I’m a sucker when in an exceptionally good mood.
I’m patient. I hold more doors. I let southern drivers cut me off with a “bless yur hawart” (that’s ‘bless your heart’ for those not in a sweet-tea induced stupor) and without a turn signal.
Good moods make me read a blog post referencing a book with a link to Amazon.com and add-to-cart in seconds flat.
On Writing Well by William Zinsser won my heart, my soul, and my passion for writing in one sentence:
“Clutter is the disease of American writing.”
Word to your mother.
And not simply because I agree with the grand statement made in such a small sentence (less is totally more), but because every word of the sentence contributes to the theme, the sentiment, and the overall freaking point.
American writing is full of superfluous crap. All of the crap is making it suck.
However, this post is not about writing. This post is about your life, your business, and the superfluous crap that is making it suck.
What’s a great way to get nowhere? Fill your days with tasks, things, and people who don’t contribute to your theme, your grand idea, what you’re all about.
If the underlying theme of your business is making healthy food choices fun for your clients, every aspect of every task on your to-do list for the day should speak to that theme. Trying to get Paula Deen to @mention you on Twitter probably isn’t one of them.
Butter doesn’t always make it better, y’all. If it’s not helping, get rid of it.
When I started blah3 I had a come to-the-entrepreneurial-Jesus meeting with myself about what tasks/people were helping and what was clutter.
Taking the time to identify and understand my ideal clients—helping. Kourtney and Kim Take New York—clutter. Scheduling 3 hours, 3 mornings a week to work on my free ebook How to write engaging copy that doesn’t make people want to put a spoon in their eye—helping. Spending hours aimlessly blog-hopping (for entrepreneurial advice or otherwise)—clutter.
The list goes on and some of my clutter has become much like my Krispy Kreme consumption: in moderation. The constant-complainer friend or the perpetual putter-downer– they don’t enhance life or business and should get completely lost .
“Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word…these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence.”—William Zinsser, On Writing Well
What are you doing that serves no function in your life or your business? What are your long word adulterants that weaken your everyday?
