This trial started with me adding more to a full plate. Everything inevitably came tumbling down. I was inspired to try freelancing by a number bunch of resources I found near the tail end of my morning routine run. Freelancing always seemed to be a cool concept to me, but trying to do everything all at once led overwhelm and uncertainty.

Picking up another project, I realized I was trying to handle too much. The timing of reading the book Essentialism could not have been better. My opinion of this book is definitely impacted by the state I was in a few weeks ago. This book helped me out so much, I wanted to give away a free copy. Luckily, there is a great, simple resource out there that helped me set up a giveaway. I honestly believe this will be one of the most important books I ever read.

It’s clear the solution I took was to start breaking down my projects to only this blog and my mail list. Previously, I was trying to write on the side, produce a podcast, and work on a small business. All of this was on top of my regular nine to five job. I struggled to tell myself no to any of the ideas that popped into my head, but as I mentioned last week, saying no is critical to success.

Taking a step back allowed me to review some of these ideas and decide if I want to continue pursuing them. One of the questions I asked was simple, what would be my ideal life if I chose X. I had five separate responses to this.

Another question I posed involved values I thought I held close. When reading back these values, I would ask myself, “how do I apply this in my life?” I find people often respond with very cookie cutter answers to questions such as this. However, when questioning their own decisions and actions, they have trouble connecting the dots. Some of my original responses fell into this category, so I figured pursuing those values didn’t really matter to me.