, it’s time to declutter your thoughts. Take responsibility for your mind, and replace negative thoughts with positive ones.

Most negative emotions are harmful and completely useless. They never do any good. Hatred, resentment, bitterness, guilt, and jealousy have never improved the quality of anyone’s life. They clutter up your mind, and you continuously feel the weight!

When your mind is cluttered with negative thoughts, it tends to lead to stress, anxiety, chaos, procrastination, and distraction. You fail to focus on important things that require your attention, and might even be unable to get things done simply because you don’t know where to start!

Begin decluttering your mind by getting your thoughts out of your head and down on to a paper. This keeps your head from being filled with everything you need to do and remember. Looking at a visual list could help you prioritize, and take action where needed instead of remembering a bunch of things, and thus, creating a chaos in your mind.

For more information, you might want to check out this great book by Barrie Davenport – Declutter Your Mind: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking.

Add it to your reading list

4. Your schedule and time commitments

If we carefully take a look at our days and schedules, we will find that most of us have filled our days with obligations and commitments: work, home, kid’s activities, community or social events, religious practices, and the list goes on. And there is hardly any time for us to relax or do the things that make us come alive.

Simplifying your commitments will help you unearth more quality time in your days and allow you to spend your time doing the things that are truly important and meaningful. Time is one of those things we can never get enough of. We all have 24 hours in a day, and we can only do so much! We have unlimited options, but limited resources. It’s up to us how we manage our time that’s limited and precious. We have to make important decisions to eliminate some things that don’t add value or simplify our lives.

Learn the art of saying “no” to non-essential things or events so you can make time for the things you want to say “yes” to. The things that are important to you will affect how you make decisions and how you spend your time. It’s not enough to only know what things you should do. You also have to get clarity on the types of things you should not do so you can simplify your schedule, and live a more balanced and joyful life – on your own term.

Making a conscious effort to write down your events and plan ahead for you and your family on a weekly basis is time well spent. By having plans for your week in advance, you can better prepare for upcoming events and avoid chaotic mornings that inevitably complicate your life.

5. Your finances

Without simplifying your finances, you can’t really simplify your life and live a peaceful, balanced life. If your financial life is unorganized, complicated and messy, it leads to procrastination and a lot of stress.

To learn more about how you can simplify your finances, read 20 Ways to Drastically Simplify Your Financial Life and The Top Financial Goals That Will Simplify Your Life

6. Your diet

Yes, your diet is one of the important things to simplify in order to live a happier and healthier life. Simplifying diet means getting rid of the excess ‘clutter’ in the form of a lot of added trans fats, high sugars, salt, refined grain (white bread), and unnecessary additives; and choosing healthy, nutritious meal options whenever possible that are simple to plan, easy to cook, and yummy to eat.

Do advanced meal planning, and prepare your food for the week including all the snacks. This way you will not be easily tempted to shatter a healthy diet by grabbing a packet of salty chips or cookies as a quick energy boost. Minimizing these ingredients will improve your energy level in the short-term and your health in the long-term.

When you eat healthy and clean food, you feel healthy which, in turn, can save you from many diseases and complications. So, be more mindful and intentional about what clutter you feed yourself and your family. Your bodies will thank you for doing so!

7. Your relationships

This is one of the main things you need to simplify. Not every relationship is meant to last. As you grow, you would realize some people are meant to stay in your life longer than others.

Not all relationships are important or healthy either. While you should spend more time with positive, like-minded people – people who care for you, help you grow, and make you feel happy; you should get rid of all the toxic relationships that only drain your energy and add drama to your life.

Many of us have relationships that often feel a little one-sided, or cause us more harm than good. Declutter the relationships in your life which aren’t built on mutual love, respect, and support. If a relationship doesn’t add value to your life, it’s time to let it go.

Set healthy boundaries, and spend more time on nurturing the relationships that are important to you. Every relationship needs work and care to keep it strong and healthy. So, if a relationship means a lot to you, invest your time and energy in it. Because the quality of your life greatly depends on the quality of your relationships.

Also remember that healthy relationships with others are good, but constant streams of distraction are bad. Learn when to turn off your smartphone, get off social media, or not read a text message and reply. Focus on what is important, not the urgent.

8. Your habits

Over time we all develop some habits, things that we do sometimes without even realizing we are doing them. While some habits are healthy, others are not.

If you have unhealthy habits like drinking, smoking, or gambling, it’s high time you quit those. They are sucking the life out of you and draining your money as well. Declutter your habits and make sure that you try to nurture healthy, positive ones instead of harmful and negative ones.

Helpful daily habits can make your life a lot simpler, easier, and healthier like making beds every morning, brushing teeth every day, washing your hands frequently, walking for at least 10-15 minutes a day, reading before going to sleep, or clearing out the clutter in the evening before retiring in bed.

Also, if you have a habit of multi-tasking, research indicates that multi-tasking increases stress and lowers your productivity. Learn to do one thing at a time. Do it well and enjoy the process. And when it is complete, move to the next task.

If you haven’t already simplified these important areas, make it a priority to do so in this year. Start from today, and soon you will find yourself living a more balanced, peaceful, and happy life.

Here’s an awesome book I recommend adding to your reading list in order to guide you along the process: Declutter Your Mind: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking