PRINCIPLENESS TO GENIUS

"Making the simple complicated is common place; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity."

Jazz Legend Charles Mingus One of my favorite sayings is "Simplicity is Genius." We tend to label geniuses as people with high IQ's. But a person with high intelligence is simply someone who acts consistently towards achieving theirs goals. It is the act of moving towards what you are trying to accomplish in your life. This is true intelligence, this is genius. And this type of genius requires a simple life. From a coaching and athletic perspective, John Wooden was one of the simplest minded coaches there was. He was not heralded as a mystical thinker like Phil Jackson, though he was he was almost more of a philosopher than a coach. It is said of coach Wooden in the book, Wooden on Leadership, that "he was efficient in his teaching and kept if simple-broke it down into parts, taught each part, then built the whole back up. Always he used the law of learning: explanation, demonstration, imitation, and repetition. Lots of repetition. You can't believe the repetition."

I believe coaches, athletes, and people in general lack simplicity in their life because they lack confidence in any solid belief of belief system. This lack of confidence creates inconsistency in the parts of their lives where they are lacking these beliefs. This is what I call "Principlelessness."

PRINCIPLELESSNESS DEFINED

Since Principlelessness is not a real word (as I've learned as I receive the red squiggly underline on my Microsoft word program) I guess I must claim and define it. Principlelessness is the lack of established principles and beliefs that simplify the thoughts and actions of our lives.

ALPHABET LIFE You will recognize people who live without principles as inconsistent. On the contrary, consistent actions will tell you and everyone else exactly what you stand for and what your principles are. No matter what you say, your actions always reveal your principles.

So how do established principles simplify your life? Established principles make your life black and white. When a decision comes up, you either choose "A" or "B," there is no "C." Most people live trying to use every letter in the alphabet instead of choosing "A" or "B." This causes confusion and internal battles and also effects the closest people you associate with. On the other hand, there is nothing more comforting than knowing someone who lives on principle. You know what you are going to get with these people. Some things you may not agree with, but you have to respect that fact that they stand their ground.

SIMPLICITY AND ACTION The goal is simplicity and action. The goal is to first figure out what you stand for. Second, is applying these principles to your everyday decisions. This establishes your priorities and choices which make your daily actions most effective and significant. The third is continuously and consistently repeating these actions on a daily basis.

TAKE A STAND When you live your life based on principles it is an indication that you believe in something. And this belief can be influenced on other people. People are drawn to others who stand for something. Your philosophy or what you believe in may not be exactly what the next person believes in, but this makes you unique.

Here are 7 suggestions on moving from principlelessness to genius:

1. Establish Virtues: The most important thing that you can do is establish virtues or a moral code. These establish your character. No matter how talented you are, no matter how much skill you possess, greatness is achieved through who you are at the core. Your virtues are already identified, just look at how you spend your time. This will give you a good indication of what is most important to you. Your virtues are what help you live a black and white, consistent life. Your choices will always be based upon, who you serve, and what you truly believe in.

2. Get Real: In order to simplify your life you must have a realistic view of yourself. Like people who go on American Idol and think they can sing, if we are spending our time and energy on things we suck at, you will live a frustrated in-effective life. If you do not have a talent that is completely obvious, seek and find that in which you are great. It usually always lies in something you've always been great at or just love to do.

3. Seek Truth: The bible says, "The truth will set you free." This is one of the greatest statements I have ever heard, because it not only applies spiritually, but applies to everything else. The truth sets you free because it takes away everything you don't need to worry about. Lack of truth in your life leads your life in the wrong directions, causing worry, anxiety, stress, and all the other negative emotions that come along with being in this territory. Seek truth in everything you do. The more you know, the simpler it becomes.

4. Become an Expert: Once you establish what you love. Strive to become an expert. Becoming an expert takes time. I don't belive you are an expert at anything you have not put daily effort and study into for at least 10 years. Only with this type of understanding and wisdom in a subject will you be an expert. Experts, by the way, make things that look difficult or even impossible to most, look simple.

5. 80/20 rule: To be effective in your life you must cut the fat. The pareto principle says that 20% of your actions produce 80% of your results. The key is identifying that 20% and repeating that over and over.

6. Repetition-Repetition-Repetition: Once you have established what actions are most effective for you, do it over and over and over. As stated above, Wooden's teams would break down a skill into different parts and then work on those different parts over and over again.

7. Be Ready to Take Heat: When you believe in something, people will always criticize you. All of what you believe in rarely lines up with what everyone else does. The more you believe in something, the more you will be criticized. The key is keep learning, keep growing, and keep getting results from what you do. If you do what's right and continue to get great results from your principle actions, what can people really say? Critics fill the world with their talk; principle people change the world with their actions.

Avoid Principlelessness. Be a genius. Be simple