Category: simplicity

A New Beginning: I Wrote A Book!

Published 04/09/2016

Hi everyone!

I’m sooo excited to announce something very dear to my heart! I know I’ve been MIA for the past months. But it’s for legitimate reasons 🙂 I’ve been spending my time building businesses, building my health and fitness, and building my character. I escaped the 9-5 to do what I love. (I’m still helping on a part-time basis, but now I have a lot more time to focus on my dreams!)

But my proudest accomplishment is my new book, The Cozy Life: Rediscover the Joy of the Simple Things Through the Danish Concept of Hygge. It takes minimalist and simple living concepts up a notch and will hopefully inspire readers to enjoy what’s truly important.

It’s about the Danish concept of coziness (hygge) and how it helps us embrace the simple things in life, be more authentic, and reconnect with ourselves and our loved ones. It also includes illustrations I’ve drawn, practical tips, activities and personal stories.

EBOOK: There is a FREE PROMO for 2 days starting tomorrow for the official launch (April 10th, and 11th) for the Kindle version here.

PAPERBACK: If you prefer holding a real book in your hands, you can grab one here. The book is definitely the cozier option and looks the prettiest.

If you decide to purchase the book, it would also mean the world to me if you could leave a review and share my book with your network. The more reviews and downloads I get, the higher I can climb in the Amazon charts and hopefully become a best-seller!! <3

Here is a description:

In today’s world, we’re constantly rushing from one thing to the next and are struggling with information overload. We’re more disconnected from ourselves and our loved ones than ever before. Rediscover the joy of the simple things through the Danish concept of Hygge in The Cozy Life. This book will inspire you to slow down and enjoy life’s cozy moments!

Learn about the Danish cultural phenomenon of Hygge, and the secret to why Denmark is consistently rated the happiest country in the world

Embrace the little things and take simplicity and minimalism up a notch

Add Hygge into every aspect of your life with practical examples and tips

Say goodbye to the Winter Blues and live a healthier, centred life

This charming little book, filled with hand drawn illustrations, beautifully addresses that yearning we all have for a more authentic life, created by ourselves instead of external forces.

What’s stopping you from living a more meaningful and connected life?

This book marks the start of my next chapter in life. Expect more posts on this blog as well! I can’t wait to share the magic of hygge with the world! 🙂

What’s most important is I want to thank all of you for inspiring me to write this book and spread the message about living meaningfully and authentically. This book would not exist without you and I know it will bring you infinite amounts of joy and inspiration.

<3
Pia

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Simple Living, Nature, Tiny Homes & Art

Published 09/26/2015

Just a little Saturday morning inspiration…

I came across this YouTube vide below. It’s a little documentary about a travelling hobo artist named Dan Price. He tours his underground home, talks about his art and philosophy. He is all about the simple living. Really simple living, living off the land mostly, and connecting with nature, and making art. He never wanted to grow up and be an adult, and loved the magic you had back then as a child. So he applies that artistic magic to his lifestyle. He’s lived in tents and teepees, but now lives in a hobbit style home in the hills. Watch the video below.

He’s written a couple books too, one on Radical Simplicity. Now edited to My Simple Life, and a book about his Tiny House.

And one on How To Make A Journal of Your Life. This one inspired me to connect with the outer world, and document my life again. I used to write everyday as a teenager to document my high school life. It’s’ wonderful to pick one up and read through it again. Albeit slightly embarrassing too haha.

He’s written a Moonlight Chronicles Series that documents his life traveling the world and the many adventures and observations, and he’s definitely inspiration to the style of books I want to write. I’m really glad I came across this.

Check him out, if you enjoy whimsical things about the meaning of life. It’s a really beautiful breath of fresh air.

Adios and enjoy the weekend!

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More Minimalism YouTube Channels

Published 08/29/2015

It’s 2:41 in the afternoon, and the air is moist. There is a raging windstorm going on outside, which has decided to blow over one side of my balcony railing onto the street below, and tear our patio gazebo apart into a tangled mess of canvas canopy and broken metal. Even with all of this going on, I am very comfy and cozy snuggled up on the sofa with my love, my laptop, and a hot cup of english breakfast tea.

Today has been a great day so far. We spent the morning wandering around the Museum of Vancouver to see the Happiness exhibition and a really neat exhibition on the history of living in Vancouver from the 1900’s to 1970s. Of course my favourite was the hippie display. A good day to slow down indeed.

Anyway, I just wanted to update my list of Minimalism YouTube Channels because it seems to be getting some popular attention, as I’ve found a few (more than a few) more since last time.

Melissa Alexandria – Probably my favourite channel right now. Melissa covers so many different areas in our lives with regards to minimalism and what that means. It’s very inspiring to watch someone go through their journey and follow along.

Samantha Lindsey – Samantha shares her inspiring story on how minimalism helped her deal with anxiety.

Brittany Taylor – Brittany takes a more nomadic approach to minimalism, but it is so cool to watch someone with such a free and spiritual lifestyle. She’s really into acro yoga too.

Carrie LeighAnna – I like Carrie’s simple and sweet approach to minimalism. She also has a really great capsule wardrobe.

High Carb Hannah – Hannah’s channel is more vegan based than minimalist, but she does live a minimalist lifestyle, and I love watching her and her fiancé, at Unconventional Living, build their intentional lives.

My Minimalist Baby – For those of you who have little ones!

Noelia Lewis – A beauty inspired minimalism channel.

The More We Explore – Watch this couple on their journey to living out of an RV.

This week…

I took a bit of a break on my workouts because I was on the 3 day juice cleanse. So I’ve made a commitment to start up with Blogilates again on September 1st to start the new calendar month!

I’m practicing my intuitive eating. Trying not to stuff myself. It’s helping. We bought a scale, and my body actually fluctuates between 4 pounds over an entire day. That weirded me out a little.

Every night I’ve been reading a bit of my Astrology book, but I’ve not been as focused on my goals.

Giving back is great, I’m excited to the Annual Walk for the Kitties event for VOKRA.

I’ve been more honest with the relationships in my life as well as career. I find that when you put the truth out there, a weight is lifted, and things are more likely to turn for the better 🙂

That’s all folks. Some things I could improve on, is focus on eating even better, and smaller meals more often throughout the day. I think my spending could be a bit better too. I don’t really buy a lot of stuff, but I know I could be more aware. I’ll aim for that this week. Less spending and eating better.

Anyone else trying to live more intentionally?

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Why We Need To Slow The F*** Down

Published 08/08/2015

Pardon the language in my title. But seriously. I’ve just finished a book (I read a lot of books sometimes) written by my partner’s aunt, called Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

It’s a book about the importance of creative thinking and being in tune to your inner creative intuition. It looks at all of the ways that we repress ourselves and how society blocks our creativity. But there were a couple points in this book that really stood out that I must share.

Living in a Hurry -Up Culture

We have become overstimulated and overwhelmed by all of the choices available to us and there are way too many options that stand in the way of deep examination.

“Political “experts” sell their pre-packaged thinking, financial analysts, theirs. Into whose interpretation of political events or economic eventualities should we buy? What commodity will reflect well on us? Which new fashions will enhance us? What cereal displayed in the rows and rows of cereals in the ultra-super-megastore should we choose? Which of the latest technological applications is best? How long will it take for it to become outdated? How do you keep up with the ever-changing future? How much more time will we spend trying to make choices? Will there fever be enough time to explore our individual creative desires?” ~ Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

It’s incredible! Because we are being bombarded with information, we rarely have a moment to sit and contemplate everything thrown at us, and we don’t take any time to listen to what our own souls are crying for us to do.

People who are removed from their own instincts about things become more and more confused by the multiple perspectives they are constantly being offered and become incapable of defining their own world view. And thus, we suffer from a loss of authenticity. This is something I can really relate to sadly.

Our poor kids today are growing up in a busy culture as well, and not having time to themselves to create and be imaginative.

“In the United States today, it is the age of the microwave child, many of whom have never kneaded dough, never watched a meal being cooked from scratch. The ingredients are not of importance; it’s the finished product that counts…a goal is achieved without the creative process, without the stimulation and sacrifice of work. Instead, there exists a need for instant gratification.” ~ Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

Our Lack of Solitude

“There might be a place inside your head where ideas dwell, but nowhere to bring these to fruition is a cruncher.” ~ Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

Creative people need a space for solitude in order to reach those depths within. But many people are afraid to be alone with themselves. But being alone allows us to really think, it’s required if we want to get to know ourselves, and not get distracted by the constant information out there.

But anyway, enough about that. I just wanted to share those nuggets of information should you be inclined to check out the book!

This week…

I didn’t end up biking to work at least 3 days a week (oops). I blamed it on not making enough time to ride to work. However, I have ran 5km twice this week to make up for it and I’m noticing a huge difference. I’ve done well with intuitive eating, BUT have not always made 100% healthy choices. There was chocolate birthday cake, and a wine and cheese girls night in there somewhere. This week I must do better.

I’ve been setting a few minutes everyday practicing feeling blissful and not suffering. I tend to whine and complain, so I’m trying to get over that.

I didn’t make any unnecessary purchases. Yay to that!

Last weekend I donated a cat tree to Katie’s Place. And almost took a cat home.

I tried to squeeze in important family/loved ones time but I could have done better here. I was having an emotional and hormonal week contemplating my life and career, so I think my attention was more towards myself. I saw my family on the weekend and had brunch, and did a road trip with my partner to Harrison Hot Springs though.

I asked my boss to work part time. The company is still my baby, but we aren’t as busy currently so it was a good time to see if I could focus on all my projects on the go. I’m torn between growing the role full-time, vs time on my projects. There’s a great opportunity there that I need to sort out.

And that is all folks! Nothing very exciting. I’d love to hear how your week went! Is anyone else trying to live intentionally?

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A Fresh Start to Living with Intention!

Published 08/01/2015

Hey everyone! Long time no chat. I’ve been a bit MIA these days because, well, basically life just sort of took over, but I am back and I want to give this thing the love and attention it needs. I’ve also been fighting a fear between just being myself vs trying to be objective and informational, if that makes sense. But a good friend helped me realize that, what is the worst that could happen if people I knew in real life knew me as personally as I shared myself on this blog? So I’m going to be more real, as I definitely enjoy reading those blogs more than pure informational ones (i.e. 10 Ways to Get Over a Cold!) Be warned, this is a long post, but it’s an intro to a new start, so if you have the patience to read it, then cool!

A lot of things have changed and I must admit that I got distracted from the Minimalism thing because I had moved into a new house with my SO and had a promotion a few months back so I was very busy and overwhelmed. The result was a house full of things (combining my things with his things) and being too mentally exhausted to focus on anything else with all the work stuff going on.

After having gone through some intense personal development workshops and seeing the person I want to be wasn’t exactly who I was currently, I am committing to live a more intentional life starting today, August 1st, 2015! I plan on checking in weekly to see how I am doing, and I am happy for you to point out of I miss any updates (eek!). One thing I need to work on is committing to tasks that are somewhat ‘repetitive’. I seem to have a difficult time with this. But my coach said something brilliant.

Building Character means doing the things that uphold your values and who you want to be, despite you not feeling like it or wanting to do it.

Amen to that. But first.

I kicked off my “Fresh Start” by reading this book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. It’s absolutely incredible! Talk about a unique, quirky perspective on minimalism. Basically, Marie talks about the Japanese KonMari method of decluttering, where you hold every item in your hand, and only keep it if it “sparks joy”. She anthropomorphises objects, teaching you to show them love and appreciation, and thank them for their purpose. For example, if there are gifts or cards you don’t want to keep but feel guilty about getting rid of, know that the purpose of a gift/card is to convey someone’s emotions about you. Once that purpose has been served, you have no other obligation to keep the item.

I finished this book in a few hours and was well on my way to decluttering what I had accumulated since my last purge. I got rid of 4 giant garbage bags of clothes/linens, a bunch of books, dishes, and random knickknacks that had no meaning. I also went through useless documents that I thought I had to keep for record keeping sake. Granted, I don’t have a ton of things because I did do a huge purge last year, and I am not the biggest shopper. But I did well! I am so lucky to have a partner who was super supportive of it all.

“Go ahead! I like my office but the rest of the house is yours!”

Yay!

Anyway, pick up this book. It’s very cute, but extremely practical and claims to make you a tidy person for once and for all.

Let’s take a moment to talk about Minimalism for a second. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos lately on minimalism,

Here are a couple I absolutely love:

but most of the Minimalists I am running into, whether on YouTube or on the Blogosphere, focus on extreme minimalism. Like, literally living with only, probably, one item of everything you need. Their decor is very neutral, simple, and clean. Which is really cool, and I wish I could do it, but I can’t ignore who I really am.

You know what brings me joy? Anything antique/vintage/retro and bohemian looking. Think eccentric grandma! Ornate designs carved into wood, colourful eccentric patterns against a neutral background, and textures. I do like to keep the bedroom fairly neutral and relaxing though as a space to clear my mind. Also, my wardrobe is pretty minimalist and neutral. My home just has to be eye candy. Here are some photos below.

So while my tastes don’t match what the norm seems to be out there in the Minimalism world, I adore every piece I own and they all spark joy. This is what it means to me. It means many things to different people. For instance, the world traveler minimalist who lives from their backpack, or a van converted into a home. I think it’s important not to confuse minimalism as one way of being because the purpose is ultimately the same – to get rid of the things we don’t need, to make room for the things we want.

And now, I must move onto to my Intentional Living! I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit nervous to start this. But the blog, Blonde on a Budget (another one you need to check out) really inspired me. Not only is she living more intentionally, but she has been on a Year Long Shopping Ban and onto her second! Amazing work Cait!

Below is a list of things that I intend to focus on so that I can live more intentionally, simply, and meaningfully. I’ve already been doing these things, but the goal is to STICK to them and remember the higher purpose.

Health and Fitness:

Daily Pilates: Currently I’m doing Blogilates daily. (Guys it’s so much fun!)
Bike to work at least 3x/week.
Intuitive eating which is creating a good relationship with food, mind and body. Learning not to eat for emotional reasons, just eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full.
Vegan/Vegetarian diet. I love animals way too much to eat them. Also not eating processed foods, too much sugar/alcohol/caffeine/crap. Currently I’m open to eating seafood, but most of my diet is primarily vegetarian. Let’s see if I can get to vegan. Any advice?
Cook more! Less eating out. Save money. I’ve been doing pretty well here.

Spiritual/Emotional:

Everytime I have the impulse to eat something bad because of emotional reasons (boredom/sadness etc), sit in the feeling, recognize it’s a misguided opportunity to connect with ourselves. Being ok with just feeling the emotions.
Be more present.
Astrology!: I must admit, whether it’s true or not, I find it so fascinating because the things I read seem to be extremely accurate. Been reading a bit of this book everyday. The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need.
Be more aware and ethical in my lifestyle choices, whether it’s cleaning products, food, clothing etc.
Practice my daily Bliss feeling and no suffering so I can learn to push through uncomfortable feelings when I don’t want to do something.
The minimalist lifestyle, living simply, enjoying the little things and open up space for what is important.

Finance:

Currently live on half of my paycheque, and save the other half. Only buy things I need such as food and toiletries. Spending a minimal amount on ‘going out’ and other miscellaneous things.

Giving Back:

This Blog: Writing consistently, and personally, to hopefully inspire others. And I will be honest when I fail on any of these things in my weekly updates.
Animals: Donating money or supplies to Katie’s Place, a local animal shelter in my hometown, Maple Ridge.

Relationships: I think I can sum all of these into really honouring the time I spend with those that I care about. Being truly present with them, instead of being distracted by the next thing I need to do.

Friends: Make an effort to see how people are doing, being more supportive of people’s dreams and aspirations.
Family: Being present with my family, recognizing they won’t be around forever, spending more time with them.
Partner: Also being more present, giving my full attention, appreciating how much I love this man and how amazing he is.

Career/Personal:

Grow my Virtual Assistant business here at Less of the Excess, the ultimate goal for me is to become location independent and self sufficient. Through living a minimalist lifestyle and not buying into consumerism, we need much less money to survive on!
Less time surfing the internet, more time on goals…this one is difficult. Less distractions!

Phew! That was a long one…

I’d love to hear some of things you guys are all doing in order to live more intentionally.

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Social Media or No Media? Which Would You Choose?

Published 06/17/2015

“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” ~ Jim Morrison

Let’s talk about social media, or the media in general and what it does to our emotional and mental wellbeing.

I have a friend whose family is from Africa and her grandfather lived until he was 127 years old. They say it was because the family moved him out of the city, and into the countryside, cut him off from all media, so that he could live blissfully and stress free with his family and the beautiful nature.

I have another friend from Vietnam. They did the same thing. When their elders got old, they chose to protect their family members from the media and moved them to a beautiful location to live media free so they could live longer and healthier lives.

It is well known that the Media (social media, news media, etc.) can cause us stress. Especially the television news. The stories that are told to us are generally negative and frightening. I personally try to limit my exposure to negative news topics because I am a very sensitive person, and I can get very depressed about the state of the world. And while isolating oneself from the media can make us potentially live healthier stress free lives, what are the costs?

Social Media is a topic on it’s own which can cause stress because of:

Trying to keep up with the Joneses with what is popular or what others have
Keeping up with ourselves and the need to portray our ideal image
Being addicted to technology
Losing our privacy
Prying people
Identity fraud
Relationship/Friendship drama

If you had to choose to either be media and stress free (ignorance is bliss), or informed but stressed out and miserable? Which would you prefer? Can you have both? Do you care?

I think the happy medium is to be able to choose what content we are exposed to. Essentialism, coined by Greg McKeown, would say we should choose to expose ourselves to information that brings us value, and disregard the rest. A dear friend of mine says it’s always important to be learning (which requires learning about what is going on in the world), but we should have a choice on what kind of information we get and go to trusted, unbiased (ideally) sources. We should also explore all angles of a story or issue, and not blindly accept what is being told. For example, read the comments sections and discover other intelligent interpretations.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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The Switch to More Ethical Products

Published 05/20/2015

These days I’ve been more mindful and aware of the products I use on my body when it comes to shampoos, make-up, face wash, body lotion etc. There are three reasons:

1) I don’t want to be putting harsh chemicals all over my skin, which then gets absorbed into my body,
2) I don’t want to use products that are not ethical, and tested on animals, and
3) I don’t want to waste plastic containers and add more garbage to this precious earth.

I recently discovered the Soap Dispensary here in Vancouver. This place is awesome, and I’ve already been using some of their products!

“The Soap Dispensary is a refill store specializing in premium soaps, household cleaners, personal care products and DIY ingredients. Customers can reuse containers to be refilled at the store, keeping single-use plastic packaging out of landfills, watersheds and limited recycling systems.

The soaps are hard-working, biodegradable, gentle on children, pets and people with sensitivities and allergies. They currently carry seven brands produced in Metro Vancouver and as well as a few from across Canada and the US. They also bring in products from other parts of the world that fit with their goal for living a less disposable lifestyle.” See the video below!

Anyway, I am in love with this store. What a neat little concept. We need more of these.

Another place I’ve been going to more is Lush, which I’m sure most of you are familiar with. They have these Shampoo Bars that not only smell like heaven, but again, using the concept of not producing more plastic waste. They smell great too. I’m slowly trying their other products as well, I also have one of their Face Bars.

What products do you use? I’d love to hear your recommendations as I switch over my Drug Store products into more ethical ones. Any DIY-ers out there? I’ve been interested in that too.

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The Real Price of Fast Fashion

Published 05/16/2015

Something that’s been on my mind lately, is the fast fashion industry. Shops like H&M, Zara, and Forever21 pump out new garments weekly, tricking the consumer that the item they’ve purchased last week is already old news. We get that temporary high of finding a good bargain, but we get what we pay for. Secondhand stores cannot keep up with the amount of clothes they are receiving, and it’s also doing harm to the environment when endless clothes are being made, and then being tossed away just as quickly. Not to mention, the ethics behind the actual labour and how cheap clothes are being made.

Recently I purchased a few tops from H&M that I was hoping would last me a while. They fit well and they looked really nice. And then I threw them in the wash – one, two, or three times – and already one of the shirt’s arms have unraveled at the sleeve, another shirt has lost a button, and another has ripped open in the back from the seam.

They were built to fall apart. On purpose. Just so I would go out to H&M again and buy some more tops, and the company would make money on my stupidity. How can we be conscious of our spending and living on less, when what we buy falls apart just so we have to go and buy more? I do think however, that the fast fashion industry is becoming less appealing to consumers because of the low quality clothing, and high quality is going to be the next big thing.

We should be focusing on buying quality clothing that will last. Shopping will be less impulsive and more thought out because you will be focusing on something that is meaningful.

How do we find quality clothing?

1. Know what you want and plan your wardrobe so shopping is purposeful.

2. Take your time and don’t rush into a purchase if it isn’t quite right.

3. Know where to shop. If paying the high prices at name brand stores isn’t in your budget, thrift stores are a great place to start. There are shops that sell high quality brand named items, or if you love vintage, we all know that the clothes from the era’s past were made to last.

4. Know how to look for quality by looking at the cloth, seams, buttons and other details and make sure they’re secure and made well.

For some online shops that focus on higher quality at an affordable price, check out more info here:

What have your experiences been with shopping? Do you buy fast fashion, or stick to high quality? I’d love to hear your thoughts and recommendations!

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Aha! Moments – Marta from Change with Marta

Published 11/13/2014

Meet Marta from http://www.changewithmarta.com. Marta writes about her journey to a happier, simpler, clutter free life, and the achievements and mistakes she makes along the way. Please check out her blog!

Marta shares her Aha Moment:

My dog doesn’t defend my house.

Yeap…that was the most challenging concept for me these past few years. Sorry…what? That was what I though myself, that I had lost all common sense.

I came to this realization after a few years of owning a dog. We would leave the apartment to go to work/school/cinema/dining out for a few hours, and unfortunately my dog would stay in the apartment alone.

When any of us get back home, we are received by a mess of jumps, dog hugs, running around and a sense of super happiness, not caring a bit about toys, beds or the house. Just as if we had been away for days. On the other hand, when a family member is already home, our dog would bark at any person coming into the house, in order to protect us.

I understand every dog is different, but at least I was lucky enough to have experienced this. I believe we, as humans, are not so different from other animal species, we all feel fulfilled at least to some extent by social belonging and peer acceptance. And that happiness, doesn’t rely on stuff but rather on experiences and close people.

When I realized this, I was shocked. I had been giving importance to trivial things, like valuable pieces of clothing, and electronics. When I was asked what would I save from my house in case of fire, I started listing some of the most irreplaceable things, before coming to an stop and adding, “given my family is safe of course”. But that thought came second! In my heart I know they are first, and maybe I was assuming the question referred to physical stuff. But it doesn’t matter, now people are on the top of the list, followed by my doggie, and then comes the not-so-irreplaceable-as-we-think material stuff.

Since this realization, I have been in a quest to downsize and declutter my life, to rid my life of unnecessary things and finding what I love the most and what I am passionate about. This also pushed me to start my own blog, Change with Marta. Because life is a journey, it’s not so much about goals and achievements, but about trying, making mistakes and essentially…changes. Some of these changes may take you to closer to your goals, and some may not, but it’s all about growing as a person.

Embrace change as a constant in your life to unlock yourself

I want to share YOUR stories.

If you have experienced any ‘Aha!’ moments where you realized you want to align your life with who you really are, I want to hear about them and share!

All I need from you is:

1) A written 300-700 word personal story
2) A photo of yourself, or something that represents your story (this is optional)
3) A link to your blog/website (if you have one)
4) Email the info to lessoftheexcess at gmail dot com

Take care and see you soon!

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Distraction Detox – September 2014

Published 09/04/2014

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, but maybe I just needed that extra kick in the butt.

Well I got two kicks in the butt, and I want you to join me!

The first kick was from a section I came across about having a “Low Information Diet” from the book The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. Here’s an excerpt from the book that explains it a bit, but I’d recommend checking it out for more in-depth information:

The Low Information Diet – Cultivating Selective Ignorance

From this point forward, I’m going to propose that you develop an uncanny ability to be selectively ignorant. Ignorance may be bliss, but it is also practical. It is imperative that you learn to ignore or redirect all information and interruptions that are irrelevant, unimportant, or unactionable. Most are all three.

The first step is to develop and maintain a low-information diet. Just as modern man consumes both too many calories and calories of no nutritional value, information workers eat data both in excess and from the wrong sources.

Lifestyle design is based on massive action – output. Increase output necessitates decreased input. Most information is time-consuming, negative, irrelevant to your goals, and outside of your influence. I challenge you to look at whatever you read or watched today and tell me that it wasn’t at least two of the four. – Timothy Ferriss

My second kick in the butt was from a YouTube post from Unconventional Living which I’ve posted below. He challenges us to do #30daysunplugged from the internet in order to increase productivity, and not use it as a distraction because we’re bored.

My Distraction Detox!
And why you should join me!

While the internet in general is not my focus, I am committing to a 30 day Distraction Detox of my mindless YouTube and Netflix watching. I want to be deliberate and mindful of the time I’m spending on the internet, so I can get FOCUSED on my personal dreams and goals. It is so easy to get sucked into the land of aimless video watching, and it’s not getting me where I need to be. Yes, there is a lot of valuable info out there that we can get by watching videos that are more educational, but if that is the case, it’s also about taking a break from the research and absorbing, and doing a little more… doing. I’ve already disconnected from Facebook and have noticed a huge benefit of the extra time I got back.

Let me know if you want to join me. What is distracting you from achieving your current dreams and goals? What are the things you know you should focus on but keep getting sidetracked by?

I’ll follow up at the end of the month and talk about my experience. This is something I want to revisit from time to time, or maybe every month, there will be a new distraction to detoxify from!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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