debbiebradley“We’re a group of incredibly smart women. We’re all entrepreneurial women growing and running our own businesses, yet this menu makes no sense. Let’s order from the bar menu instead.”
And order from the bar menu we did.
It was September 2018, we were at a business event, and a group of us had met for dinner in the evening.
We were at a beautiful hotel, fantastic surroundings, and we were finally meeting one another in person after months (even years in some cases) of knowing each other online.
We sat around the table, discussing the overly complicated menu when Caroline called over the waiter and said the above.
The fact is, we are all smart women.
Yet we were dumbfounded by a menu that was written in a way that made no sense – complicated for the sake of it. Probably to justify the hefty price tag.
The waiter was great, he chatted with us, got us some bar menu’s and we ordered our food.
Afterward, we all had a good laugh about it.
I’m still in touch with that group of incredible, smart women, and we’re noticing something;
We’ve been overcomplicating things when we could be doing things so simply!
Following systems, plans, blueprints, structures, ideas all put together by people who aren’t us, who don’t know our audiences, and who aren’t running our businesses. Who don’t work the way we do and don’t want to.
It’s the bloody menu all over again and we’re, for some reason, inflicting it upon ourselves!!
What’s that all about?!
Ah jeez, give yourselves a break, yeah ladies?
Now, what about you…
What are you doing?
Where are you overcomplicating shit in your life, your biz, that you don’t have to? Probably shouldn’t be? Really don’t want to be, but are doing just because…
Because of what?
Cos someone said to?
Because that’s “how it’s done”?
Because that’s how you ended up doing it and haven’t bothered to change? Look for a simpler way?
Because it warrants the price tag?
Fuck how it’s been done before.
Fuck what someone else said to do.
Do you see a simpler way?
THEN WHY THE FUCK AREN’T YOU DOING IT THAT WAY?!?!?!
OK, shouting over…
This doesn’t have to be complicated.
None of it does.
There’s an easier way to do, probably, everything that we do.
The problem is, most of what we do is learned from other people… and where did they learn it from? They either learned it from someone else, or went around the long way round of learning it themselves, and kinda got stuck believing that was the only way. (it’s not)
Maybe, just maybe, they’re blind to the simpler way?
Or maybe, just maybe, they’re overcomplicating things so it sounds fancier than it really is or needs to be. Why? I have no idea, but they could be.
I’ve seen it before.
Long, drawn-out complicated processes that we’re expected to follow.
It happened a lot back in my old job.
Do this, press this, then switch to this, then do that, then back to there, then do that… and so on.
“Or you could just do this”
BOOM! Mindblown!
What? How did you do that?! OMG, no, you’ve broken it, or you’ve missed something.
No, wait, oh… it’s all there… how the hell did you do that so easily?
I went straight to the end result. That’s how.
Simple DOES NOT automatically mean less!
It usually does in terms of the steps/the how but in terms of results? Return on effort? Nope… simplifying means you spend less time doing shit and more time working on the results.
I’ve been guilty of overcomplicating so much in my life, from personal to business. Sometimes it felt like the right thing to do, but in a lot of cases, it was just a form of procrastination.
Taking the step by step approach works in some cases, but much like I wrote in How to break free and get what you want; “burn that fucker down and start over!” take the easier path.
Sometimes that’s just how it needs to be done.
We need to stop. Step back, look at what’s really going on and decide whether or not what we’re doing is worth it.
In a lot of cases it’s like arranging a night out:
You constantly message back and forth, arranging who, where, when, all the messages one after the other.
Then one day all it takes is “Pub?” and it’s done because all the details are taken care of. You know who, where, when. All you’re waiting on is a “yes”
SIMPLIFY
Obviously, this isn’t always something that happens straight away, and yes, the process can be complicated and drawn out to start with – but there comes a point where you need to step back, look at what’s being done objectively and decide what can be/needs cutting from the process.
If it’s a home/personal project, maybe you’re prolonging what needs to happen by breaking it down into “small manageable steps” and tackling them one at a time, rather than just tackling the whole thing head-on (The KonMari method is a good example of this – instead of one drawer/one room at a time, it’s all done in one go!)
If it’s business it’s looking at what’s unnecessary, what’s not working any more, what can be simplified/automated/outsourced. Constant back & forth with clients can be eliminated with a solid process, whether it’s taking the extra time to have the in-depth conversation at the beginning, or a detailed intake/job/feedback form, or maybe you just have someone else handle the details and give you the CliffNotes version. It all works.
I guarantee that some shit doesn’t even need to be done at all, but we get/got roped into it because it was touted as the biggest and bestest thing in the whole wide world!
I’ve experienced this with programs/courses, some costing multiple thousands, spanning up to 12 weeks, loads of videos, all of which softly repeat the previous, and give a hint at the next, all the steps broken down to the smallest possible chunk they could be, and then shouted about as the 12-week, all singing and dancing “this will revolutionise EVERYTHING!” course. Then it’s accompanied with a 90-page workbook that covers absolutely everything and half of it is blank pages for “Notes” – how does that equate to 12 weeks of drip-fed (pet peeve of mine) content that takes HOURS upon hours of “study”?!
It doesn’t! Not really.
It’s just FLUFF! Fluff and padding to warrant a higher price tag.
It’s bullshit.
Then there are the other courses… short, simple, low cost. A few hundred $/£ for a few weeks of complete, instantly implementable content and you go on your merry little way.
Which one feels better?
The one that actually gives you ALL the information at once.
The one that gives you FAST results.
Direct information that’s actionable straight away (not some shit that isn’t fully actionable until you’ve waited 12 long drawn out weeks for the final pieces)
The one that works for you faster and you start seeing a return on straight away.
Why does it feel better? Because it’s simple.
Why does it work better? Because it’s simple.
I often complain about the instant gratification world we live in now, where if it’s not done in milliseconds we’re not happy. (I have kids, they don’t even know what it’s like to wait a week for the next episode of a TV show, I see this a lot)
But for a lot of things, that semi-instant gratification works wonders for us.
Especially when it’s seeing results.
Stop overcomplicating what you’re doing – Jump straight to the end.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ specialty=”on” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ fb_built=”1″ _i=”0″ _address=”0″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ specialty_columns=”2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0″ custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_row_inner _builder_version=”3.27.4″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0″][et_pb_column_inner saved_specialty_column_type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.27.4″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0.0″][et_pb_image src=”http://debbiebradley.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Feeling-like-shit-to-Rockin-it.png” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0.0.0″][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column_inner][/et_pb_row_inner][et_pb_row_inner _builder_version=”3.27.4″ _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.1″][et_pb_column_inner saved_specialty_column_type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.27.4″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.1.0″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.27.4″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.1.0.0″][/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column_inner][/et_pb_row_inner][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” _i=”1″ _address=”0.1″ custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.27.4″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.1.0″]I get it. We’ve all been there, so let’s sort this shit out
It sucks, right?
That shitty low feeling where you just feel down, deflated, pissed off with the world for no reason, and you’ve just had enough.
You’re not particularly angry, or sad, or maybe you are, maybe you’re just feeling “ugh!” (yes, that’s a real feeling) that kinda nothingness where you know something’s up, but you’re not quite sure what.
Well, how about we get right in there and sort that shit out?
This is my personal 5-Step Reset that I go through to get me from Feelin’ Like Shit to Rockin’ It!
I’m not saying it’ll be fun n easy, there’s no magic cure, but this works, every time.
I come back to this all the time, and I’ve shared it with my closest friends when they’re having a shitty day (or a week, or month, or however long) and it works for them too…
So how about it, are you done feelin’ like shit? Are you ready? Let’s go
Drop your details into the form, and I’m gonna send you over a quick audio that talks you through the 5 steps I take, that are going to help you go from
Feelin’ Like Shit to Rockin’ It!
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