Episode #85 Keep It Simple

Five Problems

• Human beings have this strange habit of complicating the uncomplicated.
• Believing the lie that a simple situation is complex is a frequent excuse not to make an obvious and important choice.
• It is easier to recognize the solutions to others’ problems than the solutions to our own problems.
• We often make difficult situations worse by stressing out about them.
• Our physical environments are often so cluttered that it becomes difficult to focus on whatever is most important.

Three Principles

• We are only a small series of choices away from meeting our most important goals.
• Simple solutions often involve fewer steps, requiring us to act now rather than later.
• No circumstance in our lives is so insurmountable that it cannot be broken down into smaller, more manageable components.

Three Paradigms

• Managing time is often as simple as reducing the hours spent on one activity in order to increase the hours available for other activities.
• Saving money is often as simple as spending less than we earn.
• Improving health is often as simple as more sleep and fewer calories, more exercise and fewer hours of TV, more doctor’s appointments and fewer cigarettes.

Five Practices

• Evaluate the efficiency of your rhythms by considering, “Is there anything I do monthly that I should start doing weekly or anything I do weekly that I should start doing monthly?”
• When your thoughts and emotions feel chaotic, write them down until they become easier to process.
• Spend a few minutes every Sunday designing the week ahead.
• Ask yourself, “In each dimension of life, what is one rhythm I need to add and one habit I need to subtract?”
• Initiate this conversation with a friend who knows you well: “Are there any problems in my life that I am making more difficult than they need to be?”