One of the biggest challenges I hear many of you facing is a sense of overwhelm- that feeling we get when we have too much on our plate.
Today we are going to take a big step toward eliminating your feelings of overwhelm and dramatically simplifying your life and business for you.
The key Insight for today is:
Growth Requires Space
If we plant a seed for an oak tree in a small metal pot, the tree can grow - but not much. As soon as its roots start to bump up against the metal of the pot, its growth gets stunted and it never reaches its full potential.
Take that same seed and plant it out in Nature where there is plenty of open space for those same roots to grow into and it can grow and grow into a tall, majestic, huge oak tree.
Same seed.
The only difference was the amount of space it had to grow.
Our incomes and our lives work in much the same way.
They need space to grow - and the level of their growth is limited by how much space we give them
Which brings us to
The Paradox Of Growth
- Often, the most important constraint on our growth is not what we say Yes to but rather how many things (and thoughts or ideas) we can start saying No to.
In fact…
After studying more than 1,300 CEO and entrepreneurs whom I have coached in the past nine years, I’ve come to the conclusion that…
- The most successful focus on what to ELIMINATE. They are constantly increasing simplicity. They consciously build in excess capacity in every area of their life and their business long before it is ever needed.
- Everyone else focuses on what they can ADD. They are constantly adding complexity. They continually fill up whatever capacity they have so the only way to add something new is by first eliminating something else.
The most successful people are asking themselves,
- “What can I ELIMINATE in order to free up the space for something better?” and
- “How can I build excess capacity so I have plenty of space to grow into?”
Here are the deep insights that really allow this principle to work for you:
Our consumer society has programmed us to equate fullness with success and complexity with rightness - the “More Is Better Syndrome”.
Even the whole notion of things like “multi-tasking” or “living up to our potential”, which sound good on the surface, are actually just masked forms of “more is better” - which it is not.
The 1st Distinction for this concept is to realize…
- Fullness = DISTRACTION from success; distraction from life; distraction from our True Self
- Emptiness = success = FREEDOM = ability to allow our True Self to shine through without masks and without distraction
The 2nd Distinction for this concept is to remember…
- Growth requires space - so if we want to grow, we must consciously build in that space IN ADVANCE.
This one is huge for most people.
I call it…
The Principle Of Excess Capacity.
Basically, we consciously build in excess capacity in advance, such that when cool opportunities come along we have extra empty space (on our schedule, in our head, etc) so we can immediately say Yes to them without having to say No to anything else first.
Most of us unconsciously do the exact opposite.
We say YES to so many things out of the fear of missing out on something, or the fear of not doing what we “should” that our plates are crammed full - and so if a fun or profitable opportunity comes along, the only way we can say Yes to it is to first clear something else off our plate - and by the time we get that done, often the opportunity is gone.
So our fear of missing out actually does cause us to miss out - but not at all in the way we expected.
Actually, the lack of understanding of this Principle Of Excess Capacity is one of the most important constraints holding back virtually every business.
Think about this for a second -
If your business doubled tonight, what would it be like tomorrow?
If your business grew by 1000% overnight, what would it be like tomorrow?
For most every business owner, their initial reaction to that question is a bunch of extra dollar signs flashing in their eyes- followed closely by fear.
In other words -
- They know that if their business grew that much, it would be utter chaos. They don’t have systems or personnel in place to deal with it, they don’t know how to get those things put in place that fast, and they can’t even imagine how hard or how long they would have to work to handle that much extra business.
Think about that for a minute…
If that’s the case in your business, basically what you have is a subconscious reason for your business NOT to grow that fast. In fact, you are actually getting a reward for NOT growing - the reward of not having to deal with all the stress and confusion that would come with rapid growth.
Pretty interesting when you put it in those terms, eh?
So…
Bottom line:
- Having no space to grow into is one of the biggest constraints on increasing both our incomes and our quality of life.
- Saying YES to too many things and filling our plates too full so we have no excess capacity often PREVENTS us from succeeding and prevents us from living the life we really want.
It also forces us to walk through life carrying the weight of all our “YESes” on our shoulders - a huge weight that just continues to get heavier and heavier every day unless we begin to consciously lighten our load.
In today’s Action Plan, I’m going to give you the quick, easy ways to begin opening up the space you need for growth, to build in excess capacity, and to dramatically lighten your load so you will have the space to say Yes to the things that will truly make a difference in your wealth and your life.
Click here to access it now.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:30 am
What a neat way to view the problem of ‘too much on my plate’! Create capacity before you need it is the most proactive way to get to opportunities. I need to also control my curiosity. I have the stupid ability to grasp concepts a little too easily and then I am tooooo analytical so this lands me in the ‘full plate’ on my back syndrome almost on a daily basis. Developing and sticking to the principle of not multi-tasking is helping me get on the right track. And now this… Jeff you are looking at a success story in the works!!!!! YAHOOO!!!
Sunita
September 30th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Jeff, It is true. I think of the fish that is constrained by the size of its environment. I knew about prioritizing, but you gave me the big picture! Thank you!
I was lamenting to myself that email is becoming excessive and overwhelming. I have identified several areas I can improvce my capacity-smile
September 30th, 2008 at 8:25 am
How true it is.
” Some Days Our Minds Are Like Crows,
They Pick Up Every thing That Glitters!
No matter How uncomfortable their Nests
Become, With All That Metal in Them. God
Help Us to See What Gets in Our way and
Grant Us the Strength and Wisdom to Remove
the Clutter That Gets in Our Way. Thank you for
Your Power Working Through Me…”
And, Thank You Jeff, for sharing your wisdom with
me and all my brothers and sisters.
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September 30th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Finish one thing before starting another. That is the only way not to get overwhelmed.
Thanks for explaining this in a different light. I’m guilty of trying to read everything and buy things that will end within a few days. This does cause an overwhelming sensation within.
I already have my plate full with my personal projects that I haven’t finished and I keep adding more to it without having the time to learn the new information.
I’ve got to learn to say no until I’m ready for new things.
Thanks Jeff
September 30th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Hi! I can identify with a lot of what you’ve said! I’ve so many books unread on the shelves and keep on adding to them. Same with emails, can hardly keep up with reading them let alone dealing with them. Looking forward to the Action Plan. Thanks. Margit.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Hey Jeff,
I think you hit the nail on the head with this one!! I’ve got plans and programs stacked up from all the top Guru’s right now, some of which I havn’t even opened yet!! I’m learning a ton of stuff but I’m not building up much steam in the actual running of my business. I do need to focus on getting one thing at a time implemented before moving on to the next. My only problem with doing that right away is the three live coaching programs I’m in, all teaching different concepts toward the same end…Making Money! Can’t wait to see the action plan.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Dear Jeff
That time in Australia l will not have access to to net and can not phone is there another way for me to get the certificate for the course
Enjoy your day and thanks for your kindness
Sabrina in Australia
September 30th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Dear Jeff,
Today’s Day 8 Insight, for me, was equivalent to that ‘much needed but unexpected’ check in the mail ! The Universe, via you today, gave me EXACTLY what I needed to hear. An “Aha..! ” moment …. thanks for passing the wisdom along. Now it is my job to use the energy to put the wisdom into action,isn’t it? (~!~)
Many thanks!
Kathy
September 30th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Robert Kiyosaki has stated in most of his writings ,One must expand one’s context in order to develop one’s content within it.Thanks for the reminder Jeff!
October 1st, 2008 at 3:44 am
Since I have started a new life and new clean slate, I thought I was doing it all the correct way until I started saying yes to all the new programmes on the market. I have wanted so much to learn Internet Marketing that saying yes to one programme just started an avalanche of emails and I’m finding that I have to go throught about 150-180 emails every day. I have this habit of reading all of them in case I miss anything. I am so hungry to find information that would help me get my life back in order. I also spend every last cent that I have on different programmes incase I find the one that will teach me how to start from scratch. But no one does this and I’m still searching. Perhaps Jeff you may be able to put me on the right track. Thank you all for sharing, and I’m not the only duffer.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Yes,I am guilty! I have been trying for weeks (months?) to get refunds on some projects
so as to releave some of my credit card debts. I have sent many thousands of dollors and
still do not have anything going. I have many programs and can not master any of them-why? Because I cannot stay concentrated on one.
I had realized the truth of today’s lesson, but had not voiced it. Jeff, you put it in words and
now I know that the course I hav been on for the past two weeks is true. I MUST work on only ONE thing at a time untill it gets going. No matter how frustrating as it is niot yet producing.
Thaqnk you, Jeff. God bless you. And I am sure He does, richly and continuously.
October 1st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Jeff, you constantly amaze me with the simple but powerful gems you drop in this course.
From having grown up with a father who hoarded everything, and battled the same tendencies myself for years, I’ve suddenly just had the entire emotional circuit shorted and I feel like I no longer want to hold on to most of it. I’ve had heaps I’ve been waiting to find time to put up to ebay - it’s going off to charity, and forget about demanding something in return. I’m going to enjoy the space I create instead.
This is a serious weight off my shoulders, and I can’t wait until the long weekend gets here so I can start creating more space! My boyfriend’s not going to know what’s happened next time he visits…
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:43 am
Thanks Jeff your daily insights are truely life changing.
Earl
October 4th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
This makes a lot of sense. Keep it coming.