Stop doing this!
One thing that will improve your marketing/life/attitude/complexion/etc.
I have always loved ads that promise the ONE SECRET to losing weight or getting fit or finding a partner or saving money on your credit cards. The utter simplicity of the technique thrills me as a marketer and the compelling nature of it delights me as a psychologist.
Aren’t we all looking for that ONE THING? Even the most rational and sophisticated among us can be lured into finding out more about the secret to something that others have found and used to their advantage.
Want to be successful? Get up early. Get 8 hours of sleep. Drink more water.
Friends, let me tell you there is actually truth to all of this. That’s right, there is actually ONE SECRET to success and I am going to reveal it to you now.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The beauty of the ONE THING technique is that it contains the answer to the question it poses.
The answer is simplicity.
Reduce complexity wherever and whenever possible to get to your desired outcomes.
The ONE THING technique appeals to us because we are all inherently looking for simplicity, for an easy to understand and easy to follow rule of life. We build castles of complexity around ourselves each day, strive to accomplish a million things, and analyze everything through a thousand different lenses. And we feel no closer to satisfaction.
Many of us - and I am a primary offender - say we want simplicity yet continue to add new layers of complexity to our lives. When I see the answer right in front of me, I often don’t trust it. Simple can’t be right, can it?
Yet, simplicity always wins. Simplicity can take many forms, and often means peeling away a lot of complexity applied to the world by yourself and others, but it is usually evident when you get to it.
Want to be better at almost everything? Reduce the complexity of your approach.
The shortest distance between two points? Yes, a straight line.
Wake up early and get more sleep? Go to bed earlier.
Today, find one aspect of your life that could benefit from reducing complexity a bit. Try it and see.
The secret is out.