I was reflecting this morning on all the advice I’ve been given and things I’ve learnt over the years.
It strikes me that the most encouraging things in business and life are usually so simple.
Once upon a time I would have preferenced the complex, the complicated and the nuanced because I thought it represented the important.
But the truth is, the most impactful perspectives and revelations are usually the most simple.
Why is this? Why doesn’t the sophisticated outshine simplicity?
We have access to more information than we could ever dream of absorbing.
Amazon releases over 1.4 million self-published books through its Kindle Direct Publishing every year—that’s an average of 3,836 books every day.
According to EarthWeb, 7.5 million blogs are published each day.
We’re not short of information.
But knowledge is different.
Knowledge is understanding, awareness and perception.
The root word for knowledge is to “know” and comes from the Greek word “gnosis” which means “to know through experience or observation.”
Knowledge comes straight from the source—experience.
Because proof is in experience.
And finding proof requires us to try, to test, to undergo.
To not just see something but to learn, experience, know and understand it.
Tried, tested and true.
There’s nothing wrong with information—I love reading and learning.
But it’s in the application of information that we come to understand—where the fluff seems to disappear, and we’re left with the proof of what works.
Here’s what's worked for me:
1. Start small; an imperfect something is better than a perfect nothing
2. Do something every day; be consistent
3. Do it your way; there’s very few absolutes in life
4. Know what you want; decide what’s important to you otherwise someone else will for you
5. Write your thoughts down; your internal narrative needs to come out
6. Your flow is more important than what you can achieve; protect your headspace
7. Focus on a few things rather than everything; the impact will outweigh any consequences
8. Take time off; rest, refuel and allow your subconscious the space to process
What have you proven to be true?
