This post is 737 words and a 4-minute read.
I was listening to a podcast called The Prof G podcast and the host of the show, Professor Scott Galloway, talked about doing an annual emotional audit like we would do a tax audit. He said:
I think it is a good idea to do an emotional audit... Look at different aspects of your life, different relationships, different activities you engage in. Look at the upside you are getting, the benefit, the money, the reward. Some, you [just] have to do. [For example] It may be difficult taking care of your aging mother but that is just part of being a good daughter or a good son. Even though it is emotionally trying.
But there are some relationships in your life that are quite frankly optional: friends, lovers, [etc.]. [Ask yourself] what kind of reward am I getting? What kind of emotional trauma or cost am I enduring? This can be across all parts of your life.
[You might say] "Okay its fun I enjoy it [and] sometimes I need it. But it's causing me a lot of problems. It's causing me some anxiety. It is creating tension in my relationships."
What part of your life is just taking more emotional bandwidth than is healthy. Where would your life be better? Is there a relationship in your life, a friendship that is just too intense and requires too much emotional tumult. Maybe you just put that friendship on pause.
Is there a second job that you would be better off working a little harder at [your] existing job? Because the incremental income [from the second job] is so hard on you. Just that little bit of income is creating such a tax in your life.
What could you give up, RIGHT NOW that the juice is not worth the squeeze?
Where less is more
I started off this year by reading a book called Essentialism and I got a simple idea from the book with a quote from the author.
"You can do anything but you cannot do everything." - Greg McKeown
In other words, LESS IS MORE.
Then I read another book called "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and one idea stood out. It was Habit #3 which is KEEP FIRST THINGS FIRST. It is a simple idea of focusing on the important, not just the urgent, acting on priorities, planning weekly and acting daily.
Prof G's quote on doing an Annual Emotional Audit is in line with these ideas. As the year progresses, it is easy to add more things to our plates. We take on more responsibilities, more activities, more relationships, more ideas, more shows, more podcasts, more people to follow, more blogs to read, more sites to shop on, more jobs, more diets, more workouts, more clothes, more fill in the blank things we convince ourselves we need to do.
These things may have been serving us at the point in time in which we added them but we never stop to think, "Does it still serve me today?"
One of the things for me is Podcasts. I listen to over 100 podcasts but recently there have been a few that I have to do without. Because although I love them, they have begun giving me anxiety about the future. Making me feel that I am not doing enough and that I will never achieve financial freedom. Those podcasts although great are no longer serving me and I have to be willing to do without them. I enjoy them ALOT but the emotional toll is no longer worth the entertainment.
As the year comes to a close, while you are partying and enjoying the holiday period. Take some time and think about all the parts of your life. From your food to your drinks to your job to your relationships; really think about what is still serving and what you need to let go off. Think through what is truly important and what is an accessory to the important things.
Sometimes the best decision we can make for our life is not what we can do but rather what we will no longer do.
It will be painful to let go of some things but you have to do it. Grieve and then move into your newness.
Generosity>greed
✌🏾