I've previously mentioned my affinity for financial guru Gail Vaz-Oxlade (bless her heart). In that vein, I came across a blog post she had written in January which I thought was incredibly insightful. Titled "Reduce Your Stress," Gail delves into a concept which she calls the "Crap List." Essentially, a CL is a personal inventory of the people and things in your life which cause you unneeded stress. We all have them. A friendship you've outgrown but can't quite relinquish, items of clothing in your closet that you never wear but can't seem to part with, an activity you really don't enjoy but feel obligated to continue...
Sound familiar?
There are other items to be added to the CL, too; personal qualities, bad habits. Chronic lateness. Smoking. Watching crappy TV. Wasting money. It all applies.
Take a few minutes to compile your basic list. (This will be ongoing - trust me.) Once that's done, the question to ask yourself is: what am I going to change in order to eliminate these stressors from my life? Notice the italicized I? Yup. This has to be about what you are willing to do, because as we're all aware at this point, we can't change anyone else. (Influence them by the way we interact and communicate with them, sure - we all need to learn to articulate our needs so that others understand what the criteria are for remaining in our lives.)
I think the number one item on my CL is social media. More specifically, that dreaded social experiment/obsession, Facebook. Let's tackle that one now, shall we?
Sound familiar?
There are other items to be added to the CL, too; personal qualities, bad habits. Chronic lateness. Smoking. Watching crappy TV. Wasting money. It all applies.
Take a few minutes to compile your basic list. (This will be ongoing - trust me.) Once that's done, the question to ask yourself is: what am I going to change in order to eliminate these stressors from my life? Notice the italicized I? Yup. This has to be about what you are willing to do, because as we're all aware at this point, we can't change anyone else. (Influence them by the way we interact and communicate with them, sure - we all need to learn to articulate our needs so that others understand what the criteria are for remaining in our lives.)
I think the number one item on my CL is social media. More specifically, that dreaded social experiment/obsession, Facebook. Let's tackle that one now, shall we?
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