Effortless
Music credit to Kevin MacLeod
(you are listening to the same music I listened to when I wrote the words below)
A Summary of the book Effortless by Greg McKeown
He introduces the acronym DDOGG and asking five questions, one can make important work effortless and achieve better results. Important, meaningful, and essential work doesn't have to be hard; make it effortless by following the acronym
- Done
- Delete
- Obvious
- Gradual
- Grateful
Done: To avoid feeling overwhelmed, it is important to define a clear finish line for projects or tasks and visualize the moment of completion.
Delete: Simplify tasks by deleting unnecessary steps and ingredients, allowing for a more effortless and still delicious outcome. Remove unnecessary steps from your projects to achieve the same results by starting from scratch and identifying the minimum number of essential actions needed to complete the project.
Obvious: A woman with cluttered books calls decluttering specialist for help, but delays buying bookshelves for months because she didn't realize she needed a tape measure to measure her office walls. Identifying the first obvious action on a project makes it less overwhelming, and maintaining a gradual pace can make tasks easier.
Gradual: The Norwegian captain and his crew followed a consistent 15-mile rule, leading them to become the first to reach the South Pole, while the British captain's inconsistent approach resulted in their arrival being 34 days late.
Grateful: Kindly redirect your thinking towards aspects you are grateful for.
Establish a smooth and steady rate of progress, be grateful for support, and make difficult projects easier by following the DDOG acronym; the core message of "Effortless" is to ask yourself five questions for effortless action and results.
It's time to let go of effort and accept life as it unfolds. Ultimately, you only have some many days left to live. Start appreciating every moment, every relationship, and everything as it unfolds for you. When effort becomes striving, you no longer appreciate the moment.
Related: Reframing Problems
Q. When is an activity an effort?
A. When we don't want to do it.
Why don't we want to do it? Because we'd rather be doing something else instead? Or because we are lazy?
When everything feels like effort, it's a clear indication I am off track in some way. Perhaps:
- I fail to appreciate what I already have.
- I fail to appreciate the opportunity to do the work.
- I feel unappreciated by the individual for whom I'm doing the work for.
Comfort Zones & Effort
When you are pushed out of your comfort zone, does it feel like effort?
If you discovered a way to eliminate the boundaries of your comfort zone, wouldn't everything in your life seem effortless?
Quotes on Effort:
https://www.askideas.com/68-effort-quotes-and-sayings/ https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/effort
In a hatha yoga class yesterday with Victoria, I experienced true effortlessness.
I have been practicing Yoga for over 10 years, and the class was well within my limits.
What if life could be effortless? Can we live a life of effortlessness?
Let's begin by defining effort:
a vigorous or determined attempt.
strenuous physical or mental exertion.
the activities of a group of people with a common purpose.
a force exerted by a machine or in a process.
Ease
What's easy? The things we've done before. Easy is when we are performing within our limits. Exceeding your limits takes effort. But once the limits have been extended, the same effort is no longer required to act within those redefine limits.
Do you think living should be effortless?
Programs that function within the limits of the operating system they run well. It's when those programs are pushing the limits that effort by that program is excepted. Effort puts a strain on the entire system.
If our programs run within the systems design, they are effortless.
But the 'operating system' upon which we live is constantly being upgrade. If you ever loaded an app on your iPad, you may see a message 'The developer must upgrade the program or it may run slow or utilize additional system resources.'
Consider the alternative words for effort and how that shift in perspective can make a difference.
When we are consumed by the activity, effort is being exerted, yet we are not feeling it.
The right amount of effort is the key. Too much effort puts a strain on the system. Too little effort means we are underutilizing the program and it's potential.
Preparation
Here's the thing about effort. The amount of effort it takes an individual will always be relative to the preparation of the act. I'm always amazed to watch musicians perform in what appears to be effortlessly.
In that moment, it is effortless. But preceding that moment is many hours of effort. This is where we begin to get misguided. Because we witness the effortlessness, we get frustrated when we have to extend effort to perform the same act.
What is it so hard for me, but so easy for him?
It was once hard for him too. You just didn't witness the past effort! If you had, you probably would appreciate it the work.
Once we see how much effort it takes, our respect for the individual conducting the act increases.
For my book Finding Speaking Success, I interviewer professional speakers. I was surprised how much effort the successful ones put into their craft. The hours they spent on a presentation that might only give one time, or the amount of time spent marketing themselves was the effort I hadn't seen previously.
Easy to talk about, but hard to do.
I recently listened to an interview with musician Sting where he revealed that his strong work ethic stems from the fact that he doesn’t feel complete as a human being unless he is working.
When we are pulled out of bed by purpose, life is effortless.
No purpose = Effort Purpose = No Effort
When we are consumed by that which pull us, life is effortless.
When we define effort as: * An Attempt * A Pull (to experience) * An Endeavor * An Intention * A Stab * A Stretch * An Adventure * A shot (as in take a shot) * A try
Or do you define effort as: * Tension * Trouble * Force * A Push * A Crack * A Job * Labor * Toil * Strife * Stress * An undertaking
Love
It's the things we for love that are effortless.
The reason why people doing something for the love of it will always outwork outlast and outperform those who only do it for the money is because when you do it for the love of it, it's effortless.
Here's the thing about effort. It's directly tied to an preconceived outcome and/or expectation.
It only feels like effort when we are tring to achieve a specific result. Whether it's getting to work on time (the effort of navigating all the other people trying to do the same thing) or trying to hit a particular yoga pose... when you let go of the expectation, the effort falls away.
We'll get there when we get there.
Ever notice how retired people live a life of greater ease? It's because they are not trying to beat the clock. They will get there when they get there, and most of it is up to them. If you are retired and still not living a life of ease, take a look at the obligations and expectations you are creating for yourself. If your entire life feels like effort, take a close look at your obligations.
The more we accumulate, the greater our obligations. This is why minimalism has a real appeal!
Redefine effort:
"Don't strive to be perfect, rather just a little better than yesterday." Ahh, my life just got little lighter.
Effort & Ease
Ying & Yang
What if the secret to effortless wasn't about effort per se, but rather how we apply it. In Yoga, classes can be challenging. I find that if I put effort to a pose, but then ease back, then I can get through it easier. All effort and no ease doesn't work. Think Ying & Yang. Give & Take. Push & Pull. Breath in (effort), Breath out (ease).
The power of imagery:
Consider these two images:
The alternative is to click into the image and then Copy Image Address:
https://www.askideas.com/media/78/An-effort-made-for-the-happiness-of-others-lifts-above-ourselves.-Lydia-M.-Child.jpg
Videos on Effortlessness: Add it to your page!
https://youtu.be/wb3MH8b_VUA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peEHQYi2mig
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-SXeqHzBOHC5FaaPntrERg/about
Inspired by Taylor Swift.