Letting go
I published the following post on my LinkedIn account and it received quite a bit of feedback. Therefore, I would like to send this thought to your inbox as well.
Recently, I attended a workshop by Matthias Strolz on the topic of "shaping one' s future". Besides many stimulating impulses, the idea of "letting go" stuck with me above all. The core idea: I can only tackle new responsibilities, projects or tasks with empty hands, but not with full ones. Therefore, something has to be put aside before something new is tackled. That this is rarely done, I experience again and again. New responsibilities, projects or tasks are constantly piling up on one, which should now be additionally processed. Rarely, however, are old responsibilities, projects or tasks discarded. Over the years, the bag of topics that must be carried becomes larger and larger. Of course, people are getting better and better at carrying heavy loads, but in total, a lot of room for maneuver is wasted by always adding something more on top. People simply have no more time to tackle new projects, topics, issues. There is no time to think creatively, to discuss new topics in depth, to experiment. People only react, they no longer act. At some point, the desire and the joy of the activity is lost. There is nothing playful about it anymore. It's all about working through things. And if it goes even worse and someone has problems to say no to new requests, load is taken up so long, until sometime a breakdown is the result. Psychologically or physically.
In this sense: Let us let go of things that only burden us. It does not have to remain only with responsibilities, projects or tasks. Matthias has brought some possible examples of what can be let go of:
- Fixed ideas
- desires
- beliefs
- negative feelings
- Excel sheets
- everyday life
- annoying fellow men
- tasks
- functions
- equipment
- possessions
- sense of entitlement
- Suspicions
- evaluations
- debilitating conflicts
- behavior patterns
- dependencies
- unpleasant memories
- bad habits
- everyday clutter
- tension
- pains
- excessive sense of duty
- unpleasant stress
- disappointments
- offenses
- all kinds of problems
- the past
- the future
