The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

February 11Simply Perfect

In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—Favorite Poems

Longfellow is one of America's most popular poets. His long-form poems, such as “Paul Revere's Ride,” “The Wreck of the Hesperus,” and “The Song of Hiawatha,” were at one point required memorization exercises in many schools.

And yet in his own work of favorite poems, it is a note about yearning for simplicity that sums up his creative genius.

Simplicity, it turns out, is much harder than the opposite.

Simplicity or even brevity of thought and word forces us to distill something to its core, without excess to make our point. But being precise is sometimes the greatest work we endeavor.

Simplicity, however, may be best summed up as an aspiration. To embrace simplicity as a creative force, we might find it useful to see it in all things—choices, strategies, conversations, possessions, as well as our entrepreneurial vision. Through this lens it becomes our teacher.

Simplicity is about being less busy and more focused on what matters. Simplicity as a point of view helps us focus on the essentials that lead to the success we so desire.

In the words of Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less:

The pursuit of success can be a catalyst for failure. Put another way, success can distract us from focusing on the essential things that produce success in the first place.

Challenge Question

1. What is one ...