Week 4: Simplify Your Relationships

Simplifying your life also means understanding who around you is draining your energy. Most of the time we have friendships, relationships that have long past their due date. We tend to continue because we are afraid we won’t find another friend, boyfriend or family member.

But we underestimate the power of toxic people in our lives.

This kind of relationship will slowly drain your energy. It’s the friend that takes and doesn’t give. That friend that you always have to be the one to call to set a coffee. Or the relationships that bring you down, that second guess you, making you feel confused instead of inspired.

When you go through challenging moments in life, you will know who your real friends are, but in our day to day lives we often don’t get enough time to reflect on this, and we let things go. But we need to do this reflection.

The most important thing you need to learn from this act of simplifying your relationships is that by eliminating toxic ones, you create space for healthy ones. Usually, the fear of being alone will block us but this fear is created by our mind. What will happen is that when we take the toxic feelings away from us, we flourish and we will find new friends or reconnect with old friends that are real friendships. When we create space for a healthy and calmer mind that area will get full of more robust relationships.

If you have a toxic person in your life, this person is holding you back from your true self and potential. You need to take the first step of saying no. Learning to speak no and keeping your limits is a life skill that you can use in this case.

A true friend will accept the no. The other will resist and will not understand this new person that you are becoming. You need to stay strong and take care of yourself to believe and trust your feelings.

Simplifying your life is much more than organizing your house. Is designing the social and interpersonal spaces around you. Believe in the power of healthy relationships, and you will grow.