Get Prolific, Day 21: Making Lists Isn’t Helping You

Are you eating like an elephant and pooping like a bird?

January used to be my favorite month of the year because of all the lists.

Resolutions, goals, ideas, projects, books to read, places to see, people to meet, foods to eat, everything about the upcoming year was accounted for.

And although I’m still a huge believer that if you don’t write it down, it never happened, my philosophy on making lists has changed over the years.

Because in my experience, making lists doesn’t actually motivate us as much as it give us the feeling we’re always behind.

Like if we don’t check off the hundreds of potential projects and unfinished tasks pilling up, then we’re worthless.

But this guilt isn’t useful or legitimate. It’s just the pressure of unreasonable demands we put ourselves. And that’s a burden we can choose not to carry.

My dad always used to say that you can’t eat like an elephant and poop like a bird. That was his company mantra for making sure his eyes weren’t bigger than his stomach, and his words still ring my head today.

Not that all lists are the devil. It’s just that there’s a big difference between making a short grocery list for an office happy hour, and writing an obsessive love letter to ourselves about all the things we need to do in order to be happy.

If you’re overwhelmed just by looking at all the things you believe you should be doing, try this.

Throw that list away, see how many of the items you can actually recall, do the few that matter, and move on with your life. If you can’t remember it, then maybe you didn’t need to know it in the first place.

The irony is, my life is disproportionately more calm and less stressed than it was before. Not making lists for everything isn’t the culprit, it’s simply a microcosm for this larger principle.

I no longer bemoan my need to catch up on anything.

I am enough with everything I have, right now.

I trust I have plenty of time to do everything.

And this prosperity mindset let me to be more of an opportunist. By not making lists, or having any goals for that matter, I can open myself to an abundant world of exciting options. My field of vision is wider.

Compare that to a life dictated by a bunch of line items on a piece of paper that were written when I was a different person with different needs. It only allows me to see a narrow swath of reality that’s within the area permitted by my blinders.

Are you too religious about where your fulfillment comes from? What opportunities might you be overlooking because they’re outside your field of vision?

Look, you already have everything you need to be happy. You’re not behind. There’s nothing to catch up on. The growing pile is not your concern.

Bottom line, you’re doing enough because you are enough. Try to enjoy the ride, and maybe you’ll discover some unexpected destinations along the way.

Are you eating like an elephant and pooping like a bird?

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