Be Brutally Simple

Not necessarily with others. (Although that, too, is often needed. Please employ some tact and grace and kindness there.)



What's required to succeed today, day-in day-out, is brutal simplicity in your own thoughts. 



There are at least five areas in which there can be no lack of clarity, no lack of conviction, no hesitation, no fudging. If you wish to not only succeed, but also do so with as little frustration and overload as possible, those five are...





1. Know what truly matters. (For many, on that list is: friends, family, values, community, spirituality. Making a difference. Being a good person. Being a good parent. Etc. All else may be urgent, but is not really important.)



2. Know your priorities today. 



3. Know your priorities long-term.



4. Know yourself. (What do you need to be your best every day? Time to think? A walk? Time with friends or family? Whatever it is, go get it/do it.)



5. Remember to have fun every day. (Do something silly. Make others laugh. Make yourself laugh.)



Sure, there are others. Maybe you'd swap out one or two of your own for these. 



But stay brutally simple. Five or less. Try to make it simpler. On this list: 1, 2 and 4 might do the trick. Only you know what your core two or three or five needs to be. Be brutally simple with your thoughts, then live them.