Bridget Bryan

Slow and small is okay when the going gets tough. You want to keep the trajectory going forward, upward, higher. Baby steps aren’t bad – they keep you pressing on instead of quitting. And this requires being aware and open to adjustment.

James Clear in his 3-2-1 emails revisits this idea over and over. Mindset is everything. He helps you reflect on what is keeping you from moving forward in the direction you want to go towards. Often, subtraction is the answer.

Putting things away, and clearing off the countertop of your mind enables you to focus on what is essential.

That’s just what I did last week.

I trimmed and removed any extras that did not fit into the following essentials:  Relationships -being with beloveds, starting with God and self, writing & capturing scenes of life are essential to me. And a job that pays the bills and has meaning is secondary, but unfortunately is necessary to enable the first two. (Maybe one day I’ll receive an inheritance of 70,000 pounds a year from an unknown lost relative 😆.)

 Thanks to a pair of good friends, this pragmatic and simple mindset, helped me declutter my mind and be okay with changing my approach to life. Kinda reminds me of how to conquer a castle -sometimes you just need to change the approach to the objective. Or like sailing a tall ship -changing tack is how you constantly adjust to the wind and sea.

Being able to change one’s approach without beating oneself up for it because [gasp] you realized you had to do something different than the original ‘perfect’ plan is freeing.  It’s how battles are won. It’s how trees and gardens grow and ships sail across the seas and make new discoveries. Adjusting constantly to the new information that comes in.

Now I can move forward because I know if something is not working, I am free to adjust. I reorganized my plate. Because of that, my mind’s eye is not darting from one object to another, wondering frantically “What do I do first????” while breaking down emotionally from lack of sleep and time with loved ones. 

What are my priorities? Three simple things. Now I can breathe and move forward, one little step at a time. And if I need to, I can change the tack and lean into the wind.

A final question for you: Do you feel free to adjust your approach if needed?

Thanks for reading! I hope that this little application of adjusting and subtracting entertained and inspired you!