Write down your goals.
Save 10% of your monthly income.
Write down your ideas when they hit.
Simple.
Simple advice that works.
Yet many people still don’t apply them.
Why?
There’s bound to be a ton of reasons – laziness, apathy, but for some, the reason is that somewhere along the road, they overlooked simple advice because they thought the advice they read was too simple, that it wouldn’t really do anything for them even if they applied it.
They’ll think – “How can doing that make any sort of significant impact? The advice is too simple. Nothing “solid” will ever come out of applying it.”
But here’s the thing that those people fail to realize.
They don’t see past the initial effect of applying that simple advice.
This is probably THE biggest factor (limited overall vision if you will), that people have when it comes to not applying simple advice.
They don’t see what will happen down the road.
What’s even worse is that they assume NOTHING will happen down the road.
To them, it seems to be just a 1-2 type punch.
You do this and this singular effect will occur.
That’s it. That’s the “life” period of applying simple advice.
But they never did it before so how can they assume that?
When they hear advice like “write down your goal on paper”, in their heads, they imagine themselves doing it but now what?
Is the goal magically going to be achieved when they finish writing it and put down the pen?
They don’t see past the initial effect of taking that simple advice and worse yet, they assume nothing will happen afterwards down the road.
But let’s see what happens when you DO take the advice of something as simple as taking out a piece of paper and writing down your goal on it.
This is what will happen.
You’ll get it out of your head.
Your mind can relax. It’s been put in a container. It won’t get lost. It’s there on record.
It feels good to get it out of your system.
Now that you actually see it on paper, you feel more at ease and at peace with yourself.
It’s right there in your handwriting.
Right in front of you.
Heck, it even starts becoming a bit more believable because you see it. You wrote it.
You feel a surge of a sense of control.
You brought something into reality from your mind.
And it’s right there in front of you.
You did it.
You put it out there.
Now that your mind has “freed” up some room, it can start to think of ideas on how to bring it to reality.
Those ideas you get start to excite you.
They fuel action.
You make a phone call.
You read a book.
You set up a meeting.
You talk to a friend about it over dinner.
The results of those actions fuel more ideas that you write down and apply.
Your enthusiasm becomes contagious as you start making progress.
Other people see that and become drawn to you. They want to help this man who seems to be on some sort of mission.
Momentum starts rolling.
Things start coming together.
You feel it’s only a matter of time.
You get a setback or two, but it’s no problem.
You just keep on going.
And when you finally achieve that goal, you’ll one day, sit back, and think of how it all got started. When it all got started. What caused it all.
And you’ll think back to that time when you first put pen to paper and smile at the ripple effects it caused.
Who knew it was so simple?
Writing your goal down on a simple piece of paper.
Sounds too good to be true?
If you think so, you’ll never do it.
BUT, if you keep an open mind to see what kind of process it will initiate and unfold, the kind of ripple effects that will ensue, it will definitely be worth your while.
This leads to the second part of the reason why some people don’t apply advice that’s too simple – they don’t see the holistic picture in terms of all the interactions that ensue within the process that unfolds.
It might seem linear in the beginning, A -> B -> C, but then you’ll get offshoots of taking action B that help with taking action D and offshoots of the results of taking action D that when combined with the advice you heard from person Z and mixed with idea Y that you got in the shower helps you achieve result P.
When you apply those simple pieces of advice, it starts that process that grows and brings into the picture new elements that play off one another, that combine, react, to create new elements, etc., until you start seeing the process unfold in “3D” instead of a just appearing to be a straight line.
See the process unfold.
You’ll never know if you never try. It’s hard to see what that process will be, but try it to find out and see the different combinations that come out as a result too.
Let’s take another simple piece of advice as an example.
Save 10% of your monthly income.
Simple.
Before you pay anybody else, save 10% of your monthly income.
You spent life energy to get it. You earned it. Part of it is damn well yours to keep.
Never mind the mortgage, utilities, insurance, credit cards, gas, student loan bill, etc.
Pay yourself 10% FIRST.
The reactions will vary to this simple piece of advice.
Some will say it’s not possible for them in their current situation
Some will say even if they do it, it won’t be that much.
Some will say even if they do it, it won’t make much of a difference in their lives.
But let’s see what happens if you just do it.
If you just save 10% a month. Even if that 10% is not that much for you.
Let’s just see what happens.
You’ll start feeling in control of your money. You will not feel like you’re slaving for money. You will be its master.
You’ll feel good having some savings in the bank.
It gives you some measure of peace of mind.
You worry less about money.
You rely on credit cards less and pay less because you don’t pay those high interest rates.
Instead of paying interest to creditors, interest is being paid to YOU while you sleep.
Speaking of sleep, you sleep much better.
Your health improves.
Your confidence grows as you’ve proved to yourself you have very good self control and willpower.
People start noticing a little bounce in your step and become drawn to you.
Maybe the boss gives you project, sensing you can handle it with your newfound confidence, leading to a raise and a promotion when you nail it.
Over time, your savings may prove to be the capital you need to start a business idea you had while in the shower.
If you find yourself not being able to save 10%, you look for creative ways to do it. It gives you the motivation to find new sources of income or new ways to cut back without sacrificing too much.
Maybe you get a roommate to help free up some of the mortgage/rent money and this roommate turns out to be your future business partner.
Or maybe that roommate introduces you to the love of your life.
Maybe you give your new car over to a family member to take over the payments and buy a very old used one instead, giving you peace of mind because you know nobody will steal it, you don’t worry about getting scratches or door dings on it, the insurance is less per month, you get better mileage with it, etc.
Now that you got your finances under control, you fight less with your spouse. You’re much happier together.
Having that savings can give you the confidence to look for a new job that you’ll like instead of feeling trapped in one that you hate.
I could go on and on and on about how applying that simple piece of advice – saving 10% of your monthly income can lead to these kinds of beneficial possibilities that ensue and the combinations within those possibilities that all mesh together in your favor but I won’t because there’s just too many.
Sometimes, it’s easy to fall into trap of thinking that we’re “smart” enough to project what will happen if we do x or y, to see if it’s worth doing it, but we have NOTHING to base that prediction on, so no matter how “smart” we think we are in terms of predicting what will happen by applying x,y,z advice, we have NO idea what will happen and no way of seeing what will happen other than to ACTUALLY DO IT and experience it for ourselves.
This is what people DON’T SEE and if they open themselves up to the possibilities of what might happen if they apply great simple advice, their life will change dramatically.
