TSA#3 – Watch what you are watching

Jan 14, 2013 by Ben

I had planned on following up on the getting organized part 1 post from last week, but I had an epiphany last week.  So if you didn’t get started with last weeks post, get on it now.

I spent last week in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show and wow.  Let me tell you about all of the amazing products that no one needs…ever.  The 110 inch 4k TV was impressive to look at but seriously.  110 inches?  4k?  Who needs this?  Who is asking for this?  And apparently the big trend this year is the rise of devices and gadgets from China.  Apparently China can now crank out more TV’s and widgets faster and cheaper than Japan and such, so expect those cheap devices to be flooding into the US market soon. Yippee.

The real epiphany didn’t hit me on the chaos of the show floor, but rather back in the quiet of my hotel room, where there were only two 48 inch flat screen TV’s.  I don’t say this to brag that I had an awesome hotel room, but as a side note the Vdara hotel was the best hotel I’ve ever stayed at in Vegas and they were amazing and definitely earned my repeat business.

Now back to the epiphany.

I try not to watch too much TV.  I try.  It doesn’t always work.  Sometimes I just veg out and waste an evening in front of the TV.  I also try to delicately walk the line here between someone who is trying to do more with their time and not being that douchebag who goes around telling everyone that they do not own a TV.  I own a TV.  I own 2 TV’s.  I did however cancel my cable several years ago and here’s where the epiphany comes in.

Epiphany: Holy crap there is a lot of shit on TV.

I cancelled my cable because I wanted to watch less TV. I didn’t want to get rid of my TV altogether because I like watching movies and there are some TV’s shows I like.  I just wanted to watch less of them.  So now when I want to watch something its a deliberate choice that requires me to seek out that content.  I can’t just sit in front of the TV and flip channels until I find something.

I miss the flipping.

Since we don’t have cable TV at home, the wife and I love to flip channels when we are out at a hotel.  This is tremendously addicting.  It’s fun to see what is on all those 300 channels, but that fun quickly ends when you realize that there is a lot of shit on TV.  I don’t just mean bad program or low quality shows.  I mean shit.  It is horrible.  But that was only one part of the epiphany.

It’s not just the horrible shows on TV, it’s the commercials.  

Again I’m sorry if I’m getting a bit too preachy here, but hear me out on this one.  Even before we cut the cable I had a DVR that would automatically skip all the commercials so It’s been a great many years since I’ve been exposed to them.  OH MY GOD, the commercials.  I can’t imagine anyone buying anything after watching and listening to these things, but they must work otherwise they wouldn’t be there.

If you think I’m nuts, try this next time you watch TV.

Here comes your Truly Simple Action of the week:
Watch what you are watching.

This weeks TSA is probably the easiest yet.  I want you to watch TV.  

Watch TV during primetime when all the big shows are on.  This is when all the big money is spent on commercials.  Pick your favorite show(s) and do 2 things.  First write down what each commercial is selling and what category it belongs to.  Second, close your eyes and listen to the commercial only.  Don’t watch it.  Only listen to the words that are being spoken and really listen.

I don’t want to get into whether a show is “good” or not.  You should know that.  Is the show entertaining with good actors and good writing or does it expose bad people in bad situations to make you feel better about yourself?

The point of this exercise is to not only take a step back and really look at what you are consuming, but to really understand what you are subconsciously consuming hour after hour, day after day.  Look at what you wrote down.  What are you being sold?  What is constantly being pushed in front of you?  Do you need any of it?

It’s the commercials that just confounded me, and specifically the drug and pharmaceutical commercials that seem to proliferate the airwaves.

I literally could not believe what I was hearing.  Commercial after commercial.  I thought I had stumbled upon a SNL parody at some point.  These commercials can’t be real can they?   How could anybody consider using this product after hearing all of those side effects?   They sound worse than the disease they are aiming to help!

Perhaps I am naive here.  Perhaps I am very lucky to not be suffering from any of the ailments these drugs aim to cure.  Perhaps.

Or perhaps the cure to having trouble sleeping is to get up off the couch for 4-5 hours a night and go for a walk and get some exercise.

I’m not saying you need to throw away your TV.  I’m just saying you need to be VERY aware of what you are watching.

If 2013 is your year of simplifying your life and getting things accomplished, you will find all the spare time you need to accomplish those goals when you limit how much TV you watch.

Be aware of what you are watching and make some good choices about how much you watch.

Ben…

Previous TSA’s:

 

 

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TSA#2 – Get organized part 1 – Clear your space to clear your head

Jan 7, 2013 by Ben

I hope you had fun with the first TSA of the new year.  There is nothing quite like that feeling you get from it.

Now onto the second Truly Simple Action and your little project this week.

Simplifying your life involves a great deal of being in the right state of mind and being in the right state of mind requires you simplify your physical space around you.

When you are constantly surrounded by a space that is cluttered and in disarray it taxes your mind. No one likes taxes. No one likes to be in a constant state of stress and chaos, but often that’s exactly how we live. We all have those friends who chaos seems to follow them around. Visiting their house and catching a glimpse of how they live is a revealing tale of the chaos they surround themselves with. I once visited a friend who was having a problem with fly’s in their kitchen as evident by the fly strips hung everywhere, yet there was no attention paid to the HUGE pile of dirty dishes stacked up in and around the sink causing the fly problem in the first place.

Often we put bandaids on the problems never seeking to fix the root cause of the problem. We move piles of clothes from the bed to a chair to a dresser to the floor, but never take a minute to put the clothes away. We shift papers from one stack to another, but never take a minute to go through them or just recycle them and get them out our space.

Having these piles of “things to get to” or just crap everywhere is a constant stress. Whether conscious of it or not, just seeing these things every day causes your brain to think, “oh yeah, got to put that away” or, “must clean up that mess…later”. It’s these subconscious thoughts that nag our brain every time we look around causes feelings of anxiousness and stress that you don’t need. So were going to fix it, and it will be easy.

You’ve vowed to simplify your life. You’ve decided that you want less stress and more happiness and that state of mind requires a space that will allow those emotions to exist and thrive.

Your Truly Simple Action for this week is to clean one room.

That’s it.  Easy huh?

This room needs to be where you spend the most time. This may be your bedroom, or your kitchen, or living room. Close your eyes for 5 seconds and think about your daily routine and think about where you spend most of your time. That is the room you will clean.

First purge everything from the room that does not belong in that space and put it way. Don’t just put it somewhere else to be put away later. Put it where it goes. If it does not have a space, decide if you need to keep that item or not, and if you do, find it a home where it can live. Next with everything that’s not supposed to be in that space, clean the room. This doesn’t take as long as you think it does. Get out the iPod and put on your favorite album and take 10-15 minutes to just clean. Clear off all of the flat surfaces. Dust and wipe them down. Pick up everything off the floor and vacuum. Keep as many things out of site as possible.

Having a clean minimalist space is a wonder for your mind. All of a sudden when you spend time in that room you will notice yourself being more relaxed. Your mind won’t’ be racing with all of the things you need to clean or fix or put away. Your mind can slow down and take a breath.

It’s an amazing feeling.

Now take a few moments to pause and relish in that feeling. Look around. Take it all in. Breathe deep and enjoy it. If you want to increase this mental peace, repeat this process to your other rooms. I recommend doing your bedroom as well. Having a clean and uncluttered bedroom where you can relax in the space that you see last thing before you go to sleep and first thing in the morning is wonderful. Imagine going to sleep with a quiet mind and waking up with a clear head ready to tackle the day. This space is important and can set the intention and mood for the day and thus your life.

Now if you’ve got junk piled to the ceiling and no where for it to go you might need to do a big purge.

Try this:

• Put everything away that has a place
• Take everything else and put it in a big pile in another room.
• Once that room is clean go back to the big pile in the other room and start grabbing items and ask yourself a few questions:
• Do I need this?
• Have I used this in the last 6 months?
• Can I just get rid of it?

Make a few smaller piles from the big pile. First pile is trash and its helpful to just get a trashcan and throw any and all trash in there. Second pile is the pile to sell. If you’ve got stuff you don’t need, but others might, put it aside and put it on eBay or Craigslist and make some extra cash from that stuff. Third pile is the pile to give away. All old clothes and such go in this pile and you will donate it to the Goodwill.

Clean that room.  Clean a couple if you can.  Once you get started you’ll realize how easy it is.  Just get started.

Ben…

Previous TSA’s:

 

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TSA#1 – Help out a Stranger

Jan 1, 2013 by Ben

Welcome to the first of the Truly Simple Actions for a new year.  Here’s how this works.

I have created a list of 52 simple things to make you and the world around you better.  Each week, on Mondays, I will post one simple action that you need to take that week.

Each week + one thing = life better.

Simple huh?  That’s the idea.

TSA #1:  Help out a Stranger

This week’s TSA isn’t about you, but you will most definitely get the benefit from this.  This weeks simple action is to help out a stranger.  This week you must break out of your routine and think of someone else.  You can be creative in how you accomplish this, but know this going in:

The more you do for someone, the better you will feel.

If this sounds scary to you start off small.  Let that car merge in front of you on the freeway.  Let that person who only has a few items check out ahead of you at the store.  It’s these little things that simply make that persons day better.  That feeling travels forward.  Then if that starts being more comfortable, step it up a little.  Pay for someones coffee behind you in the drive through or buy someone a meal that needs it.  Donate to a good cause to help others.

A big part of these simple actions that I propose each week is seeing tangible benefits that are demonstrably real, and this is why I started with this one.  Helping out someone else gives you a HUGE smile on your face and a wonderful feeling inside.  It is such a great feeling that you will want to continue doing nice things for others to keep the feeling going.

It’s a wonderful addiction.

So that’s it.  Right now, get out a sticky note or piece of paper and right down on it: TSA #1:  Help out a Stranger

Put it somewhere you will see it often and get going.  Think about some fun and simple ways you can help others and do it.  If you’ve got some great ideas, please post them in the comments.

Happy new year everyone.  Let’s start off 2013 right and make this year simply awesome.

Ben…

TSA = Truly Simple Actions The goal of the TSA project is to improve your life and help make this world a better place, one simple action at a time.  Take time this week to do this one simple thing.

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It’s a new year, let’s get going

Jan 1, 2013 by Ben

It’s a new year.  It’s a new opportunity to try again.  It’s time to start fixing what’s wrong and making this life a little better.

Does that sound daunting to you?  It shouldn’t.

This is simple.  Come with me.  This is going to be fun.

Starting TODAY, yes, TODAY, we are going to start fixing  our problems.  Starting today, we are going to fix our world, and its going to be simple and dare I say a little fun even.

Every day we have a choice.  We can go left or right.  We can get up and go for a walk or run or we can sit down and watch the latest reality TV show.  This year we will choose to improve.  This year we will choose to make our lives and the lives of those around us better.   This year we will take simple steps toward that goal each day and will see dramatic results.

Imagine a place where everyone around you took that extra step to make your life just a little bit easier.  Neighbors brought up your trash cans for you when you forgot.  Friends cooked a nice homemade meal for you.  Strangers handed  you coupons for the items you were buying at the grocery store.  Everywhere you went, people were going just slightly out of their way to make the world a better place for all those around them.  Does that sound like some place you’d like to live?

Good, lets go there together.

This is simple.  Here’s how it works.

I have created a list of 52 simple things to make you and the world around you better.  Each week, on Mondays, I will post one simple action that you need to take that week.

I see countless magazines and ads for making yourself look better.  “How to drop 10 pounds before the holidays” or “Top 10 muscle building exercises you can do at home” etc.

I also see countless self help books on how to feel better.  Whether it be on how to escape depression or how to cope with stress, there are thousands of titles available.  And while there are several books on how to be a better person I don’t hear people talking about this as much.  In fact I don’t hear many people talking about this much at all.  I want to talk about it.

I don’t just want to be a better person for the sake of being a better person.  I want to make my life and the life of those around me measurably better.  And I want others to aspire to that goal as well.  I want to live in that place where we look out for one another.  I want to be around people who are trying to make life a little better for everyone they encounter.

Now you may say that I’m a dreamer, but I am not the only one.

It really all comes down to a choice.  Do I want to merely exist in this world and scrape by doing the bare minimum or do I want to suck every drop of life out of every minute and make this world a much better place in doing so?

Join me on this simple adventure.  Choose more than just existing.  Let’s change the world together.

Let’s get started right now.

Here is the Truly Simple Action #1

Ben…

TSA = Truly Simple Actions The goal of the TSA project is to improve your life and help make this world a better place, one simple action at a time.  Take time this week to do this one simple thing.

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Tomorrow is the first…

Dec 31, 2012 by Ben

Tomorrow is the day we pick to reset our year.  We celebrate the year that was and look forward to a new year of new possibilities.  2012 was amazing, but I think 2013 can be even better.  There is always room to grow.  There are always new challenges to take on.  There are things we can do to make our lives and the lives of those around us better.  So lets do that.

I hope you take some time today to be with friends and family and enjoy some great company and talk about the great memories of 2012.  I also hope you’ll join me in starting off 2013 with some great new ideas and simple ways that we can make our life better.

If 2012 was rough for you, this is a good opportunity to put it behind you.  Let today be the last day you think of the things that are holding you back.  Let the new year be a new slate for you and an opportunity to move forward with your dreams and not look back at the things holding you down.  The past is past.  It’s done.  It happened.  It’s over.  Its now time to live a full and happy life.  Let 2013 be your year.

Please join me tomorrow for the first of many simple challenges aimed to make your life better.

It’s just that simple

Happy New Year everyone!

Ben…

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Merry Christmas

Dec 25, 2012 by Ben

I want to wish you all a truly merry Christmas.

I hope you will take the day to be with friends and family, eat wonderful cookies, drink awesome eggnog, and spread the Christmas cheer around.

This has been a rough year for some out there, so this Christmas, kiss the kids, hug the adults, snuggle with the animals and remember the good things in your life.  Think of the great things you have in your life and give to others who need a little help when you can.

 

Merry Christmas

 

Thank you for all your support of TrulySimple.  I appreciate all the great feedback and input and hope you will join me next year in making this world a better place one simple step at a time.

Ben…

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You’re still here and the world still turns. So now it’s time to fix it.

Dec 22, 2012 by Ben

You survived the apocalypse, which means you can do anything.

The world keeps turning, and you are still here, so now its your turn to help make it a better place and improve your life at the same time.  I am creating a simple program to help you do just that, but I need your help.  I need to know how I can better help you. I’ve created this very short and easy questionnaire to help me know how I can help you more.

Its only 15 questions and will only take you a couple of minutes to finish. Please take a second and help me help you and let me know what you think.

This questionnaire is completely anonymous.  Be honest and have fun.

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