Simple but not easy
- I’m pretty sure I just made the world a better place (and it only cost me $4).
- What am I not stepping into and why?
- “Someday” and “never” have the same numerical value in that they both equal zero … and other highlights from “Decide.”
- Decisions: The School Uniform and Releasing Trapped Energy
- The big decisions will help guide the smaller decisions
- That thing you think is going to happen might not happen.
- When you change your mind, you change your mind
- The tiny little secret of the tipping point
- Relief
- When are decisions triggered in the subconscious minds of children?
- Give a Voice to Your Truth and a Truth to Your Voice
- What if you just don’t have the capacity to decide? What if you don’t have a prefrontal cortex? What if you’re, like, a teenager.
- “Wait, I take that back.” Are our decisions reversible?
- Dictatorship or democracy? Which is better for decision-making?
- In a back alley brawl, “Decide” is going to win out over “Hope.”
- Decisions Beget Decisions
- What if the “primary” decisions became the “secondary” decisions?
- Simple but not easy
- Not Simple and Not Easy
- I can’t, uh, decide! Which cover for the “Decide” book!?
- If you build it, they will come. What if you decide? Will they come, too?
- My idea of a good time
- Decision-making, belief, and behavioral biases
- See, Feel, Know | Mind, Heart, Gut
The answers are often simple. The execution can be the hard part.
A song that sounds simple is just not that easy to write. One of the objectives of this record was to try and write melodies that continue to resonate. — Sheryl Crow
There was a radio show called Car Talk where two guys (Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers) talked about car repair. I know, sounds really boring (unless you’re really into car repair). But the guys were hilarious. People flocked to the show even if they cared nothing for cars.
They had off-the-wall solutions for most things (e.g. don’t replace the car, replace your husband!) and laughed throughout most of the program.
When you change your mind, your mind is changed.
I searched and couldn’t find an exact quote, but they had an episode where they talked about how simple it was to replace a car engine. Here are the steps. I remember them clearly because they were so simple.
- Remove old engine.
- Put in new engine.
That was it.
Simple, but not easy.
Which, of course, was their point—and their joke.
The answers are often simple. The execution can be the hard part.
Let’s take a perennial favorite: weight loss.
- Simple: eat less (and better). Move (exercise) more.
- Not Easy: do that.
We all know how simple it is, but we want to make it not easy so we can:
- Procrastinate.
- Buy books and courses and gym memberships.
- Not really do it at all.
- Talk about how much we want to do it.
- But another book.
- Join another group.
- Make friends who also don’t do it–but would all really, really like to.
- Sulk.
- Eat chips.
- Start this list over at #1.
See how complicated that all got? Whew. I need a break.
For now, halfway through this book, we’re shooting for simple.
We’ll deal with easy later.
For the record, I’m also “trying to lose weight” and am currently un-happily repeating step #3 with a healthy dose of #9. But as Yoda said, “There is no try.”
We’ll get to that later, too.
Simple but not easy. [Photo by henry fournier on Unsplash]
