Simple, But Not Easy

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

One of the concepts I've been pondering lately is the idea that the key to most of our problems are simple. But unfortunately, just because they are simple does not mean that they are easy. I first came across this concept in Ryan Holiday's excellent book The Obstacle is the Way.

In The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan uses this phrase to describe the process to turn Obstacles into Opportunities: exerting mastery over the three key disciplines of life: Perception, Action, and Will. Seems easy right? All you need to do is Fix your Perception, Take Action, and Have an Iron Will. However, saying that you are going to master these three disciplines and actually mastering these three disciplines is easier said than done.

"One day at a time. It sounds so simple. It actually is simple but it isn't easy: It requires incredible support and fastidious structuring" - Russel Brand

Take most of the problems you have. The answers to these problems are probably very simple. But just because they’re simple doesn't necessarily mean that they’re easy.

You want to lose some weight? That's simple. At its most basic level, all you need to do is burn more calories than you consume. Calories in, calories out right?

You want high returns in the stock market? Buy low, sell high. It’s as simple as that.

You want to have a good day? Wake up early, exercise, and eat well - it's as simple as that. But even knowing this how many diets do people end up cheating on, how many exercise routines are left abandoned, how many times do people press snooze on their alarm clocks?

We might have a concrete plan set out ahead of us that seems easy at first, but we often don’t factor in life happening. Things happen, priorities change, and what seemed very simple at the outset suddenly becomes very hard to stick to.

This isn't necessarily a gloomy discovery though. Realizing this has made me think about all the things in my life and the plans that I have set out for myself. How many of my goals can be split up into simple tasks? How much of the person I want to be will be accomplished by just showing up every day and doing a simple set of tasks? More importantly, what are the simple tasks that I’ve failed to accomplish and aren’t currently doing?

This realization has brought to light that the things that I want to accomplish are in fact very simple. All I need to do is in the words of Russel Brand take it one day at a time and make sure that I show up.

Because at the end of the day, knowing the enemy is half the battle. Reflecting on our own proclivities to shirk these simple daily responsibilities is the second half. And once we know both of these things, in the words of Sun Tzu, we will need not fear the results of the battles yet to come.