B ill Hy b e l s

simplify. ten practices to unclutter your soul

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bi l l hy b e l s

. . . ACTION STEP: Simplify to Satisfy

What are the things that matter above all else in your life? Take a moment to write one clear sentence that describes a life that would leave you satisfied on your final day. If it helps, use this ­sentence-​ ­starter as a prompt: “I am satisfied with my life when . . .” (By way of example, here is my sentence: I am satisfied with my life when I use my gifts to build the local church and I maintain strong relationships with Lynne, Shauna, Todd, Aaron, Henry, and Mac.) Keep your sentence concise and clear. With your guiding sentence in mind, review your Action Steps from each chapter of Simplify. Do you need to take any further steps or make any further course corrections to ensure that your steps of simplifying will lead to a life that satisfies? If so, write them on a piece of paper or in your journal. And then work them into the holistic calendar discussed in chapter 2, to help you live out the priorities that matter most. Here is an index of the Action Steps, to help you review: Chapter 1: From Exhausted to Energized: Replenishing Your

Energy Reserves 27 Action Step: Take an Honest Assessment Action Step: Craft a Custom Replenishment Plan Chapter 2: From Overscheduled to Organized: Harnessing Your

Calendar’s Power 53 Action Step: Write a ­God-​­First Schedule Chapter 3: From Overwhelmed to In Control: Mastering Your

Finances 80 Action Step: Commit to the Five Beliefs of Financial Reconciliation

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si m p li f y

Chapter 4: From Restless to Fulfilled: Refining Your Working

World 107 Action Step: Assess Your Alignments Chapter 5: From Wounded to Whole: Making Room for

Forgiveness 133 Action Step: Release Minor Offenses Action Step: Resolve Legitimate Wounds Action Step: Forgive ­Life-​­Shattering Injustices Chapter 6: From Anxious to Peaceful: Conquering Your

Fears 166 Action Step: Name Your Fear Action Step: Craft a Strategy for Overcoming Your Fear Chapter 7: From Isolated to Connected: Deepening Your

Relational Circles 202 Action Step: Identify Your Current Relationship Circles Action Step: Prune Your Current Relationship Circles Action Step: Expand and Deepen Your New Friendship Circles Chapter 8: From Drifting to Focused: Claiming God’s Call on

Your Life 224 Action Step: Find a Life Verse Chapter 9: From Stuck to Moving On: Welcoming New Seasons

in Your Life 253 Action Step: Identify Your Season Action Step: Move On Chapter 10: From Meaningless to Satisfied: The Legacy of

a Simplified Life 282 Action Step: Assess Your ­Wind-​­Chasing Patterns Action Step: Simplify to Satisfy

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notes

Chapter One: From Exhausted to Energized

1. Luke 10:38-42 2. Luke 10:25-37 3. Every sports team has its archrival. For fans of the Chicago Bears, near my hometown, it’s the Green Bay Packers. 4. Gary Thomas, Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul’s Path to God (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996). 5. Psalm 127:3, tlb 6. Ecclesiastes 5:18, author’s paraphrase 7. Matthew 14:13 8. Sam Fahmy, “­Low-​­Intensity Exercise Reduces Fatigue Symptoms by 65 Percent, Study Finds,” UGA Today, February 28, 2008, http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/­low-​­intensity-​­exercise-​­reduces -​­fatigue-​­symptoms-​­by-65-​­percent-​­study-​­finds. 9. Jack Groppel, The Corporate Athlete (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000). ChapTer Two: From Overscheduled to Organized

1. Ephesians 5:15-16 2. Alpha can be found at churches, coffee shops, bars, and homes all over the world. More than 18 million people have taken the course. For more information about Alpha, visit http://guest.alphausa.org or www.alpha.org. 3. Luke 4:16 4. Matthew 5:37, nkjv 5. Matthew 6:33, kjv Chapter Three: From Overwhelmed to In Control

1. Luke 19:1-10 2. Acts 16:31

3 03

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3. James 1:17 4. Michael Weissenstein, “Happiest People on Planet Live in Latin America, Gallup Poll Suggests,” Huffington Post, December 19, 2012, www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/20/­happiest-​­people-​­on-​­planet -​­latin-​­america_n_2336772.html. 5. Jon Clifton, “Latin Americans Most Positive in the World,” Gallup World, December 19, 2012, www.gallup.com/poll/159254/­latin -​­americans-​­positive-​­world.aspx. 6. Philippians 4:11-13 7. Proverbs 3:9-10 8. Malachi 3:10 9. Proverbs 6:6-8, nlt 10. Adapted from Charlotte Elliott’s hymn “Just as I Am, Without One Plea.” Chapter Four: From Restless to Fulfilled

1. Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 2. Psalm 139:14 3. Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000). 4. These descriptions of the levels of health in a workplace culture are adapted from unpublished direct research by the Best Christian Workplaces Institute. All rights reserved. 5. “State of the American Workplace,” Gallup, 2013, www.gallup.com /strategicconsulting/163007/­state-​­american-​­workplace.aspx. 6. Mark C. Crowley, “Gallup’s Workplace Jedi on How to Fix Our Employee Engagement Problem,” Fast Company, June 4, 2013, www.fastcompany.com/3011032/­creative-​­conversations/­gallups -​­workplace-​­jedi-​­on-​­how-​­to-​­fix-​­our-​­employee-​­engagement-​­problem. 7. Joshua 1:6 8. Luke 10:7 9. 1 Timothy 5:8 Chapter Five: From Wounded to Whole

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1. 2. 3. 4.



5. 6. 7. 8.

Luke 23:34, kjv Mark 15:39 Romans 5:8 Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff (New York: Hyperion, 1997). Exodus 21:24, nlt “. . . just between the two of you” (Matthew 18:15). Matthew 18:15 Author’s paraphrase

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bi l l hy b e l s

9. See Matthew 5:23-26. 10. Romans 12:18 11. Robi Damelin, “A Chain of Change,” The Parents Circle Families Forum, November 18, 2005, www.theparentscircle.org/Story.aspx?ID =201. Italics added. 12. “Bassam Aramin (Palestine),” The Forgiveness Project, April 19, 2010, http://theforgivenessproject.com/stories/bassam-aramin-palestine/. 13. Steven Waldman, “Beliefnet’s Most Inspiring Person of 2005— ​­Victoria Ruvolo,” http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/­Most -Inspiring-​­Person-​­Of-​­The-​­Year/2005/­Beliefnets-​­Most-​­Inspiring -​­Person-​­Of-2005-​­Victoria-​­Ruvolo.aspx?p=2. 14. Victoria Ruvolo, Robert Goldman, and Lisa Pulitzer, “No Room for Vengeance . . .” In Justice and Healing (N.P.: No Vengeance Press, 2011), 109. 15. Adam Hamilton, Forgiveness: Finding Peace Through Letting Go (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2012). 16. Adam Hamilton, “The Two Dimensions of Forgiveness,” August 1, 2012, www.adamhamilton.org/blog/view/49/­the-​­two-​­dimensions-​­of -​­forgiveness#.Uss9ZP2Ects. Italics in the original. 17. Luke 7:47, nlt 18. Luke 23:34, kjv Chapter Six: From Anxious to Peaceful



1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

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Numbers 6:24-26, italics added. John 14:27; 16:33, italics added. Philippians 4:6-7, italics added. 1 John 4:18, italics added. Daniel 5:6 Matthew 10:28 2 Timothy 1:7, nlt See 2 Timothy 1:7, kjv Winston Churchill, “Miscellaneous Wit & Wisdom,” National Churchill Museum, www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/­wit-​­wisdom -​­quotes.html. Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1960), 29–30. Psalm 34:4 Joshua 1:5, 9 Acts 12:5 Philippians 4:6-7 Acts 16:31 John 10:10

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Chapter Seven: From Isolated to Connected

1. Proverbs 18:24 2. Proverbs 13:20 3. Proverbs 6:16-19 4. 1 Corinthians 15:33, hcsb 5. James 4:6 6. Proverbs 16:18 7. Romans 12:3 8. Luke 22:51, italics added. 9. Proverbs 11:13 10. Romans 12:18 11. Matthew 5:9 12. Fiona ­Lloyd-​­Davies, “Why Eastern DR Congo Is ‘Rape Capital of the World,’” CNN, November 25, 2011, www.cnn.com/2011/11/24 /world/africa/­democratic-​­congo-​­rape/. 13. ­Twelve-​­step meetings are for people recovering from various addictions, whose recovery is based on the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. 14. Galatians 5:22-23, nasb 15. Proverbs 13:20 Chapter Eight: From Drifting to Focused

1. “Lake Michigan,” United States Environmental Protection Agency, July 22, 2013, www.epa.gov/greatlakes/lakemich/intro.html; “Lake Michigan Facts and Figures,” Great Lakes Information Network, February 26, 2014, http://­great-​­lakes.net/lakes/ref/michfact.html. 2. Psalm 119:105 3. Through years of repetition and rehearsal, I have slightly paraphrased 1 Corinthians 15:58 from the original version I found in the New American Standard Bible (nasb). 4. 1 Corinthians 15:53, nasb 5. 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 6. 1 Corinthians 15:32 7. 1 Corinthians 15:20 8. 1 Corinthians 15:58, niv 9. John 9:4 10. Luke 10:2-4 11. John 15:8, italics added. 12. Dallas Willard, interview with Bill Hybels and Nancy Beach, July 2008. 13. Ibid. 14. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

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bi l l hy b e l s

Chapter Nine: From Stuck to Moving On

1. Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 2. Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, The One Minute Manager (New York: Blanchard Family Partnership and Candle Communications Company, 1981). 3. Job 13:15 4. 2 Corinthians 12:9 5. Ibid. 6. Philippians 4:8 7. Ecclesiastes 3:11 Chapter Ten: From Meaningless to Satisfied

1. Genesis 3:1 2. Ecclesiastes 1:2 3. Ecclesiastes 1:14 4. Ecclesiastes 1:4, 11 5. Ecclesiastes 1:13, 16-17 6. Ecclesiastes 1:18 7. Ecclesiastes 2:2-3 8. Ecclesiastes 2:4-6 9. Ecclesiastes 2:7-8 10. Ecclesiastes 2:8 11. 1 Timothy 6:17 12. Ecclesiastes 2:8 13. 1 Kings 11:3 14. Ibid. 15. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” 1965. 16. Ecclesiastes 2:9 17. Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 18. Ecclesiastes 2:17-23 19. Ecclesiastes 12:13

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