If we are working harder than ever and still not accomplishing very much, we need to see whether we suffer from a lack of alignment. Alignment sounds jargon-y, but it simply refers to making sure our efforts support our goals. Making sure we are in alignment is key for reducing busyness and increasing effectiveness.

When it comes to bringing alignment to all the voices inside yourself, creating consensus is much more effective than majority rule. Let me explain. One of my coaching clients, Roger, has been leading his team within a technology company for the past two years. He is now at a place where he wants to expand his team and to create additional teams in other parts of the country and the world. He is excited about the idea of expanding, and he feels his current team has the capacity to take on additional projects. At the same time he voices many doubts and fears — “I don’t have the management skills to take on more people; what if the projects are not successful; who am I to be leading teams of people; I’m happy with how things are now and would be crazy to implement change,” and so on.

If all his internal voices held a vote, expanding the team might win by a 51 to 49 percent majority. However, this would represent a serious lack of alignment: as one side of Roger worked to expand the team, the other half would fight against this effort. A more effective approach would be for Roger to acknowledge his doubts and fears and get their “buy-in” to go along with the plan: “Fully acknowledging my fears and doubts, I will still work to expand my team.”

Achieving this kind of alignment can be difficult on our own. Meditation, mindfulness practice, retreats, and the other practices can all help. Yet this can be deep and difficult work. At the risk of sounding self-serving, this is why coaching can be so valuable. To understand our own processes, and to untangle our internal conflicts, it can help to have the guidance of someone who has worked with his or her own issues of alignment and who can help support you in your deepening exploration and change.

Try this:
Name something that you’ve been struggling with that you wish to accomplish. It can be something small or a large vision. For example, you might say: “I will exercise at least three times per week,” or “I will help my team be more focused and productive,” or “I will spend more time with my spouse.” Phrase your intention clearly. Write it down, or say it out loud. Now, notice all of the other voices that speak to your intention — voices of excitement, of doubt, of fear, perhaps of terror. Write down or say what each of these voices is saying. Keep writing or speaking until you are sure you have heard and acknowledged all of them. Then go back to your original vision. Speak it out loud. Notice how you feel when you write and speak your intention, as well as when you write and speak from the other voices.

Finally, take all your voices or statements and craft a brief soliloquy. Begin by acknowledging your specific doubts and fears (“Even though I am filled with doubt and fear that . . .”). When these are finished, state what your intention is (“Despite these things, I will exercise at the gym for at least an hour three evenings a week . . .”). Finally, add all the positive reasons why you want to pursue this intention (“. . . because I will lower my cholesterol, lose weight, have more energy . . .”). When this is done, read your statement out loud, and in the future, whenever you feel yourself losing your alignment around this issue, you can refer to this statement.

In our more-faster-better world, a life filled with extreme busyness can seem inevitable, unavoidable. Having too much to do becomes such a compelling story that it can be difficult to remember that it is a story we choose to write. The fog of bad habits and distractions can obscure our true desires and undermine our efforts. I hope that, by using the practices in this chapter, you can more often find the “the one who is not busy.” That is the voice of stillness, of authentic power, of relaxation and calm, of doing less even in the midst of your engaged, exuberant, unpredictable, and sacred life.

Adapted from Less: Accomplishing More By Doing Less