The Advantage of Simplicity

 “The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of letters, is: simplicity.”—Walt Whitman

There is power in simplicity. 

However, most of us do not fully realize this fact. That’s why we find it easier to make things complicated than to make things simple. Steve Jobs, the cofounder of Apple, agreed. 

Jobs often said that simple can be harder than complex; you need to think really hard to make things simple but once you get there however, you can move mountains.

On this topic, Leo Babauta, the author of many books on peak performance and the founder of Zen Habits, says: 

“I believe in simplicity. If you simplify things, it will seem like you’ve found a miraculous shortcut.”

And he goes further to suggest a process we can adopt with regards to learning, doing and becoming better without unnecessary complexities and complications. 

Below are simple but effective steps to improvement and mastery: 

1}  We should lower the bar of mastery, so we only need to be better than the general populace. 

2}  We should narrow the area of expertise, so instead of seeking to know everything about a thing, we just learn enough to be well-equipped only at the essential areas.

3}  We should reduce our method of doing anything to its bare bones, so instead of using 30 steps to accomplish a goal, we use the vital 3.

In support of this strategy, the scientific thinker, Isaac Newton said: “Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.”

Now let me narrate a life example of this simplification miracle…

The story is about someone who did something that many people can’t do because of lack of time to train and prepare for months. 

Scott Dinsmore, the American personal freedom coach, became an inspiration to many by following a simple process to shorten his journey towards a big goal.

The goal: He wanted to run an ultra-marathon. {Generally, this requires up to six months of rigorous preparation and training.}

And Scott didn’t have six months to train. 

So he read the book, ‘Born to Run’ to gain inspiration and studied another book to learn about running style. As a result of these short but focused steps, he gained enough skills to accomplish his goal. 

He went out and ran an ultra-marathon after only doing three training runs just two weeks prior. Wow! 

And, 15 miles was the longest he’d ever run in his training. Amazing!

As you can see, the power of simplicity enabled Dinsmore to achieve a milestone. This clearly confirms the words of Leornardo da Vinci who said: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

If you still wonder whether you can pull off such a feat, Scott Dinsmore has a piece of advice for you. He says: “If you’re going to shortcut expertise, at least enough to accomplish a goal, you absolutely must find the few who have done it. Model them, and don’t look back.”

Finally, we should listen to the experts and realize that true power lies not in complexity but in simplification. Having realized its efficacy, Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon, the Nigerian-American Olympic gold-winning medalist in basketball, said one of his favourite virtues is: simplicity.

Indeed, simplicity is not only the art of arts but also the heart of arts.