Simplicity

My day job is investment banking. It's a mentally tough and grueling job but hopefully it pays the bills one day and pays them well. I can't say that I want to do it for the rest of my life though. This causes me to be near a city and in my case in the city. I have such mixed emotions about this. I am a sucker for simplicity. Whenever I go to the country or visit my home town, things just seem to make sense. No one is trying to make the next big thing hit or trying to reinvent the wheel, rather it's simple. There are intelligent people everywhere and the most intelligent to me are the ones who put a high value on simplicity. This can range from a business model to a car. Many people's lives in the city are filled with all kinds of distractions... what so and so on the corner is doing, what training or workshop to go to, where the kids are playing their next game, crime etc... you get the point. Country living is something that I long for and miss... it's simple, early to rise, the smell of the land, I love the smell of dirt. Getting some chores done, then doing your work, and enjoying your family. Sure we all have things in life but it just seems that people in the country put a premium on simplicity.

With that being said there are ways to make your life simple in the city. The first thing to do is really reevaluate and see what is really important in your life. I know from my life I have to do this quite often, it's easy to get sucked in and get so deep into your life that you lose perspective... again, take time to really see what's important and what is fluff.

Another big one for me is to stop watching so much TV! Talk about cluttering your life, I have enough stress of my own let alone trying to take on the stress of 20 other people's lives. I'm a sucker for sports but I've had to limit the weekends to a game a day during football season and only if the Red Sox are playing... it's tough but it really did simplify my life.

This next tip may be the most important, set a goal and don't let the other things in life creep in while you are trying to accomplish this. My brother has completely eliminated a lot of the fluff in his life just by setting a goal to play with his daughter an hour or two a day. Whatever else he may think is going on quickly melts away along with the stress from work. I'm amazed every time I see him do it... he has a goal and sticks to it. We should all have those goals, whether it's starting a new business or making our garden great, pick a simple goal that is relevant to you and your life and stick to it.

Ultimately a simple life can be achieved anywhere... it just tends to be a whole lot simpler in the country. Sift things out and I promise you'll be happier.