November 8, 2012

Dear <<First Name>>:

Welcome to another edition of the life [simplified] letter.

News

Snow!

The big news this week is snow! We’ve had a large snow fall in the last 48 hours. Here is a photo of our dog, Yue Yan. She has a heavy fur coat and loves this weather.

                               

For everyone who lives near me in Edmonton, AB, stay safe and warm.

Start Over

Gaining a new perspective

Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. ~ Carl Bard

I've been reading a book by Francine Jay called The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide. She uses a formula to help outline a process for decluttering. The first step in that formula is to Start Over:

“We relish the thought of a clean slate - what a fabulous opportunity to start fresh and do things right!”

I'm attracted to the idea of starting over. There are so many areas in my life where I tend to feel overwhelmed. Work projects, home projects, and commitments are all areas where I occasionally wish I had a mulligan or a do-over. While I wouldn’t want to start from the very beginning, there is really nothing stopping me from taking a step back and thinking about how I would change my approach as if I had a chance to start over.

The beauty of starting over is that I can think differently about a task or a commitment. It's not saying that I will throw out all the work I've done to date or cancel the commitment, just that I'll try to understand what is not working. By stepping back, I can see the big picture again and see where I’m off course.

For example, I could use a do-over for a contract project I'm trying to finish. I'm feeling stuck in the final stages of the report writing. I need to take a step back and refocus on what I'm trying to achieve. What is the project really about? What are the main conclusions that I've reached? What does the client need to move forward? I can already see that I’ve made the report too complicated and detailed. By taking a bird's eye view of the project and reminding myself about the outcomes requested by the client, I'm starting to get a better idea of how to approach the editing. I'll probably be able to remove large chunks of writing out of the report as I can now see what is really needed.

To start over is not to admit defeat. Rather it is looking at a conundrum from a different perspective. Now isn’t that refreshing?

Your life [simplified]

Are there any areas of your life where you could start over?

Please share your thoughts with me.

Have a great week!

Cheers,
Catherine

P.S. Check out my letter archives if you are interested in reading back issues.