I just had my 56^th birthday.

As the years tick by, I can’t help but marvel at the vast amount of experiences that has graced my life. Yet, I am still guilty of trying to cram so much more into my day. Occasionally, I wonder if I am just trying too hard.

Different things stress us out – but a universal cause is described as “pressure”. Work and life pressures take a stranglehold on our daily existence. We worry about not producing enough at work and running foul of the boss. We worry about the volume of our bank accounts. The stuff around the house never seems to get done because we don’t have the time.

We try hard – but always seem to come up short. This frustrates us. It is not fun.

However, I have discovered that trying hard to do too much is the real culprit, rather than just trying too hard. It is the volume of things that we try to stuff into our lives that cause the pressures to build up. Doing your best at whatever you are doing is actually fun. It is when you go into overwhelm by trying to take too much on at the same time that brings on the grief of mental and physical anguish.

I am now very single minded about my activities. I love the concept of the ‘one track mind’. I just do one thing and go hard on it – rather than trying to go hard on several things at once. A birthday brings about two realisations. One is the countless achievements of the past. The other is that the number of future birthdays is gradually diminishing…

If you have made 50, you have already done so much. It is not time to keep piling in the stuff for the rest of your life. You still have to go hard – but do it in quality and not quantity. It is more fun.