Tired? Exhausted? Hopeless?

Restructure Your Internal Organization

Does it feel like the world is getting a little crazier? Is it hard to keep up?

These days, everything has been changing: dating and relationships, family structures, work industries, living arrangements, social activities, politics, etc. While some changes are beneficial—people are becoming more empowered, adventurous, efficient, bold, creative, well-rounded, and integrated—they don’t come without a cost. You’re also not alone if changes are leaving you overwhelmed, frustrated, lost, confused—even sad, alone, and hopeless.

If this is resonating with you, you’re not only not the only one. I can safely give structure to your well-being and mental health. You game?

Everything that happens to us internally affects our external world, and as grounded and zen as we’d like to be, everything externally affects our internal world. Suffice to say, our internal structures may need an update.

You remember the traditional American Dream script? College, job, date, marriage, house, kids, etc.? It’s not as simple as that anymore. As collective consciousness grows, we question everything. Why college? Why date? Why a job? Why marriage? Why a house? Why kids? We assess options. We push boundaries. We now play, mold, bend, and optimize these traditional structures.

What’s the result? You may notice your energy constantly in need of a recharge. Why? Each day we make hundreds more decisions than those made a generation prior. Twenty years ago, there’d be one movie showing on primetime TV. Everyone would gear up for it. Now you can access thousands of movies across half a dozen streaming platforms to the point that you don’t have any real desire to watch any movie in particular. Therefore, can you also see the problem?

We’ve never had such freedom in choice. However, our exorbitant freedoms can also make us feeling like we’re in a dull prison.

So what’s the missing ingredient??!

Ironically, it’s structure.

Right now our society is moving away from structure; COVID really enhanced this trend. Once again, it’s not a bad thing. For example, over the last few years literally millions of businesses have restructured, saving billions of dollars in the process as people are working remotely; many offices have permanently closed as companies have become more efficient and flexible. However, this inflow of flex and freedom conversely creates a need for these companies to create even more structure in their business model or else employees will be less productive.

What does this mean for your life?

Most of us don’t realize that we are mini-corporations. We’ve got divisions of labor in our body and soul: fun, exercise, diet, work, relaxation, sleep, social life, relationships, spirituality, special projects, etc. We may specialize in one or two areas, but we don’t often see that when any one area is lacking—just like a company—all other areas of labor are compromised.

Think about it. If you don’t get good sleep, isn’t every other part of your life screwed? Same goes with exercise and diet. If your relationships are off, romantic or social, other areas suffer. So if you’re noticing the overall health of your personal corporation—your flow, peace, and freedom—feel overtaxed and out of whack, what can you do? You’ve got to restructure your organization.

How do you complete a successful restructure? I’ve got three steps.

Just like when it comes to a running business, you’ve got to take the 80/20 rule. What parts of your business are expending the most energy and yielding the fewest results? Often 20% of your business is taking 80% of your energy. Here’s what to do from there: 1) assess what the landscape is, 2) develop a goal, and 3) take small steps to create change. I’ll use a recent example in my life.

During the summer heat wave, my sleep has been compromised. My place is coastal and doesn’t have AC, so I’d end up staying up at night, hoping for an ocean breeze. Knowing this problem was now affecting every area of my life, I ended up getting a fitness and recovery tracker (a WHOOP) that measures sleep and strain on the body.

Assessment. I was startled to know that my quality sleep was between 3-5 a night. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea how bad. I also noticed on the app that when I consumed excess caffeine, sugar, and alcohol, I’d wake up with a significant strain on my body.
Goal. I want to get 7+ hours of sleep a night consistently.
Steps. I significantly reduced excess caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. I bought and installed a portable AC, pre-cooling my bedroom thirty minutes before resting. I charged my phone in a separate room. I’m still not great with not being on screens before bed, but I’m more mindful. I meditate and pray for a few minutes before I go to bed.

Here’s my relative progression of sleep over the month of September. I only started to tangibly feel results about a week ago, even after getting better sleep, but now, today, I feel almost every area of my life improving. It’s also given me momentum to start optimizing other areas.

Most of the time we know the areas of our life that are deficient, but unless we start objectively assessing, creating a goal, and taking small steps towards change, we’re left to the flow of the world. And right now, the world is all over the place, not to mention automated. So you go on YouTube, Instagram, Netflix, Spotify, etc. and it already generates exactly what you view. Basically, to tune back into life you must also take back the decisions in your life.

So how do you start?

First pick an area and get objective data. Objective data is key. If you know your diet is a problem area, get objective data on your calorie intake with an app like MyFitnessPal. If you want objective data on social media and entertainment usage, track your hourly usage across apps. If you need help with finances, before creating a budget, track how much you’re already spending each month on everything. That information is vital or else any “progress” you see will be abstract.

After you gather data, create a realistic goal. Nothing big. You’re trying to shift momentum, not change the world. Finally, take small steps towards optimization. This means creating structure. You already know this is tough. It was tough telling my teammates each week that I wouldn’t be joining them for beers after our Wednesday night soccer game. Small steps in the right direction is key—you don’t need to do all your changes at once.

Is this connecting? Do you have any ways that you already use to create internal structure? Do you need any help generating some?

Let me know!

Tired? Exhausted? Hopeless? Restructure Your Internal Organization