Simple, Not Easy
We live in a complicated world these days. And I think it’s largely self induced. Because we want things to be easy.
And I think there are probably two good metrics to determine if a given solution is the best solution.
- Is it simple?
- Is it hard?
If you answer “yes” to both of those, you probably can’t go wrong. I suspect, when that’s the case, it is the right answer. But at the very least, it’s guaranteed to be a good start and infinitely better than sitting and waiting for the perfect answer.
Let’s try some examples:
- I’m struggling with obesity/chronic illness: Eat right and workout every day
- I don’t know what “eating right” means: start with fresh produce, fresh meat, and raw ingredients then cook it yourself
- I’m falling behind at work: cut out all the distractions and spend a few hours each day fully focused and working hard
- My relationship/s isn’t/aren’t where I’d like: tell the other person/people your feelings, communicate openly, and show them how much you care with actions regularly
- My house/files/whatever is a cluttered mess: invest the time to throw away/delete the stuff you don’t need and tidying up what’s left
- I feel like I’m out of touch spiritually: make time every day to meditate/pray/read your holy book/eat spaghetti/whatever it is you do
And it’s recursive too. Each simple but hard solution present myriad opportunities where our natural instinct is to try to shortcut it somewhere. Don’t do that. Some examples from my own life recently:
- “But how do I optimize my workout?” You get your ass in the weight room at 5:00 AM every morning and you pick shit up until 5:30-5:45.
- “But how do I make sure I’m getting the right macros and calories and vitamins and— “ Eat real food. Listen to your body.
- “But what if my boss/coworkers get mad that I don’t respond to email immediately” They’ve never cared before. Shut up and close Outlook.
- “But I don’t want to do work” Close everything else on the computer and spend 5 minutes on it.
In case it’s not obvious, many to most of these I’m directing towards myself.
And this isn’t some great magical discovery. People have known this for centuries. Hell, I’ve known this for decades, ever since my mom first told me “if you really care about something, do something about it every day”.
Speaking of, lately I’ve been wondering more and more if I could make the career switch to being a writer. That takes two simple things:
- Write things people want to read more consistently
- Find a way to make money from writing
With that in mind, I will strive to post here more often and I would appreciate it if you could help out with either time or money:
- Send me feedback and/or questions: hey@logangee.net
- Send a few bucks my way using the “Buy Me a Book” link at the top of the page.
And of course, even if you haven’t done either of those, I appreciate you reading, because ultimately that’s the real reason I like to write!