Would you describe your life as beautifully simple or tragically complicated? The wisest men and women of every age have valued simplicity while the average person falls unknowingly into a dozen complications every day. Albert Einstein was one of the greatest geniuses of all time. He observed that genius is taking the complex and making it simple. Perhaps it's time to apply this genius to our lives. William of Ockham was a 14th-century philosopher and logician. He is best known for his problem-solving principle referred to as Ockham's razor, which in its simplest form states, "The simplest solution is almost always the best." For 700 years, this theory has been guiding the great thinkers of almost every discipline. Genius and simplicity have become inseparable among the wisest people of every culture. Still, in a world with unlimited options, we struggle to adopt and apply the wisdom of simplicity to our daily life. Henry David Thoreau observed, "I believe in simplicity. It is astonishing, as well as sad, how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day, how singular an affair he thinks he must omit. When the mathematician would solve a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all encumbrances and reduces it to its simplest terms. So simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real."

Every day you face hundreds of choices, options, and decisions. We fall into complexity by default, and complexity has an honoring habit of creating a mess and adding to the mess. Allow yourself to be governed by a quest for simplicity. Most people don't, not because this doesn't make sense, but because we don't spend enough time reflecting on life. We spend more time planning our annual vacation than we do considering our lives. Adopt the wisdom of simplicity. You'll never be sorry you did. Apply it to every aspect of your life. It is an excellent path to clarity and peace. The beautiful minds of every age have cherished simplicity. Follow their genius. Simple living is the essence of wisdom. The desire for simplicity itself is a sign of wisdom. If you are stuck, the most natural way to get unstuck is to simplify your life. Strip away everything that is not essential. To move forward, you need clarity, and simplicity gives birth to clarity. The simple life is one of the few things in life that doesn't disappoint.