SimpleologyWithBen

Lesson 10 reminds of us of the importance of power. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t need to be reminded that power exists in the world. My wife never lets me forget that I don’t have any.
But psychological control over another human being isn’t exactly what Simpleology is talking about.

How many times in the past week have you said at least one of these phrases?

“If only I had more time, I’d be able to be able to finish that project properly”
“If only I had more money, I’d be able to do a larger, more extensive job”
“If only I had more energy, I’d be able to put more emphasis into it.”

We are constantly under pressure to perform despite the fact that we often lack the proper resources to accomplish our goals.

This is exactly where power comes in to play. The limited power that we do have makes us long for more power, even though we’re not using the power we have to their fullest potential.

Our goal shouldn’t be finding more power, but to better utilize the power we have.

We all can take a lesson from my wife who not only uses all of her power to dictate our domestic life, but on some occasions, finds powers that I didn’t even know she possessed.

This should be our goal. Summoning up all the power at our disposal, leveraging power when necessary too, and completing a project with every bit of time, energy and money we possibly can.

Although this might seem daunting, just remember, these resources are replenishable. Go for broke every single time, you know there’s always more money in the bank.

Lesson 9 is upon us talking about the law of action/reaction. Put simply, Simpleology teaches us that everything we do is an action, not matter if it seems like an inaction and that every one of these actions has a reaction to it as well.

It really is a simple concept. I remember learning about this rule back in high school. For every action there is a strong and immediate reaction. If I punched Danny in the arm, he’d punch me back harder than I punched him.

Action/Reaction

If I studied for a test, I’d do well on it.

Action/Reaction

If I mouthed off to my dad, I’d be grounded for a week.

Action/Reaction

So simple that by the time I was 10 I was well aware of it.

Simpleology takes this concept even farther though, more of a grownup version of the concept.

When we were kids we were always told that every action has a consequence, so if we don’t want to get in trouble, we shouldn’t act.

But Simpleology says that even inaction is a form of action called Ineffective Actions. Unfortunately, Ineffective Actions also carry with them reactions, and often, they are harsher than those associated with actions.

I’ll give you some examples.

If I didn’t punch Danny in the arm, he’d continue taking my lunch money every day.

Ineffective Action/Reaction

If I didn’t study for my test, I’d fail it.

Ineffective Action/Reaction

If I didn’t mouth off to my dad, I’d probably still be grounded for a week (growing up I was always grounded for one reason or another).

Ineffective Actions way us down and prevent us from reaching our goals. Next time you are about to do something, ask yourself if it’s an Action or an Ineffective Action.

Remember way back in Lesson 3 where we saw how difficult it is to shoot a bow and arrow at a bullseye with your eyes closed?

Obvious, right?

Well, how hard do you think it would be to hit that same target with your eyes open? Still somewhat difficult, archery is a tough sport.

So if shooting an arrow with your eyes closed and your eyes open will both most probably produce a failing result, how can you increase your chances of success?

In Lesson 7 we are introduced to the second step of the Scientific Formula for Success, keeping your target in sight. What does this really mean though? How is this actually accomplished?

No matter how hard you stare at a bullseye, you won’t be able to shoot the arrow any straighter.

Simpleology tells us that the way to properly set your sights is to avoid distractions, to accomplish a task with a clear head and a proper vision. They say that as long as you can see your target clearly, you will be able to hit it.

I disagree. Well, not completely. I completely agree that proper vision and a clearly defined target are necessary. I also agree that distractions are the most detrimental influence on your outcome. But there is more to keeping your target in sight than simply focusing your attention.

The one thing that is missing from this step is the most important. It’s a simple thing called concentration.

Concentration is the one variable that makes everything else possible. With proper concentration you are able to shoot that arrow straight, no matter if your eyes are open or not (though it is easier to hit the target with them open). With proper concentration you can accomplish anything you want. It is often the difference between wanting to hit your goal and actually hitting it.

Simplicity is really the name of the game here, huh?

By now, I’m sure you’ve got a good idea of how simple Simpleology is and how easy it is going to be to apply to your own life.

Lesson 5 is really just an introduction of the next couple of lessons as it lays out The Scientific Formula for Success, which are:

1) See your target

2) Keep it in your sights

3) Hit it (until you hit it)

As I was watching the Lesson, I was a little bit surprised by it. I expect a lot from this course. I’ve heard a lot of people I admire say that it changed the way they conduct business. I expect every Lesson to be beneficial and if not full of useful information, then at least there should be some nugget of something helpful. I don’t need a review of 4 simple subjects and an intro to 3 more. Can it be that some of Simpleology lessons are irrelevant wastes of space?

I was so upset that I started throwing my little rubber ball at the wall really hard. I really felt gypped. I started thinking about how mad I was becoming. Which made me start thinking about what a waste this course was. Which made me start thinking about the course itself. I went through each of the first four lessons in my head and felt like they were just some sort of trick, some scam to make us think we were getting something beneficial when we really weren’t getting squat.

I must have been sitting there for a good fifteen minutes when Janine, our new secretary came into my office and asked if I wanted a cup of coffee. I shot her a deadly look and she scampered away.

I stopped myself right then and there. It took me a second to fully realize it, but I realized that I was angry and that my anger was clouding my judgment. I’m very fond of Janine and it was sweet of her to offer me coffee, but because I was angry, I sent her away scared. I couldn’t believe that my emotions got the best of me like that.

I realized that maybe my anger that was aimed at Simpleology was misplaced as well. I know that the lessons really are great and maybe, this is exactly what Lesson 5 is meant to teach us.

Sometimes life doesn’t always give us what we’re looking for. Sometimes we find that we are standing still instead of moving forward. But despite anything that might happen, we should always remember what we’ve learnt and look ahead to what we will learn in the future. If you trust your teacher and the knowledge he provides, you should be able to level you out even in the most desperate of times.

And don’t let your anger get the better of you, a clear mind always wins out.

In Lesson #6, Simpleology clarifies the first step of the Scientific Formula For Success that they laid out in Lesson #5.

Simply put, the first step tells us to See Your Target.

This is a step in the thought process, in my opinion at least, that is often overlooked. I know in my life, I overlook it a lot.

I’m usually very, very busy with multiple different projects. I’m usually so busy that I don’t dedicate enough time with each project to make sure that each project is properly targeted.

I’ll give you an example.

I’m part owner of a bar with some of my best friends. A couple of years ago we bought a local pub and decided we’d buy it and make it into our neighborhood hangout place. This was after Stephen’s wife kicked us out of their basement, she said, and the rest of our wives agreed, that they didn’t feel comfortable with us hanging out down there all the time. So we bought a bar.

Now, admittedly, I don’t really care if the bar makes us oodles of money or not, but I’d like it to break even at least and to do that, a fair amount of work needs to be put into it. Usually the work that we do is done late, half-assed and thus is ineffective. The end result is that the bar barely breaks even and is a constant source of annoyance to us and our wives.

Now, there are a lot of factors that go into the success of a bar, but poor management is the most common reason most bars don’t succeed and ours is no different. I’d say that we’d be a lot more successful if we actually cared about the bar making money. Our target is not defined. Actually, in this case, we don’t even have a target identified at all. I’m sure if we ever decide to make ourselves a target, even one as simple as a profit of $100 a week, we would be able to hit it.

That’s the thing with targets, once they are clearly defined, they are much more attainable. The world is weird like that.

Till next time…

Simplicity is really the name of the game here, huh?

I hope your getting a good sense of how simple these rules are. And how useful as well.

In Lesson 8, Simpleology tells us the third step of the Scientific Formula For Success. Remember, the three steps are:

1) See your target

2) Keep it in your sights

3) Hit it (until you hit it)

As I was watching, I couldn’t help but think that this step sounds weird. Hit it (until you hit it). What does that mean?

Does Mark Joyner mean to say that we should keep attacking our target until we hit it? That sounds like the obvious answer, and while it might be right, maybe he meant something more as well. I mean, if he wanted to tell us to keep attacking our goal, he could have said that, he’s done a good job so far of being pretty straightforward and well, simple. I’d like to think that he chose to be a little cryptic for a good reason.

In the first four Lessons, Simpleology taught us the simplicity of managing your time. We learnt how to avoid distractions and how to keep our eyes on the prize. We learnt how important it is to focus our attention and energy on what we want and how we should go after it without succumbing to distractions.

In Lesson 8, Simpleology sums up what we’ve learnt, but includes a new and very important lesson. This new lesson, which is well hidden, is that there will always be the potential for failure. But we shouldn’t let that stop us. Don’t think that just because you didn’t hit your target the first time that it means that you weren’t focused or that the Simpleology methods don’t work. Failure is just as big a part of life as success is.

Lesson 8 is teaching us that you should always See your target, Keep it in your sights, and Hit it. And if you don’t Hit it, keep trying until you do.

But more importantly, if you don’t hit it the first time, don’t give up. Perseverance pays off. Don’t think that just because you don’t hit your goal that means you have failed or that you have done something wrong. Sometimes a little more effort is necessary to achieve your goal.

Try and try and if that doesn’t work, try again. Make sure you are doing everything right and never stop trying to achieve your goal. Eventually you will be successful.

Lesson 4 reminded me about a parable I once heard.

There once was a man who made his living catching fish. Every morning he would walk two miles from his house in the woods down to the river. He would bring with him his fishing staff, his trusty dog and his lunch.

Every day he would sit on the bank of the river and cast his fishing line out into the river. He would hold the staff with two hands, pull it back and lunge it forward, throwing the line and bait out far into the water. Every time he would do that, his dog thought it was a game and would chase the bait into the water, splashing and barking as he went.

The man got such a kick out of the enjoyment his dog got from chasing the fishing line that he would roll around on the ground out of laughter. At the end of every day though, the man was surprised that he never caught anything.

The moral of this parable is the same one that Lesson 4 has taught us, namely, we all need to focus out energy on the task at hand or our goals will never be met. The man never caught any fish because he was too concerned with his dog’s enjoyment, which was preventing him from actually catching any fish. His energy wasn’t being focused on catching the fish, but on playing with his dog.

I’m sure we can all apply this lesson to our own lives, I know that I often catch myself expending too much of my energy on things that divert my attention from my goal. I’ll give you a good example. Here is it, Wednesday morning and I can’t get over the midweek hump. I knew that I wanted to watch the fourth video and write a blog post about it. But first I need to get a cup of coffee, then I spent too long checking my email, then I went around and chatted with some co-workers about the NFL playoffs. Before I knew it, it was 11:30 and I hadn’t done a stitch of work. Typical, huh?

I’m sure you’d be surprised by how many examples you could find in your own life of spending too much energy for counterproductive results in your normal, day to day life.

Let me know what they are, I’d be curious to hear.

Don’t you love Simpleology’s examples? I think that this third Lesson’s was by far the funniest. It is probably also the most apropos.

The image of the dorky computer nerd asking his sexy co-worker to review his product report all-the-while staring at her chest had me cracking up. I was a little bit shocked to see such brutal honesty on the video, but it is so true.

How many times do such ridiculous distractions keep us from meeting our goals? How many times do we make our choices based on food, or women (or men if that’s your preference) or even based on what TV show is on that night. Whims are the worst types of distractions, those are the types that we tell ourselves are acceptable, but often, they are the types that lead us the furthest away from our goal.

Making the right decisions is key towards achieving our goals, but even deciding which decisions to make is vital to success. Do you really want the fate of your business to be decided based on whether there’s a new episode of The OC on? Or how would you feel if you fired an employee when you were in a bad mood because you hadn’t eaten yet that day.

When we make decisions based on things other than our long term goals, we let these disturbances turn into diversions that suddenly become interruptions and before we know it, our lives are completely disrupted. The key here is to not lose your focus.

Focusing your attention means giving your goal your full attention and not letting yourself get manipulated by distractions. Sounds simple huh? What do you think?

Let me ask you a question. How obvious were these first two Simpleology lessons (not a rhetorical question, let me know!)? Did you find them strikingly simple? Were you bored, yet weirdly amused by the crude, simplistic demonstrations?

Did you also find that you weren’t implementing these basic suggestions in your life?

I was honestly surprised to hear from people who, after watching Lesson #1, realized how convoluted their lives are. It’s a ridiculously simple lesson, draw a straight line from where you are to your goal and follow that straight line. But from hearing from all of you, I started to realize how many distractions there are in the world. And how easy it is to get so confused by these distractions that you end up following the wrong path and end up farther away from your goal than from where you started. This is exactly why Simpleology is so great and it’s exactly why we need to constantly be sharing stories, we don’t realize how easy it is to loose sight of our goals.

Loosing sight of our goals is exactly what lesson two is about. It might seem obvious that if you close your eyes you won’t get to where you want to go. But tell that to my wife.

She’s a sleepwalker.

Seriously, I often find her getting up in the middle of the night and banging into the closet. And you know what the most common answer she gives me for what she’s doing? She’s trying to go to the bathroom. I usually make a sarcastic joke and she wakes up fully and feels a little embarrassed as she makes her way to the bathroom. But she’ll never find the bathroom if she’s asleep. It’s a classic example of you can’t find what your looking for if your not aware of your surroundings.

I know this isn’t the best example of what Lesson 2 talks about, if you have a better example of how opening your eyes has allowed you to better see your goal then lets hear it. Like I keep saying, the more people who participate in this discussion, the better it is for everyone. So let’s hear your stories.

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Ben Shaffer