Continuous Improvement
with Captain George Burk
The Simple Life
How to let go of the clutter in 2018
Simplifying your life can mean prioritizing,
learning to spend more time with people and
the things you value – family and travel – rather
than things that are not as important as they
once were – a new car or a promotion at work.
Let’s get one thing straight: not all stress is bad.
Simplifying can mean big changes – renting an
apartment near work to eliminate your commute
– or tiny adjustments like eating off paper plates
to avoid washing as many dishes. KISS IT.
“The ability to simplify means to
eliminate the unnecessary so that the
necessary may speak.” - Hans Hoffmann
Simplifying can mean ultra-organizing – placing
socks in a row by color – or letting things go – a
little dust is not going to ‘kill’ you.
Simplifying can mean 10 different things to 10
different people, yet it all comes down to
choosing the path less complicated and
perhaps less traveled. Where that path leads is
solely up to you. Choices!
Thirty-five or more years ago that probably
meant quitting your job, selling your house and
moving to a commune (no thanks! author’s note)
where you and like minded others grew your
own vegetables and fashioned compost heaps
and other kinds of “heaps,” too.
“As you simplify your life, the laws of
the universe will be simpler; solitude
will be solitude, poverty will not be
poverty, nor weakness weakness.”
- Henry David Thoreau
Simplicity requires some complicated decisions.
Life’s all about choices and one important choice
is to step-back and analyze yourself, take an
objective look not only where your energy is
placed but where you want it to go. If there isn’t
enough time to do all the things you want to do,
then make an open, honest and objective
evaluation of where those hours and your
energy's focused. It may require you to sacrifice
time away from the TV or video games, surf the
web, cell phone, so you can to do what you
really love. So…the first step: identify what you
really love to do.
“Rather than letting our negativity get
the best of us, we could acknowledge
that right now we feel like a piece of
shit and not be squeamish about taking
a good look.” - Pema Chodron
It’s vital that any self-appraisal must start from
inside out, not outside in. Understand who you
are, your capabilities, strengths and the areas
that need improvement. After that, you’ll better
understand what feels simple and right to you.
Then begin the process to make the necessary