Keep It Simple

Don’t overcomplicate it.

I’m about halfway through Poor Charlie’s Almanac, which is loaded with wisdom from Charlie Munger, one of the most prolific and successful investors of all time.

So naturally, I have Charlie-isms on the mind.

(and now you will, too)

This one is hard to digest in a highly distracted world, but it bears repeating over and over again:

“Take a simple idea, and take it seriously.”

This sounds like something Grandpa would say, but it is really profound. And that is because nobody is really doing it.

In this modern world we are all running on caffeine and assumptions.

Assuming that other people have it figured out, that nobody has missed an obvious opportunity, that if it could have been done it would have been done already…

I like what Mark Cuban tells his kids: look around you, everything you can see was invented by someone.

Don’t assume that if it can be done, it has been done. That’s human arrogance speaking. Every generation feels this way to some degree… but I promise you we haven’t figured it all out yet!

Back to simple ideas.

It’s not just the simple idea that matters, it’s the taking it seriously part that holds the power. If you can become masterful about something, you have a massive edge over everyone else who are informing themselves with a Tik Tok education.

So start with an opportunity, a question, or a curiosity, and take it down to its simplest form. What is the human driver behind it? Why are things this way, and not that way? What momentum would it take to make change? Is there a headwind or a tailwind for the effort that needs to be made?

What simple idea should you take seriously?

P.S. – I am also author and founder of Profit Hiker: 11 Trails to gain lasting elevation in your business. Find the book right here and the program over there.