How To Live A Simple Fulfilled Life

I think it was Confucius who said: “life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”. I am discovering that if your goal this year is to live a more fulfilling life, it pays to keep things simple. Whether it is through the lifestyle you choose to embrace or just looking for ways to do everyday tasks in a way that delivered the best results, we can all live a simple and fulfilled life.

Below I share some of the things I am doing to ensure I live a more simpler and fulfilled life. I hope that some of these things resonate with you and you too embrace this lifestyle.

#1. Avoid Clutter in Your Life

Nothing takes away the simplicity of life like having too much stuff. This means you have more decisions to make. In addition, you miss the opportunity to enjoy your possessions because sometimes you cannot get to everything that you own. We have heard of or been in a situation where you feel you do not have anything to wear and yet you are starring at a closet full of clothes.

In order to avoid clutter, you have to begin by determining what is important and matters the most to you. When you do this, anything that does not help you to achieve your most important roles and relationships is clutter and should be discarded.

Every day you will be bombarded with clutter in the form of things or sometimes people. You need to go back to the drawing board and ask where does this fit on my road map of life. If it has no place do not allow it in. Following this will ensure you live the Zen life so to speak. I find that the best way to do this is by having your own personal definition of success.

There is too much noise in the world today and frankly speaking we have to master the art of “quieting the noise” in order to live a simple and fulfilled life. When you do not know what you want you usually fall for whatever is thrown at you. We owe it to ourselves to do the work and have in place a road map that will enable us to live simple and fulfilled lives.

#2. Plan Your Week In Advance

In the past, my planning was done on a daily basis. Although this approach worked, sometimes it failed especially when things that were urgent and necessary came in and spoilt the plan. After reading about the benefits of weekly planning I decided to make the shift. I have since discovered that when I take the time to have my weekly planning meeting on Sunday my week runs smoothly. This makes sense given the fact that the majority of things in life occur on a weekly basis.

Weekly planning gives one a bird’s eye view of what the week is going to be like. You are able to make the right adjustments and also to take care of the “urgent but unimportant\” things that always crop up. I have done this for some time now and strongly recommend that you give it a go. Not only does it enable you to live a simple and fulfilled life, but it also makes you a more productive person as well.

Part of my weekly planning ensures that I meal plan. I have seen the benefits of doing this as it helps me to manage the family budget better. As an example, with weekly meal planning, I am able to ensure that on busy days there are quick easy meals or leftovers on hand. The result of doing this has been a nourished family, less stressed mom and a peaceful home. How cool is that?

#3. Make Time For Self Care

In order to live a simple and fulfilled life, you need to make time for self-care. Most times we tend to give more of ourselves and the result is often burnout. You may have heard of the oxygen musk theory “take care of yourself first before you can help others”.

Although some people get “mummy guilt” when they spend time on themselves, this should not be the case. In addition to self-care bringing you success, it will also do wonders for your family as well. This is mainly because you can only pour from a full cup, you need to make time to fill your cup.

In my case, I have learned that in order to fulfill my roles of being a wife, mother and friend I need to take breaks to look after myself. Sometimes it is putting in a workout or having a massage or pedicure & manicure or even shopping therapy (in moderation given that I am avoiding clutter) it always works and makes me feel better and in turn give more.

Finally,

What I am finding for sure is in order to live a simple and fulfilled life, you need to be intentional about it. You need to make a conscious decision to make it a lifestyle. I like what Joseph B. Wirthlin has to say on this point, \”sometimes we should express our gratitude for the small and simple things like the scent of the rain, the taste of your favorite foods or the sound of a loved one’s voice”. In the same way, Sarah Ban Breathnach reminds us that “whatever we are waiting for peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance- it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart”.

Perhaps after reading this and auditing yourself, you may feel like you should do more. Take heart Maya Angelou rightly said, “when you know better you do better”. In the same vein another person said: “when you have goals you are working towards and are making changes to achieve those goals, you are growing.” So keep going and remember you too can live a simple and fulfilled life.

I would love to hear from you, what has been your experience during the first months of this year?