THE ACCELERATION PARADOX
HOW SIMPLICITY DRIVES GROWTH
3-Minute Read
Life shows up in the space created for it. How much room are you creating?
The day after he turned 65 years old, prolific author Wayne Dyer locked the door of his Florida condo and walked away from all his material possessions. He gave the key to his secretary and told her to get rid of everything. He let it all go. And gained peace, clarity, and a creative surge that shaped one of his signature books, Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life.
Ever notice your tendency to accumulate stuff over the years?
Accumulation creeps in when we’re not intentional. One time I whittled my life down from a three bedroom home to a tiny storage unit and three suitcases. And somehow, just a few years later, my next move required a large moving truck and a team of 6 burley men.
At a certain point, excess turns to clutter, then chaos. The “too muchness” of it drains time, energy, and ultimately effectiveness.
Here’s the paradox that undergirds high performance: less creates more.
Prune a plant and it grows fuller. Prune a life and output rises. Simplicity creates ease on the inside, and ease amplifies impact on the outside. This issue of The Grip offers a two-part framework you can apply at work, at home, solo, and with your team to eliminate “too much” and multiply what matters.
Let’s dive in.
simple is productive
Navy SEALs say, “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” In coaching: simple is clear, and clear is productive. Many founders burn out because, in their quest to grow, they add values, commitments, and actions without releasing the ones that no longer serve them or their mission. The result is drag: decision fatigue, calendar bloat, and diluted execution.
Seasons change. Priorities shift. One of the highest-leverage moves you can make for both peace and performance is to ruthlessly eliminate values, commitments, and actions that do not fit your current season.
This is why we created a framework you can use anytime to cut through clutter, simplify your life, and generate more of what you want.
The Simplify to Multiply Framework
If you’re subscribed to The Grip email, check your inbox for the full PDF download of the Simplify To Multiply Framework we sent you. It contains the templates for utilizing each part of the framework below.
PART 1: SORT
Create a simple sorting structure for your Values, Commitments, Actions like the PRIORITIES CHART here:
Designate anything that currently requires your direct participation to one of the following four buckets:
Maintain: Still requires your direct time, attention, and energy.
Delegate or Automate: If someone or automation can deliver at 80 percent quality, hand it off.
Future Date: Not a priority this season, schedule a review with a clear trigger.
Delete: No longer useful, remove it from your heart, mind, and calendar.
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PART 2: SIMPLIFY
What needs to come off your plate today?
1) Update Values
Choose 5–7 values that serve this season. More dilutes focus. Align every commitment and action to these values and cut everything else. Litmus test: if a value is not visible in your calendar or budget, it is not a value.
For help identifying your values, our previous issue You Built It But Do You Want It? can give you direction.
Ask: What value have I been carrying out of image, guilt, or habit?
2) Narrow Commitments
Make only the promises that move your mission and match your values. Everything else serves only to deplete your time, money, and energy. Most humans can carry 5-7 real commitments max. Eliminate every commitment that doesn’t advance your values, especially any legacy ones kept out of optics or fear.
Leave 15% of your calendar unscheduled to not only absorb the unexpected, but to follow your curiosity, wonder, and inspiration. Even better? 25-50% open space. Really. Space and productivity go together. The more space you create in your day, the more productive your life will be.
For a deep dive on clarifying your commitments and creating 25-50% space in your calendar, check out our previous issue, The Speed of Less: How Cutting Back Fuels Impact.
Ask: What single promise, kept weekly, would advance my top value the fastest?
3) Align Actions
Not all action is effective. A lot of action keeps you busy but brings no real benefit to your values and commitments. It’s just expensive clutter. Here’s how to change that:
Pareto Principle: focus on the 20% activity that produces 80% of the desired results.
Momentum Law: choose actions today that generate more resources tomorrow—time, money, opportunity—both short and long term.
Systems Strategy: batch, template, automate, and delegate repetitive tasks. What can run without you by next quarter if you systematize it now?
If an action doesn’t advance a current commitment, stop doing it. That means tasks, meetings, or other “shoulds” draining your attention and energy. If you can delegate or automate it, do so; otherwise remove it.
Ask: Which low impact/high friction task or meeting is it time to cut?
Up-to-date values, narrowed commitments, and aligned actions generate inner ease, which compounds into focus, speed, and high impact.
“Simple is clear, and clear is productive.”
Simplicity is not deprivation; it’s intentional design. Cut what no longer serves, and you unlock energy, clarity, and output that were trapped under clutter.
This week, review and update your values, scale back your commitments, and remove the actions that no longer align. Schedule the essentials, create space, and let systems carry the rest. When you simplify intentionally, you don’t shrink your ambition, you give it room to breathe. Multiply what matters.
What new value or commitment has emerged for you this season? I’d love to hear it!
Keep creating.
key takeaways
How do I create capacity fast? Sort values, commitments, and actions into Maintain, Delegate, Future Date, or Delete.
How do I align effort with impact? Keep 5 to 7 live values, narrow promises to what advances them, and drop the rest.
How do I scale without burnout? Systematize the essential few, automate or delegate the rest, and protect open space.
May you prosper in every way!
Becky & TPL Team
52 Maxims of Conscious Choosing To Create the Deeply Satisfying Life You Desire.