F**k Complexity
Why The Choice Is Simple, Really.
The Brain and Body Warrior
Read time: 2-3 mins
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On today’s menu: F**k complexity (why the choice is simple, really).
The Warrior
Do you make things more complex than they need to be?
Don’t worry, I do too — it must be a human thing.
I mean f**k simplicity, right?
Why would you want things to be simple when they can be infinitely and ridiculously f******g complex instead?
Then’d you miss out on all that post problem regret.
You know, when a simple solution is enough to solve whatever was in front you and you realize — with hindsight of course — that s**t is actually pretty straightforward and you took years of your life by adding complexity to your problems.
Talk about fun s**t.
Or, if that’s not to your taste, believe it or not there’s actually an alternative:
You choose simplicity instead.
Can you imagine?
Sadly, most of us can't — we just keep adding complexity and weight to life and the things we face despite knowing it doesn’t work.
Insanity, isn’t it?
For me, this idea of choosing simple, and simple choices, is something that I’m really trying to embrace.
One in particular is this:
You either lean into your excuses or remove them.
Let me say that s**t again because I think it’s vaguely important:
You either lean into your excuses or remove them.
It’s a pretty straightforward choice actually.
Spin it whatever way you want, really that’s ultimately what it boils down to.
The thing is, no matter what you want to pursue in life — or how much you want to pursue something — your brain will throw up excuses and reasons why you can’t.
It’s just inevitable.
Your brain, in all its infinite glory, is basically an excuse making machine.
So, you have a choice:
Listen to your brain or find a way to remove the excuse to do what you want.
I saw something that reminded me of this just last night.
While hosting a language exchange at my work, I was talking to a student.
He told me he had difficulty remembering the new words he studied at home. He wanted to use them in conversation when he came to the event, but he couldn’t remember them.
So, I simply said:
“Write them down and bring them in.”
My response left him a little bit stunned.
Such a simple solution had probably never occurred to him — instead his brain probably spent considerable energy and resources telling him every reason why he couldn’t use the words he wanted to learn.
He lent into the excuses rather finding a simple ways to remove them.
Now, the ways to remove the excuses that you have to face in the pursuit of what you care about might not always be so straightforward and simple.
But the choice you have to make is:
You either lean into your excuses or remove them.
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Trent, the simplicity here really lands.
I’ve learned that we often call something “complex” when what we really mean is uncomfortable. Complexity gives us permission to keep thinking. Simplicity often forces us to act.
My only nuance: not every excuse can be removed. But almost every excuse can be examined honestly. Sometimes the most productive question is simply: What would I do next if I stopped explaining why I can’t?
That one can be uncomfortable. And useful.
The excuse-or-remove framing lands, Trent. The people I see with long-term pain have usually made the problem more complex than it needs to be, and the simple move is right in front of them once they stop defending the harder one.