Live Simply 2020: February Mantra

February 1, 2020

 

In almost every couple Live Simply has worked with, there is one person who tends to be more inclined to organization, and one who is less. There is one person excited to plow ahead with growth and progress, and one person dragging their feet and protesting to varying levels of severity.

Yin and yang.

Disciplined and laid back.

Orderly and messy.

Attentive to detail and distracted.

This is never a problem. One determined person is all that is required to create change.

The ones leading the charge (always also the client) may bemoan their partner’s unwillingness or lack of enthusiasm to join in. They wonder why the mess doesn’t register with them, and how they can possibly stand to live with things as they are.

They, alone, are attempting to raise the standard, and to establish different, optimized ways of shaping the course of their and their family’s daily lives.

If I might offer them words of encouragement, they would be this: proceed anyway.

It really is lonely at the top, at least initially. So let the extent to which you believe in the worthiness of your actions be your company. Do not expect others to immediately see the light. Do not let their buying in (or lack thereof) interfere with your progress.

But be the example. Understand that whether or not you expected to be, you are emerging as the leader. Relish your role as the one responsible for setting the new standard. Clean up your own messes first and with admirable zeal. Allow others to be inspired by your efforts, and to be invited into the process, rather than bullied into it. Let the people around you witness the benefits you reap as a result of your efforts. Don’t proselytize your process. Don’t force it. Just embody the principles you aim to cultivate.

Be patient. Because everyone approaches change in his or her own way, and sometimes grumbling and questioning is just the square that comes before “on board.”

And, finally, make peace with the fact that those you love may never get on board. They may be forever-skeptics at your parade. Let that be okay. Set the standard, anyway.

4 Comments

  1. Karen Spiegel Frank on February 1, 2020 at 5:36 pm

    Such good advise! Hard to do but best to try! Progress, not perfection! One step at a time! The only one we can change is ourselves. The hoola hoop theory. Drop the hoola hoop around yourself and whatever is inside is what YOU can control.

    • Annie on March 4, 2020 at 11:47 pm

      HOOLA HOOP! Brilliant!!

  2. Susan Dynes on February 2, 2020 at 4:30 am

    Wisdom for any time we are trying to make changes whether it be at home With family members or at work with associates. Last week at work I was in charge of a training session. Your advice to set the standard and embody the principles I want to cultivate gives me courage to keep going forward and ignore the resistance. Thank you again, for wise words of encouragement!

    • Annie on March 4, 2020 at 11:46 pm

      You are amazing. Thank you for being a great leader. xx

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4 Comments

  1. Karen Spiegel Frank on February 1, 2020 at 5:36 pm

    Such good advise! Hard to do but best to try! Progress, not perfection! One step at a time! The only one we can change is ourselves. The hoola hoop theory. Drop the hoola hoop around yourself and whatever is inside is what YOU can control.

    • Annie on March 4, 2020 at 11:47 pm

      HOOLA HOOP! Brilliant!!

  2. Susan Dynes on February 2, 2020 at 4:30 am

    Wisdom for any time we are trying to make changes whether it be at home With family members or at work with associates. Last week at work I was in charge of a training session. Your advice to set the standard and embody the principles I want to cultivate gives me courage to keep going forward and ignore the resistance. Thank you again, for wise words of encouragement!

    • Annie on March 4, 2020 at 11:46 pm

      You are amazing. Thank you for being a great leader. xx

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