Keep it Simple, Stupid!

People want to over complicate everything nowadays. So many people have trouble putting one foot in front of the other and just jumping into something to get started.

Have you ever noticed that when you were a kid nothing seemed difficult to get started? If I wanted to get someplace on my bike then I just rode there with my friends. We NEVER questioned how far it was or what type of work we'd have to put in to get there, we just started peddling.

One of my most memorable times as a 13 year old boy was riding my bike around the lake with one of my friends on an unseasonably warm day in February. It was about 35 miles around the lake, and there were some hills where we probably hit over 40 mph. I think I had about $5 on me, no helmet, no cell phone (cell phones weren't around yet) and nothing but a T-shirt and jeans. If I got cold then I'd just have to peddle faster to warm up. We stopped at a gas station in a small town and bought a couple sodas and a bag of chips for lunch. It was a terrific afternoon and a time when we made things happen on very little.

We used to also build these go-karts out of old wood and scrap metal that cost practically nothing to make. It was never this big ordeal where we ordered some expensive parts or had to send something to a fabrication shop, we just built the damn things and had a good time with them. Fishing was also a favorite pastime of mine. I lived a few blocks away from a dam and it seemed like I went there at least a few times a week in the summer to fish. It was never a big ordeal where I needed to drop a bunch of money just to go fishing. Fuck, nowadays if someone doesn't drop $1000 on a charter boat tour, they just assume stay at home.

As we get older we lose some of that touch. It's easy to let things seem overwhelming, take too long to get started, and too long to get finished. Somewhere along the way we have lost some of that ability to have fun, and we get more hesitant to start anything or follow through with it. We over complicate the ever-loving shit out of everything from relationships, to jobs, to money, to workouts!

I can't tell you how many times I hear about some guy who wants to run a cycle, and he is racking his brain over what he wants to take. He isn't being indecisive because he is not knowledgeable about gear, he is being indecisive because he is placing too much emphasis on it. Rather than just getting a couple things and diving into a cycle and training his ass off, he is making it out to be rocket science. To him, it has to be the perfect cycle with the perfect compounds and the perfect time to start. Fuck all that, just hit the stupid needle and go train already!

When it comes to your workouts, do a workout that is realistic and consistent.

If you don't like training your abs, but can deal with 3 sets of sit-ups, then keep it at 3 sets of sit-ups every time you're in the gym. It's better to be consistent with those 3 sets on a regular basis than to ignore your abs.

Sometimes simplifying the workout is the answer you need to continue to make progress! This also plays into your diet as well. If you can realistically see yourself eating 3 scrambled eggs with toast for breakfast, a protein drink and an apple for lunch, and a chicken breast with a cup of rice for dinner, then that is what you need to do until you're ready to take on more. It's far better to be consistent with that rather than diet for 2 days and then go to McDonald's and eat 3,000 calories (unless you're gaining size and new to weights).

Keeping things simple also plays a significant role when it comes to dating. Think about how many people over-complicate getting to know someone now. It's like you have to jump through hell and high water just to get to the point of spending time together and getting to know each other. Most guys are so concerned about picking a date the girl will like, dressing to the 9's, and trying to impress her with some elaborate night on the town, that the fucking date isn't even fun!

I'm going to give you two different scenarios and I want you to pick out the date that you think would sound like more fun, with more of a chance of  gaining her affection and increasing her comfort level with you.

Scenario #1 – You text back and forth 300 times about what you want to do for a date, what time you'll meet, and where she would like to go. Finally you decide to go out to eat, so you make dinner reservations at some fancy restaurant. You dress up like you're going to the Grammy awards, and she is dressed up as well. It's a fancy restaurant and both of you are trying to act as proper and as professional as you can.

She is trying her best not to swear because it isn't ladylike, and you are trying your best to impress her with some dumb-ass story that makes you sound smarter than you really are. She doesn't want to eat too fast in front of you or have you think she is some pig, so she orders a salad that costs you $20 since it's from a “fancy restaurant”.

She is smiling as much as she can but it's such a struggle. Deep down she is starving and just wants to eat, she is bored out of her mind, and uncomfortable in whatever she has on. She is worried about what everyone else in the restaurant is thinking looking over at the two of you. Dinner ends, and afterwards you ask her what she wants to do. You drive around for awhile and talk,  not having a clue what you're going to do next. You just spent a bunch of money for the most boring date ever, congrats!

Scenario #2 – You talk to her a few times to the point she feels comfortable enough to have you pick her up. You tell her you'll be there at 6 pm. You pick her up and take her to a restaurant. Nothing fancy, because you want her to see the real you and the real you isn't dropping $200 routinely on dinners, nor do you need to spend that kind of money to wow some chick and gain her interest. That is what desperate losers do. You go out to eat at a simple place, then afterwards you take her to some hole in the wall bar with a pool table, a dart board, and a jukebox. You play pool, shoot some darts, let her pick out whatever music she wants to listen to, and have a few drinks. It's just some hole in the wall place with hardly anyone there.

Which one of those 2 scenarios do you think she will have more fun doing?

Exactly. The simple one!

When I tell people I'm not a technology savvy guy I get strange looks sometimes. I'm to the point of not even bothering with a television if there is more than 1 remote, because it's too much to fuck with for me. It's the concept of the whole thing that pisses me off, it shouldn't be that complicated to turn on a TV and change a channel.

I don't enjoy fucking with my cell phone or getting a new app. I don't do apps at all, period.

My vehicle has roll up windows, manual seats and door locks, and regular gauges on the dash, nothing digital. The concept of owning a car with power seats that have a memory to them is absolutely fucking ridiculous. You mean to tell me that people are such lazy fucks, that rather than taking 2 seconds to manually move a seat adjustment, they'd rather sit there for 2 minutes and let a power seat slowly adjust to some sort of programmed memory setting (which also took time to program!)?

This is how most people are starting to live their life with EVERYTHING. Everything has become so over-complicated with people that they don't even have social skills anymore. I'm just not drinking the Kool-Aid, it's not that I'm dumb or anything, I'm just not wasting my time with nonsense.

If your life seems complicated it's because it is. You've made it that way, and now you don't even know how to enjoy it. My advice to you, is to look at everything in your life that is over complicated and get rid of it. Stop trying to figure things out that are a complete waste of time to begin with, and start putting your energy into things that will give your life purity, strength, and a clear path. Life does not have to be so damn hard on a daily basis.

You may find that you become more successful and have more free time when you start simplifying the process a little more. At least that is my view on things anyways.

Train hard!

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7 thoughts on “Keep it Simple, Stupid!”

  1. Everyone nowadays is caught up in the “fast pace” of life. They don’t stop to think that they actually control the course of their life.

    Bottom line is people aren’t content with simplicity. They have to complicate the hell out of everything. To the majority It feels a little too boring and dull to keep it simple.

    The reality is that simplicity and getting back to the roots is the best option for virtually everyone out there.

    Reply
  2. Hi John,

    Hope you’re well.

    I just wanted to say thanks for writing and posting this blog post! I find myself continually re-reading this post to keep myself grounded against the tidal wave of complexity in my life.

    Keeping it simple,
    David.

    Reply

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