Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. On this premise, Steve Jobs shaped one of the biggest companies on the planet, Apple. It was also Leonardo da Vinci’s motto.
The truth is that life is very simple, but through some processing error in human beings, we tend to complicate our lives, and then, as if that weren’t enough, we complain about it.
Use the past as a catapult, not as a sofa.
There are two “times” in which we can’t do anything: the past and the future. Living in the past leaves us nostalgic and sometimes depressed. And thinking too much about the future can cause stress and anxiety, because it is uncertain. Either way, it is a useless waste of energy because, as far as we know (and someone correct me if I’m wrong), we can’t change anything in the past, and the only moment in life when we can do something is the present: right now.
But the past has something very powerful: life lessons that, used properly, can help us create a wonderful future.
Still, don’t carry the mistakes of the past around with you, and don’t repeat the same mistakes when there are so many new ones still to make. Use the mistakes you have made and the lessons you have learned as a catapult, or as steps that help you climb to another level.
If something in the past was good, enjoy the memory. If something was bad, it is experience that should help you avoid making the same mistake.
Success, whether we are talking about your professional or personal life, isn’t about what happened to you yesterday or where you are today, but about where you are going to head from today onwards to change all that.
Don’t do things just for the sake of it; be productive.
Don’t just do things. Do them well. Results are more important than the time you spend on them. Being busy is not the same as doing something useful.
Stop and ask yourself whether what you are doing now, or whatever you are spending your time on, is taking you where you want to be tomorrow or is simply helping you pass the time. Is it worth the effort?
There is nothing wrong with having a temporary job you don’t like. What is wrong is getting stuck in that temporary job. It’s fine if, in your relationships, you come across people who aren’t worth it. It’s not fine when you can’t get out of those relationships.
Organise your space, organise your life.
Clear the clutter in every sense. Get rid of the things that are no use to you and just take up space. And apply this both to the clothes in your wardrobe and to the many toxic people you have in your life.
Cluttered spaces tend to be irritating and stressful. A clear space is like a blank canvas on which you can draw whatever you want from this moment on.
And of course, organise your past. Sometimes you can’t carry the backpack of the past to where you are heading. Past and future don’t always get along, and you have to shed the weight of the past to shape a better future.
You can change everything you don’t like about your life.
See also: Tony Robbins: the simple secret to wealth
Just because you have done things a certain way until now doesn’t mean you have to keep doing them that way, especially if the results you have got so far are not the ones you wanted.
Don’t complain about your life. Change it instead. Don’t complain about the people around you. Avoid them. Don’t complain about your job; use that energy to change your work situation.
As the saying goes, if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll be what you’ve always been. Nothing changes unless you make the change happen.
It is easier to get rid of everything that makes us unhappy than to live with unhappiness all the time.
In short, we tend to complicate our lives when life should be very simple.
See also: How to turn your life around completely
Featured image: Replica trebuchet at Corfe Castle by Sandy Gerrard, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
