Simple Advice!

 

When my daughter was in middle school she was part of the track team. It was a very small school and everyone was involved in some type of track event. She was tasked with running longer races of 800 meters, the mile and the 3200 meter relay. She poured her heart into the running and always tried her best and tried to please the coach. During one track meet, she ran her race and did really well. She then approached her coach with a red face from running her race. In her effort to get better, she asked her coach how she could improve her time. He looked at her with a smile on his face and offered the simple advice of "Run faster!". It makes perfect since, if you want to improve your race time, run faster. 

During our lives we often hear very complicated answers and formulas to very simple questions. One of those questions is how do I accumulate the funds to retire? Complicated answers include the explanation of compound interest, investing in stocks and options and investing in real estate. There are hundreds of books that have been written on the subject. There are answers that tell you to save a certain percent and invest it at a certain growth rate and then the advice will go on to tell you about withdrawal rates and inflation. The simple answer is "Save more" or save as much as you can and invest responsibly in things you know. 

Dave Ramsey has made millions of of using a simple idea. He even says in his radio broadcast that it is advice your grandmother would give you. His simple advice is only buy with cash that you have and to pay off your debts. His formula is super simple and used by millions of people. 

There is a lot of complicated advice involving losing weight. Low carb, no carb, intermittent fasting, mediterranean diet, blue zone diet, Weight Watcher, Jenny Craig and many more diet plans are out there with complicated plans and advice. There are tracking apps to keep track of macros and calories. There are apps to track exercise and steps taken. But, the simple advice is "Eat Less" and "Move More".

When I think of making a simple thing more complicated, I think of a Rube Goldberg machine. Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist and from 1914 to 1964 he drew schematics of complicated machines that did simple tasks. His complicated machines became known as a Rube Goldberg machine. Just picture the game of Mouse Trap, invented in 1963, as an example of a Rube Goldberg machine. Remember the various parts of the trap that were operated by a rolling ball that triggered a variety of steps until the net dropped onto the mouse. Today, there is a Rube Goldberg contest held every year in which contestants are given a simple task. The contestants must devise a complicated machine that uses 10-75 steps to complete the task. Prior to 2015, the contest allowed up to 200 steps. Example of these type of machines can be seen all the time on the various social media apps as people build the machines and film them in action to attract viewers. 

I often voice that I wish there were only 2-3 choices for everything. Humans have complicated life by creating so many options. Want to buy a new car? There are so many options of gas or electric, every color you can imagine, cloth or leather interior, 2 door or 4 door, and on and on. Go to Walmart to buy a bottle of shampoo or toothpaste and there is a whole aisle of options. Go to Bath & Body Works and they have a whole store full of candles, lotions and bath gels. At B&BW there are way too many options. You just need two choices for lotion, unscented or vanilla. B&BW probably has 50 different scents for candles. Again, unscented or vanilla should be the only options. Make it simple for everyone. I'm only kidding, I do like the various scents of the candles and hand soaps and their men's selection is very nice.

Other simple advice might include the answer to the following questions:

Want more friends? "Be friendly"

Want less stress in your busy schedule? "Say no"

Want a nice yard? "Water, fertilize, mow"

We humans seem to complicate a lot of things in this life. The best way is to live more simple. What simple advice have you heard or spoken? Any two word answers to questions that seem simple?