PKT Talks KISS

 

This post today is about a principle that I not only practice daily, but constantly preaching to those that I train and coach. The world that we live in has become so overly complex and stressful that we as the inhabitants of this beautiful world are becoming so lost or overwhelmed and becoming somewhat jaded with our lives and its meaning.
So what do I mean by this? Has he lost his mind and gone all philosophical on us?

The answer is no, but let me explain in better detail.

I few years ago, I was in amongst the most turbulent and busy times of my life. Running my own business for the first time, had a mortgage, training seven days a week, socialising, studying, surfing, playing sport and the list goes on and on. But there was underlying riptide or current that was exposing the cracks and the one that broke the levee was my 3-4 hours sleep a night and no days off in 3 years. The result, i burned out, the stress and over-complexity of my life broke me down to breaking point and therefore I ended up falling apart.

But then I came across (accidentally mind you) a couple of different resources which addressed the principle of KISS (KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID). The texts explained to me the importance of minimalisation and simplicity and not burning the candle at both ends. This did not just apply to my training but also my business, recreational, lifestyle and personal choices. So I created a three point attack to help me with this process of reducing complexity, check out below:

Step 1 - Analyze Everything:
First things first, sit down with a pencil and paper and write down everything you do, watch, possess, listen to etc. in a day and week and month. From watching TV, to making phone calls, to how much you drink or even how much free time you have. Don't skimp on the details, it's an important part of the process.

Step 2 - Prioritize:
Now we need to prioritise all of the activities/possessions etc. into levels of importance. These categories will help define whether you need them or to do them and then maximise your time and money into more important things. So here are the categories:

1. (A) Important-Required i.e. daily exercise, playing with the kids, the car, fridge, bed, the list goes on.
2. (B) Not Important-Required i.e. chores, pay bills, grooming, vacuum cleaner etc.
3. (C) Important-Not Required i.e. mobile phones, internet, playing sport, calling friends...
4. (D) Not Important-Not Required ie. watching TV, watching pet youtube videos, 100's of clothing items, accumulated junk.

Once you've established and classified each item or activity you can now start to see how much complexity you may or may not have in your life.

Step 3 - Exercise:
Now we've completed Steps 1 and 2, we can get stuck into the fun part of the process, THE SPRING CLEAN. Minimalising is awesome! I love to clean stuff out or stop doing/change certain things, this was always evident in the changing of the seasons. Cull the clothing you have down into the minimum you need, sell the second TV, scan old files and then chuck the papers into the recycling, complete overdue jobs, and on and on and on. When you discard the things that aren't worth your while or the things you haven't used in years, it's liberating! Once you unclutter, then the world and opportunities open up, time is reclaimed, and energy isn't wasted.

So what happens after you've finished, is that it?

No, no, no.

You enjoy the change for a period of time and then when you feel like you need to do it again - repeat the process.

This ongoing process has brought me great happiness in many areas of my life, and it is something that I have fine-tuned and gradually become quite proficient at. This experience has led to so many new efficiencies created in my life and every day I feel better about everything.

Anyways thanks for reading and please leave comments, questions etc. in the box below

Best,

PK

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