Return to 1st Principles
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” — Leonardo da Vinci
This writing is Certified Human
The Obstacle
We get caught up doing complicated things. Stacking habits. Running complicated systems. We forget the fundamentals.
Things don’t work. Communication breaks down. We struggle to meet goals or execute. So we only look one layer back, looking for the nearest thing that causes our stall, failure, or conflict.
Sometimes we need to look all the way back.
To the beginning.
To 1st principles.
The Gift And Opportunity
Most complicated systems can be broken down to simple individual components working together.
When we go far enough back, we reach the fundamentals. The foundation. The things that work. No matter what.
Sometimes simple is better.
Solutions and progress don’t always need to be elegant. Sometimes it can be the easiest things. The simplest things. That help us progress and move the ball forward.
When we’re stuck with people, in circumstances, or on projects, we can go back to the beginning. To the basics. To the foundation. To 1st principles.
The Practice Of Self-Mastery
• Notice the complication
• Go back to the beginning
• Return to the fundamentals
• Move forward from 1st principles
CHEAT CODE: NOTICE → GO BACK → RETURN TO THE FUNDAMENTALS → MOVE FROM 1ST PRINCIPLES
The Why
I got in a simple conflict. It should have been easy to navigate. But I forced things through.
I skipped 1st principles of conflict and relationships and moved right onto brute force.
This instance seemed so obvious that I could skip all of the groundwork and the essential steps and move right to the solving.
Well, it didn’t work.
I expended a lot more energy, emotion, and goodwill than I probably needed to.
I could have started from 1st principles and simply understood. Acknowledged. Moved on to exploring before going right to solving.
I didn’t.
It took more energy and time than it should have.
Hopefully next time I’ll remember to return to 1st principles.
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