The Art of Enough

In a world full of pressure to do more, be more and consume more, this practical guidebook will help you find your own version of Enough. Enough is a springboard for self-belief, healthy work pace and a sustainable lifestyle, so you can move from striving to thriving.

***THE PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE 2022/23 SHORTLISTED TITLE***

Ever feel like you aren’t Enough? Overwhelmed by too many demands?

Concerned about over-consumption and the climate crisis

You’re not alone. The Art of Enough is the challenge of our age.

In a world full of pressure to be more, do more and consume more, this practical guidebook will help you find your own version of Enough. Enough is a springboard for self-belief, a healthy work pace and sustainable living, so you can move from striving to thriving.  

Weaving together ideas, stories and practices, The Art of Enough offers seven ways to ease away from the pull of scarcity and excess, towards flourishing with Enough; finding the balance and boundaries we all need for ourselves and for our world.

Becky Hall is a coach, facilitator and speaker and has worked for over 20 years with teams, organizations and leaders, helping busy people all over the world create their own Art of Enough.

‘If you want to have a better life and to make the world a better place then you must read this book. It is wise and practical and beautifully easy to read, everybody should read it’
Charles Handy, bestselling author of The Empty Raincoat and The Second Curve.

Part 1: The inner challenge of BEING ENOUGH

Chapter 1: ART 1: ENOUGH MINDSET – Where are you coming from?

In this chapter we will explore the thinking – the Mindset behind not being Enough. For some this can manifest as the well-known phenomenon imposter syndrome – a common result of not feeling good Enough – for others it might be a feeling of inadequacy around not being worthy, or clever or kind – the list goes on.  We will be exploring how we can move our Mindset from one of Scarcity or Excess to Enough – sourcing our thinking from abundance.

So we will:

·      Explore imposter syndrome – what it is and how to tackle it

·      Unpack the power of our mindset to frame our experience. 

·      Look at the mindsets of Excess and Scarcity and how they might hold us back

·      Describe the principle beliefs of an Enough Mindset. 

·      Look at how you can identify what mindset you are using and how you might go about changing it. 

Chapter 2: ART 2: ENOUGH PERMISSION - Write your own permission slips

In ART 1 we looked at defining and describing the mindset behind being Enough.  We focused on thinking and mental constructs.  In ART 2, we are going to focus on feelings: how it feels to give ourselves permission to be enough – and what might make us feel that we do not have that permission. 

We will explore:

·      The concept of belonging and why it can have such a hold over what we are able to be in the present. 

·      Where some of your deepest assumptions come from – whether they are serving you in the present and how you can dis-entangle yourself if you need to. 

·      How you can re-write the script of your own belonging – giving yourself permission to be Enough

·      Articulating your core purpose and values

·      Writing your own permission slips to be fully yourself and grow in the way that fulfils you - Enough. 

Chapter 3: ART 3: ENOUGH PRESENCE - Listen to your body 

In ART 3 - Enough Presence – How to Embody a State of Enough we explore how to create the embodied energetic state of Enough.  Having considered how to BELIEVE we are Enough and how to FEEL we are Enough – we now explore how we can be in a STATE of Enough.  To do this we need to understand that we are one internal system – integrating Enough Mindset and Enough Permission in our state – how we show up in each moment – defined as Enough Presence.  With Enough Presence, we create coherence in our system, our minds, bodies and energy - one moment at a time. 

We will:

·      Consider what presence is – and what it takes to create Enough Presence.

·      Explore what happens in our bodies when we lose balance; how we are programmed to respond to risk and danger. 

·      Unpack research about neuroscience and our physiology that help us see and understand ourselves as an interconnected coherent system.

·      Explore how listen to what our head, heart and gut is telling us

·      Learn practices to bring us into the state of Enough Presence – that we can use in the moment, moving us away from Scarcity and Excess and into Flow.

PART 2: The Outer Challenge of DOING ENOUGH

ART 4: ENOUGH BOUNDARIES - Create rules to keep you coherent

The globalized digital world we live in is so full of possibilities, choices and freedoms that our ancestors never experienced – and it is also massively complex.  To live well in such complexity we need to find a way of giving ourselves structure so that we have Enough – not too much or too little.  Of course, the boundaries we are talking about here are good boundaries – ones that give us structure and containment, which we need more than ever if we are to find the Art of Enough so that we can flourish.

ART 4 looks specifically at how to create and keep good boundaries within the complexity of our lives and the high volume of demands on us.  We’ll explore:

·      The importance of acknowledging what is, so that you can start to make choices

·      How nature does it - what we can learn about creating boundaries for our complex lives

·      Identifying what matters most

·      Understanding your energy patterns

·      Designing your days and protecting your focus

·      The joy of clear boundaries

Chapter 5: ART 5: ENOUGH RESOURCE

In ART 5 we explore the resources we need.  This can mean internal resource – energy, capability, drive - or external resource – time, support, others to delegate to.  Often when we are overwhelmed, we can feel disconnected from our resources. We will look at Enough Resource as a replenishable cycle - and will explore the habits that you can develop in order to sustain yourself in the face of life’s demands on you. 

Specifically, ART 5: Enough Resource will explore:

·      The cyclical nature of Enough Resource

·      The power of mapping what depletes and replenishes you

·      Burnout – how to avoid it and build powerful habits to sustain you

PART 3: The together challenge of HAVING ENOUGH

Chapter 6: ENOUGH GROWTH – from size to transformation

As a society we massively over consume and throw away more each year than our forebears ever had in a lifetime.  Our economies are measured in terms of GDP growth.  This mindset and these behaviours have brought us to the brink of environmental collapse, and it has not made us happier either.  In ART 6 we are going to explore the freedom of limits.  Even the concept of Enough Growth can feel limiting or restrictive to some.  For others it can be a byword for mediocrity and a lack of ambition.  Here we are going to turn that thinking on its head and explore Enough Growth as the doorway to realising our ambitions, fulfilling our maximum potential and finding happiness.  We’ll look here at how we can achieve Enough Growth – individually and collectively - so that we can flourish and thrive without it costing the earth. 

We will explore:

·      The Enough Growth cycle

·      The freedom of limits

·      The myth of never-ending growth

·      Doughnut thinking

·      When less is more

·      Dreams of transformation

Chapter 7: ART 7: ENOUGH TOGETHER - Only connect

In ART 7 we will explore the seventh part of the Art of Enough model – Enough Connection.  We will look at the effect of connection on our sense of belonging, our sense of agency and our relationship with the world we inhabit.  We will explore the impact of separation on us individually and collectively, and how we can move beyond both Scarcity and Excess towards Connection - a wholehearted, resourcing and restorative state of Enough. In this chapter we will look at:

·      Why we need Connection; the story of separation

·      Enough Connection with ourselves

·      Enough Connection with others

·      Enough Connection with the natural world

Epilogue: Enough Transformation