Simplicity

Over the past years, I have been deeply driven by simplicity.

Let me give you some examples:

Capsule Wardrobe. A small collection of clothes can be combined in a multitude of ways. My boots will go with just about anything except shorts, which should be reserved for the pickleball court.

Books. For me, it’s 100 books. No, I don’t actually keep count. I ask myself, “If I could freeze myself for 100 years and wanted a library of 100 books to wake up to, would this make the cut?” For everything else there is Kindle. Bye-bye Jason Bourne.

Television. Netflix and Hulu and Apple TV and? I bet if you only had one, you would somehow figure out something to watch. Let’s go one step further. What if you eliminate everything and only watch what you bought or rented? You’d probably watch less TV (something most people I talk to say they want to do) and maybe even save money.

Websites. Sites have so many links, buttons, and pages. Most companies and personal sites (I suppose mine is a bit of both) try to do too much. A few pages, maybe just one, are enough. I used to have a fancy site that I poured over. No more. Now it’s words and whitespace.

Investment Portfolios. You knew something financial was coming. I see a lot of portfolios. Most are unnecessarily complicated. A lot of unnecessary niche asset classes. Especially if someone is coming from another advisor. Rule of thumb: if you don’t understand it, don’t invest in it.

Simplicity clears your mental palate, allowing you to thrive in so many ways.

Remove the noise. Give it a shot.