The Power of Simplicity

"Simple" has immense power.

Doesn't the above quote look too simple? Yes, it is. But why do we need to complicate it if it conveys the message that we want to convey. Most of us, in life, either ignore or undermine the power that simple things can bring. We either believe that such simple things cannot bring success, else everyone would have achieved it or we get satisfaction out of complicating things for ourselves.
We discussed this to an extent in one of our earlier posts : "Big things will happen by doing Little things right"

Leonardo da Vinci once said : “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." . Let me share with you a few examples that i have seen in my life that are governed by the principles of simplicity.

Both my daughters are fond of playing video games on any iPhone or any touch screen enabled phones that they can get hold of. Whenever any of my friend pays a visit to our home, they look forward to the opportunity of grabbing their phones and look for some new and adventurous games. Not that they do not have a laptop of their own at home but it is just the fun and excitement of playing high quality games over a touch screen enabled device that excites them. Could you have imagined all this 10 years back? Steve Jobs had a penchant to break the digital divide between the devices and humans. He wanted to make things so simple to use so that any "kid" could operate it without any formal guidance or training. He believed that simplicity has lot of power. Today, we can easily see the way the world has accepted such devices which simplify our lives.

Mc Donald's, the burger maker, sells 3 times more Aloo Tikki burgers in India than its world wide no. 1 best seller - Mc Chicken Burger. It is not that Indians do not like chicken, but Aloo Tikki burger can reach masses and is so much more simpler to associate with.

Warren Buffet, arguably the greatest investor of all times, has an advise for all his investors. He says that any investor who wishes to make long term profits should not complicate his or her strategy of stock selection beyond the simple mathematics that it deserves. No financial degrees, no complex charts are necessary to make such decisions. You do not need more than high school maths to arrive at a stock that will pay you handsome long term returns. Of course, there are other subtle attributes in your personality that contributes to your success in stock market, but keeping things simple has made him one of the best known investors in history.

Look at all the above examples and start thinking about those things that you feel are complicated for you in your life. If you cannot find a means to simplify something, it is very likely that it will never lead you to success. Success is always linked to simplicity, whether it is success in your professional life, your family life, your passion or anything else. It is we, the humans, who are masters at complicating simple things and then getting ourselves entangled in the same.

Financial Freedom, Stocks, Equity, ....nothing is complicated as long as you keep it simple. The book "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom" talks about an extremely simple methodology and plan to get financially free. Sometimes, it looks so simple that many of us might not even believe it, to the extent that we may ignore it. For example, if we all understand the simplicity and yet the power of compounding, sound planning and great execution, reaching financial freedom is well within everyone's grasp.

Go for it folks, keep things simple, and realize the immense power that simplicity brings with it. Do not underestimate the huge potential of simple things just because they are simple.

As Albert Einstein once said: “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”

Cheers

Manoj Arora