Simplicity isn't simple

“It’s simple. You just fill in the blank .”

How many times have you heard this? Better yet, how many times have you said it? We like to reduce entire ideas and systems into prescriptive statements, a bullet-pointed list to check off and turn in for a gold star.

Here’s what we don’t remember: Simplicity isn’t simple. Even when we can effectively craft a plan and break it into incremental steps, those steps will never take themselves. It’s easy to tell others, and even ourselves, that something is simple and then follow it up with how you have to just do x, y, and z. 

That’s precisely where simple goes out the window. The entire reason for strategy is to bring clarity to vision. It helps us find ways to fortify our why and to make plans that are rooted deeply there. But a well-designed life doesn’t live itself; it requires a human to do that. A set of actions, even incredibly thoughtful ones that connect to a solid strategy, don’t take away the difficulty of doing them. 

I believe wholeheartedly in developing plans based in strategy, in identifying goals and mapping out steps to achieve them. I believe in making things as clear and compelling as possible. But as simple as possible? That’s entirely up to you. The alarm clock can rouse you to wake, but only you can actually lift your head off the pillow. The calendar can show a window of time blocked out for writing, but only you can lift the pen. Your watch can buzz to display your water intake, but only you can make the number go up. One sip at a time. 

It may seem simple, but it’s some of the hardest work you’ll ever do.