How to Live a Simple Life and Not Overthink
Today, it is unbelievable how many people overthink about small things.
It’s getting even worse since our lives are getting more and more complicated with technology.
Don’t worry. I have a piece of simple advice for you.
Just make quick decisions and then take action. You can always adjust your decision.
Is that advice too superficial and abstract? Alright then, let me make it more practical and straightforward.
As Gary Vaynerchuk says “Fix the airplane while flying.” Don’t be crippled by perfection. We are living in a world of deadlines, and there is no need and time for procrastination.
If you want to wait until you find the perfect painting for the wall in your living room, I have bad news for you. You might never find it, and that wall might stay empty forever. What you should do instead is to get an “okay” painting first. Then you will upgrade that to a “nice” painting. Five years later, you will find a “wonderful” painting. It’s still not the “perfect” painting, but that’s okay. At least you didn’t have to look at an empty wall for five years and feel bad about not finding the one.
People lack practical knowledge in these days, and that’s what makes them overcomplicate things. You watched enough TED talks, you have attended enough seminars, and you have watched enough motivational speeches.
Without practicality, knowledge means nothing.
You cannot learn how to do boxing from a book, and you can’t learn how to do business in a business school. The knowledge is useful, but when people get too much of it, they tend to overcomplicate things.
Most companies eliminate new graduate resumes according to their work experience. They know that sales management class you’ve taken at the university and 4.0 GPA with no work experience is not going to make you the most successful marketing manager in the company. Only passion and consistency can do that.
I want to give some advice to you. And I want to talk about a subject that is highly related to simplification and speed. When you are in the deep work zone, the momentum changes. Since you are getting lots of things done, you get more and more motivated.
Being efficient on the micro level makes you more productive on the macro level as well. When you are in the zone, it just flows smoothly.
Also, I want to emphasize the importance of prioritization. Please don’t just do to do list for the day. That’s a fatal mistake. Prioritize! Prioritize your tasks, start with an easy one and make sure that you are focusing on only one task at a time.
Human beings are not designed for multitasking. Multitasking is not eating a sandwich and watching TV. It is reading five books at the same time, and only computers can do that at this point. I usually like to start my day with an easy task because I know that feeling of accomplishment is going to affect my other tasks of the day as well.
One last advice. Don’t dwell on the past.
Zen philosophy says that if you focus on the past or the future, you will be unhappy. The secret of happiness is focusing on the present and enjoying the journey my friend.
