28 November 2022

This week, I want to continue talking to you about the need for simplicity. But this week, I want to try to get you to remember the need also for simplicity in everything that you do, as well as the need for simplicity in everything that you say.
You should always try to do only one simple thing at a time and do it well, rather than trying to do more than one complex thing at a time and then not doing them as well. Sounds really obvious, doesn’t it?
But I cannot tell you just how many times that we forget this simple thing! Making something more complex than it needs to be, not only confuses others when you say something, but also confuses you when you do something, unless you are always consciously careful to keep things simple.
Remember what I said to you previously about how the opposite of ‘simplicity’ is ‘complexity’ and that you always understand something better if you simplify it first in your mind. Well, the same principle also applies here to when you do something.
Similar to what I said before, somebody who really knows what they are doing will always do things simply, whereas somebody who does not necessarily know what they are doing will often try to blind you and themselves with science by making something more complicated than it needs to be.
You always need to keep things simple when you do them. If you think about it, if you don’t simplify something you do, you are just making it harder for yourself in the long run, so it is then more likely that you will fail when trying to do it!
Also, do not overcomplicate things you do just for the sake of it, or to try to prove to yourself or others how clever that you are by doing them that way. Just try to make everything you do as simple as you can, then try to simplify them more!
Try to simplify what you do again and again. Even when you have simplified it, try to still go further! It is also a good measure of how simple you think doing something is, if you find it too complicated to explain what you are doing to someone else!
Finally, there is another phrase that I heard somebody say once that I really like which says: “It is very simple to be happy, but is very difficult to be simple.”
So, this week, remember the need for simplicity in everything that you do. Don’t make something more complicated than it needs to be, or overcomplicate things just for the sake of it. As I say, make everything you do as simple as you can, then try to simplify it more!




