If you need help regaining your perspective on what’s important this holiday, consider these words of wisdom from business and life coach, Steve Davis. He offers a profound strategy to better cope with the stress of “too much.”
To find true fulfillment and better cope with the stress brought on by hyper-materialism and information-overload, Steve advises understanding the difference between “Assimilation vs. Accumulation.”
We haven’t asked ourselves the questions, “How much is enough?” “What do I value over everything else?” We just cannot say “no” to available things and information that meet our fancy. And in some ways, we crave each new thing with the hope that it will somehow set us free. Consequently, we are literally dying from over consumption in one form or another … People are busier, have less time, and often feel overwhelmed, surrounded by too much stuff and stressed out under the growing burden of too much information.
How do we cope with the temptation to consume ourselves into oblivion? … First, begin replacing the habit of “accumulating” [i.e., amassing information, material things, and experiences] with the practice of “assimilating” [absorbing them]. And second, make sure that what you ingest in any form is of the highest quality possible.
Satisfaction comes from fully digesting and extracting the fine nutrients from what we already have, and making choices for new input based on our true values and passions, not our casual likes and vague interests. – Steve Davis, Assimilation vs. Accumulation
I encourage you to read the complete article to better assimilate what’s most important. While Steve wrote this for an audience of professional facilitators, his message is applicable to everyone.
[Note: My loyal blog readers may recognize this content that I’ve posted before. Given our continual struggle with over-consumption, Steve’s valuable advice is worth sharing again.]