The Essentialist simply has clarity. This clarity isn’t innate. It’s not something he’s born with but he’s come to the understanding that It’s something he needs to live a flourishing life, and a flourishing life isn’t one of mere financial success or emotional success or a life lived with a purpose, but everything, all of the above.
To flourish is to have a body that is flourishing, a mind that is flourishing, and a spirit that is flourishing. To experience life and to live a flourishing one, you must give your time to those things that aid you in your quest – even if your quest is simply to be a badass – and remove those things that pull you away from your goal.
We live in a society that distracts almost as a profession. Are our intentions truly ours or are they motivated by something we saw on TV or on Facebook or an image we saw on Instagram? We walk down a busy street in a busy town an images bombard us instantly telling us what we need to have in order to feel good about ourselves when the reality is that we need none of it.
What we need is to be of value. We need to be proficient at something. We need to become great. We need mastery. We need relationships and the wisdom that can only come from living far beyond our zones of comfort.
To break free from the chains that confine you to a life of weakness you first have to understand what those chains are. (Read This: How to Fight Your Desires and Find True Freedom)
This is where you spend an entire day reflecting, thinking. The simple act of thinking is something we do very little of in our society. We work, then we pop our headphones in or turn on the stereo and noise immediately invades our lives, our thoughts, and thinking clearly is no longer a possibility.
Thinking, is essential in whatever quest you have, be it to master a skill or to be a great father, you need time away from noise, in silence and solitude, to actually learn the lessons that failures and victories in your life have taught.
Think More
Thinking is a lost art as distractions have become our focus. Think about the last time you stepped outside in silence and just thought. No headphones, no cell phone, just silence and thought.
Well, thought used to be something humans did a lot, and every day. We did it when we walked into town or home from the farm. There were no portable music boxes nor devices by which we can call other humans in a far off land. We were relegated to where we were.
Think about that.
We were relegated to where we were. Imagine being forced to be present! Imagine the problems you can solve in your own life if only you’d root out the noise that claims so many of your thoughts and worries. (Read This: We’ve Killed Reflection)
I’ve started blocking time and dedicating it purely to thought. I walk my dog 4 times a day, and I don’t bring my music box. It’s just me, the pup, and nature. We walk out of my house and down into a park. The stream runs, I run, he runs, we all run, and my mind doesn’t. My mind stays calm because the distractions don’t make me stressed, the silence forces me to confront those things in my life that I need to confront.
I ask things like, Am I really working hard enough? Do I deserve what I want? What more can I do?
I’ve come up with far more articles since I’ve brought more silence and thinking time into my life. Thinking has allowed me to think bigger, to solve the problems that would turn into worries and fears and unnecessary stress.
We do not think as much as we once did. We’re told to work, but work is simply implementing solutions, how are we supposed to be at our best if we’re not allowed to think about what the best way to do it is?
Thinking grounds you. It allows you to learn the lessons from your failures and it allows you to put everything in perspective. Your thinking time will allow you to take the right action in response to the call to action that is to man up!
Task: Schedule 30 minutes of reflection and thinking time at the end of every day. Make this your habit. Do not miss a day. Write in your journal, read a book, go for a walk, just spend 30 minutes in silence.
You cannot be the man you want to be nor the man your wife and kids need you to be if you’re not on point. Silence and reflection will enable you to be present and to be at the top of your game.
About The Author
Chad Howse: Chad’s mission is to get you in the arena, ‘marred by the dust and sweat and blood’, to help you set and achieve audacious goals in the face of fear, and not only build your ideal body, but the life you were meant to live.
You can contact him at –
http://www.
https://www.Facebook.com/
https://www.YouTube.com/
