I remember the moment when I decided that I needed to achieve balance in life. As I reflected on one day of feeling completely wrecked, I felt this strong urge to make some changes to my daily life. No more caffeine induced shakes. No more impulse purchases. No more putting my credit card down on the bar.
This was going to be possible because I had done it before. In 2009 I made the decision to transform myself into a healthy person. With a diet consisting of high protein and steamed vegetables and a workout regime involving two gym sessions a day, seven days a week for nine months. I lost 65kgs.
The outcome was “HELL YEAH!” The process itself was both extreme and isolating.
There had to be a better way to push positive boundaries without turning my life upside down. What if, instead of eliminating caffeine and alcohol completely and cutting up my credit cards, I could set micro-objectives and see how they effected me after thirty days? Oh yes.
Micro-objectives were set and here are the outcomes:
- No new technology was purchased.
- I cut down to one coffee a day. It was half soy.
- Alcohol was consumed sparingly and only in the light of day.
It was an experiment in minimising daily weight. The impact was more clarity. The vision was to simplify my life.
In March I will be relying solely on Rdio for my music experience. No iPod. No iTunes. Just the cloud and my iPhone. For me, is music simply about access? Can I go without my 10,000 song library? Or is it about tangibility and ownership?
That is something I’ll be writing about in the next few weeks as I press publish every day alongside the collective. Feel free to join us here.