Dead Simple Way To Creating Your Dream Life: Cut Out The Extra

Welcome to Happy Quiet Life! I hope everyone enjoyed their summer and found some time to think, enjoy, and make progress on your quest to build your Happy Quiet Life!

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Most people could get closer to their dream life by chipping away at their current life instead of adding more.

Let's use art as an example. Most of us see life as a blank canvas that needs paint color after paint color added to bring out its best.

But what if life is much more like the sculptor, slowly chipping away to find the most beautiful shape?

As Arthur C. Brooks wrote in From Strength to Strength:

Yep. Brooks nailed it. We pursue more, more, and more. All the while, we sacrifice health, presence, relationships, and an inner joy so that we can add more to that blank canvas, slowly piling colors on top of other colors.

Instead, we should "chip away the jade boulder of our lives until we find ourselves," writes Brooks.

So why do we complicate our lives more than necessary? Why do we add more stress on top of stress? Why are we constantly seeking more sensations in life? What do we really get out of all of it?

I'm not a minimalist. I have expensive taste, like many people. I want to live in a nice house, own nice things, and take great vacations. I'm not even interested in sweeping away or ignoring my ambition in life.

But I do seek simplicity. Quiet. Presence. Inner joy and happiness. And I find these things by slowly eliminating the stuff in my life that doesn't serve my purpose. I want to drive down one long beautiful road, play one deeply inspired game, and pursue the most significant dreams for my life. Not chase 37 different goals that spread me too thin, leaving me distracted, unsatisfied, and unable to be present with my current life.

Unfortunately, far too many people are not living this way, preventing them from living their dream life.

You are allowing things in your life that aren't necessary.

• Drama & distractions that aren't worth it

• Worries that you don't have any control over

• Desires that don't bring true happiness, just more

• Habits, tasks, and mindsets that have zero return on investment

There's a much better way to build your dream life.

Eliminate. Eliminate. Eliminate.

Chances are that we all are hoarders in some aspect of our life, even if it's not in a pile on our living room floor.

We are just as guilty of hoarding our hurts in life, hanging on to relationships that don't serve us—and filling our to-do lists and shopping carts with stuff to help us feel busy and better. All the while, we are protecting ourselves from simply sitting down in solitude.

How much of your day is unnecessary?

So we create more and more internal sensations that we are addicted to—purchases, scrolling, emotional reactions, gossip, worries, feelings of missing out, and bad habits. Complication after complication, disguised as progress, seeking more and more, never quite satisfying that endlessly hungry beast.

It takes hard work and mindfulness to bypass these sensations, these addictions. They don't bring peace or happiness, just more. Each satisfies the temporary craving, leaving you desperately wanting more or regretting their presence in the first place.

Is that drama making life more complicated? Is talking about this situation one more time actually going to help? Or just satisfy a craving? Am I worrying about something I have zero control over in exchange for my presence? Does this purchase improve my life or simply fulfill a vision of an image? Does this habit I've developed make my life more or less complicated?

If your life feels more complicated than it should be, consider eliminating it.

It's worth moving on.

Build Your Life Around What & Who Matters The Most

The most incredible parts of life aren't complicated.

I have a life theory that if you are under 30, you know very little about life. That's not to say you aren't smart or intelligent. You'll never hear me say that the most crucial thing in life is experience. But I do believe that you simply haven't reached an age in which you truly know what you want from life, what it's genuinely about at its core, and the invaluable lesson that there is actually very little that matters. Purpose, direction, and simplicity are more powerful than one can fathom in youth.

The list of things that make a great life is surprisingly straightforward—don't let the world fool you. The longer the list, the more complicated life gets. Complication creates unhappiness.

In a world where we over schedule, have millions of consumer options, and are flooded with apps, news, and alerts, I prefer to keep things less complicated.

What if we focused more on winning our days, soaking up wisdom, and pursuing purpose and intention? What if we focused on the small list of things in life that we never regret and did more of that?

Playing with our giggling children on the floor, taking walks in nature without our phones, sitting down with a great book, and appreciating a special moment with the person we love the most.

And if it doesn't fall into this never-regret column, we should consider practicing some skepticism.

Do More of The Best and Less of Everything Else

Why don't we pursue our time as we invest in our portfolios?

Life and its experiences create the true wealth within our souls, yet we waste so much time on things that have diminishing returns.

Some of those things we keep spending so much time and effort on will never create a positive return in our life.

We participate in things we care little about, continue habits that make us unhappy with ourselves despite knowing it and waste countless hours we can't get back on things we ultimately regret spending time on.

We buy crap. We eat stuff that isn't good for us. We consume stuff with no intention. We scroll just to waste time.

These things are slowly stealing our time, energy, and capacity to live our most extraordinary lives.

How silly is that?

I have a list of things that I never regret spending time doing. As I grow older, I aim to spend more time doing these things and less time on everything else. That's happiness.

What's on your list? What are activities in life that you never regret doing afterward?

Simple is the Key

In the beautiful novel by Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow, Count Alexander Rostov, facing a "social parasite" charge by the Bolshevik tribunal, is placed under house arrest for life in his current residence, one of the world's most lavish hotels, Hotel Metropol.

We can all agree that nobody wants to serve a life sentence—even in a lavish hotel. But within those walls that Count Rostov must live in, he still finds a beautiful life, despite being cut off from the rest of the world. Rostov cultivates deep personal relationships, hobbies to enjoy, and wisdom through great books and philosophical discussions while religiously conducting a daily routine to keep purpose streaming in his life.

So much distraction is out there in the world. It's everywhere. And you have to learn to see it for what it really is...

'Extra' just getting in the way of your Happy Quiet Life.

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Have a Happy Tuesday!