On the Contrary... Simplicity Brings the Most Abundance
10 thoughts, ideas & creative finds on simplicity and luxury, loving what you sell, having no budget & trusting your creative instincts
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The Rundown 5: It's Going to Feel Ridiculous Until it Feels Miraculous... Do it Anyway
The Rundown 6: What’s Calling You Knows More Than What’s Keeping You Comfortable
The Rundown 7: Don’t Buy Into Anything You Wouldn’t Be Willing to Dedicate a Long Period of Time
Hey Everyone,
The Rundown — Here’s what I found over the course of this week that has helped me, inspired me or gave me some creative pushes…
On simplicity and luxury — “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” (— Leonard da Vinci) — Many people view having more, being more and doing more as a luxury, but I disagree. When you have less, but better, you have people and things in your life by intention. You consume higher quality (people, places and things), create more space and peace for yourself, and you live freely because you’re not burdened by the overwhelm of “more.” Have you ever wondered why the most successful businesses were so effective? They did one to two things really really well. They didn’t overcomplicate their process, their product or the way in which they help you… they were simple… and simple scales.
On acting like a creator that you are — “You have to act like a creator. Every day. In everything that you do. Don’t just read. Write. Don’t just listen. Speak. Don’t just take. Give…” (—Zach Pogrob) — Creativity is a constant state of participation… in life. Most people wait to feel motivate or inspired but don’t realize that it can be found daily, in every moment, simply from starting something and bringing your perspective to life. That’s it… it’s not complicated, it’s just that your participation is required in any given moment.
On having a budget of $0 — “You don’t always need money… you need creativity and the ability to connect your work with the public. Everything else will build from there. (—Matt Gottesman) — Phake, a musician I found on Instagram, made a music video with no budget (see below). Because he had no money for it, he got creative and it went viral. Don’t think you always need money to market yourself… Social Media is a powerful tool in which you get to connect with the world. So long as you don’t get in your own way, you have the power to influence millions any given day you try. That’s truly something!
On promoting what you sell. — “If you don’t want to sell it, don’t make it.” (—Anu Atluru) — People already struggle with sales… whether it’s because of imposter syndrome, afraid of sounding like a marketing guru, or maybe they just don’t relate to the product (someone else’s or their own)... I fundamentally believe it’s easier to sell things you just relate to… either because you use them or because they solve some tangible aspect in your world. When it comes to creating a product, don’t make something you’re not connected to just because you heard you can make money. Create something that you can relate to, consume and understand at a fundamental level that selling it becomes a byproduct of you just being you.
On purposeful progress over speed — “Progress made with purpose outweighs speed without direction.” (—Matt Gottesman) — The goal is mindful productivity versus mindless execution… in other words, when you get very intentional with the “right” specific work, you speed everything else up automatically. So many people are going no where fast simply because they haven’t thought about the results they’re looking for in the actions they’re taking. I don’t want to fast for the sake of speed… I want to move at the speed of intention — (APPLE, SPOTIFY)
On trusting your creative instincts — “You’re not uncreative… you just don’t trust yourself enough to create.” (— Brandon Wang) — I cannot reiterate enough that distractions and unintentional consumption are getting in the way of everyone’s greatness. I work on these areas daily, and while I’m not perfect, I definitely have it dialed in more than most. If you’re not careful, you’ll think you need to do everything in order to build and scale… but you don’t… I, myself, am going through another simplification process cutting out the 80%-90% waste… We don’t have to do everything… but the things we choose to do should get our most undivided and devoted attention… and they should simplify our lives, not complicate it.
On greatness and being misunderstood — “All that was great in the past was ridiculed, condemned, combatted, suppressed — only to emerge all the more powerfully, all the more triumphantly from the struggle.” (—Nikola Tesla) — I always say, you’re crazy until it’s genius, then your celebrated. Don’t feel ashamed because others don’t understand what you’re building or trying to convey to the market… not everyone will understand and part of your responsibility is to bring fresh perspectives and new ideas to the world… some will be ready immediately, others will have to catch up.
On imposter syndrome — “Avoiding who you really are is the real imposter syndrome and not the other way around.” (— Matt Gottesman) — Imposter syndrome is a funny thing… it can have you do more of what you don’t want because you’ve built an identity around it while avoiding the thing you most resonate with because you haven’t discovered your true identity yet. Imagine that. When you’re deeply aligned with something, and you get over the fact of whether you feel qualified or not, you’ll find it’s much easier to be exactly who you were born to be… and this will positively affect everything else in your life… especially the work you birth.
On building leverage — “Product an media leverage are permissionless” (— Naval Ravikant) — In today’s digital age, you don’t need permission to build anything, but you will need to start and be consistent. What is leverage? Leverage is about finding ways to get results beyond just your own time and effort, such as using technology, capital, or networks, allowing you to scale your work and amplify outcomes exponentially… the Internet is our playground — I recently did a Substack on “Creator Founders” and the concept of building your own leverage… in there I said Creator Founders don’t need permission—they build influence through community and creativity, scaling their businesses without massive overhead or micromanagement. Read the rest HERE
Playlist — Cozy Deep House Mix at a Slumber Party | Tinzo — A great playlist from @bookclubradio on YouTube of Chill House to work to… great for creating, designing, writing, computer work.
On the contrary, simplicity brings the most abundance…
How often do you really think about that.
Less is more… so much more.
Less distractions, more expansion.
Less spreading ourselves too thin across too many projects, more intentional work.
Less consumption of stuff, more money for experiences.
Less eating unhealthy, more life to live.
Less needing to prove yourself, more space to create.
I think we sometimes want so much simply because we haven’t figured out what we actually want.
Life and work is all about getting in the arena and not being afraid to experiment to see what works.
However, as we experiment and welcome “more” into our lives, we should also consider pauses to reflect and refine…
— what needs to go?
— what’s serving my future?
— what’s distracting me?
— what are my priorities?
— what might be getting in the way of my priorities?
— given what I now know, what do I really want versus what I thought I wanted?
I’ve been reflecting on simplicity a lot lately… it keeps coming up.
Some of the most successful, wealthy people I’ve met or have been mentored by actually led really simple lives… why — their usual answer is so they have more time to do whatever they want.
With that, I say, don’t wait to be wealthy to go more simple… go more simple so you can spend time on the things that will make you healthy and happy and the wealth will be a byproduct.
Go create!
Matt
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Quality. Thank you. Simplifying, hmmm one of my biggest challenges as I love & enjoy the variety of what I do, but I see how this is getting in the way of refining, perfecting & scaling in what I offer. Thanks for the food for thought.
I’ve always been a sucker for simplicity - thanks Matt, great post