"One of the things that really humbled me in recent years is the realization that I am often only halfway in on anything I do. I’m rarely ever really all in."

"Then two days into it, maybe I really don’t feel like it, so I skip it. Then I find reasons to keep skipping it. This is even less than halfway in."

"Some of us have an experience of being all in, somewhere in our lives. Some places that might be true for you:"

"If you can relate to one of these — like having kids — then imagine what it would be like to have that kind of all-in commitment to whatever you do."

"Imagine working on a creative project and having no question that you’re going to complete it. Even when things get hard, you’re working with the difficulties. Even when you feel like giving up, you don’t give yourself the option"

"Your heart is fully in it. Doubts might come up, but those are expected."

"This is full devotion."

"We rarely let ourselves be all in, fully devoted … because it’s hard and scary."

"We don’t think we can do it. We don’t think we’re strong enough. We have lots of evidence that we will screw it up, based on past experience. We don’t trust ourselves."

"It’s easier to run. But it leaves our full heart, our full power, on the table."

"Deeper commitment creates deeper trust."

"A deeper relationship, with more trust."

"A realization that you didn’t need the exit door."

"Imagine that instead of heading for the exit door, you’re committed to working things out the best you can."

"This is not another set of expectations and shoulds to judge yourself by. This is about practicing deepening."

"Notice the places where you’re looking to get out, to exit. Where are you only half committed?"

"Notice how this impacts your life, the people you’re in relationship with, and what you care about."

"When the fears show up, try to catch yourself. Notice what you want to do, and recognize that this is just a safety mechanism."

"What would it be like if life were more effortless, more relaxed, more trusting, more surrendered?"

"It’s hard to describe what non-effort is, because it’s an absence. That’s like trying to describe emptiness — its definition is about what’s not there."

"Non-effort meditation is sitting in a relaxed way, paying attention to what’s happening in the moment, noticing when your attention wanders to thoughts, noticing the thoughts for a moment with the curiosity of watching a cloud float by, but then returning easily to the present moment."

"Writing: Non-effort is letting yourself take a walk and notice what comes up for you as something to write about, and trusting that."

"You make effortless decisions by choosing from the heart and trusting yourself. The project starts to grow like a joyfully tended garden."

"Something different emerges when you relax into non-effort. Not only a different kind of result, but a different kind of wisdom."

"But in the second, non-effort model, you gain access to a trustful part of yourself that relates to the world in a different way."

"What if we began to cultivate that kind of relationship with life, by relaxing a bit, pushing less, and reclaiming our spot in the flow of life?"

"The first step is to notice when you’re efforting."

"Next, pause, breathe for a moment, and relax your body."

"Then see what might emerge from the place of non-effort. When you’re relaxed, breathing deeper, still … trust that something will emerge."

"An idea, some clarity, a choosing from the heart, something you’re being called towards."

"It will take practice. And let that practice be non-effortful — simply relax and let yourself flow into it again, and again."

"One of the keys to living a life of calm and purpose is the art of letting go."

"If you’d like a life of purposeful focus, it’s powerful to examine what is standing in the way of that … and let go of whatever is blocking you."

"The cause is some kind of idea, concept, or narrative we have in our minds."

"We often think it’s something outside of us — that person over there did something that upsets me, frustrates me, annoys me."

"The real cause is that we have idea that they shouldn’t be the way they are."

"Sometimes we think we’re the problem — we shouldn’t be so lazy, or undisciplined, or something like that."

"But what if the cause of our feeling bad is that we think we shouldn’t be the way we are?"

"If we’re resisting doing something, we might think that the problem is with the task/activity we’re resisting … or with ourselves for not being strong enough"

"But what if the cause of resistance is that we think the activity should feel some other way than it does?"

"All of this stems from having an idea of how things should be that’s different than how they are."

"Imagine that this frustration or feeling bad stems from an idea that things should be different than they are."

"It’s about freeing ourselves from the attachment to an idea that’s causing some kind of suffering (frustration, resistance, feeling bad)."

"What if we could free ourselves in any moment by realizing that there’s a mental conception that we’ve created that we don’t need right now?"

"First, notice when there’s a difficulty: frustration, resistance, feeling bad about yourself, annoyance, anxiety."

"Second, without needing to judge how you’re feeling, could you simply be with it?"

"Third, if you’d like to free yourself, you can let go of the mental conception that’s causing the difficulty."

"Fourth, you might just experience the moment free of conception. Just pure experience."

"Fifth, once you’re free, you can take action if any is needed. For example, you can take on the task that you’re resisting, once you’re free of the idea that the task should feel different."

"The problem isn’t the abundance, but our fear and anxiety about all of it."

"Actually, for most of us, the fear is that we’ll let people down."

"The first reason we feel overwhelm is that we often have too many commitments."

"We say Yes to too many things, partly out of optimism, but also because we are uncomfortable saying No to people."

"So we created the Huge Pile of Things because we’re afraid of saying No and letting people down, and now we have too much to do and the fear of letting people down returns."

"If we decide to simplify the Huge Pile of Things, we feel the same fear."

"The first practice is simply noticing your fear and anxiety in all of the above situations, and soothing them."

"Only after you’ve done the first practice should you take on this one: take one thing from the Huge Pile and focus completely on it."

"One at a time. That’s all we can do. It’s so simple, so pure, so beautiful."

"Second, we can start saying No more."

"Simplicity Practice: Protecting Your Time & Commitments"