Hi there! It’s obviously been awhile since I last published anything new here. Usually, when I get an idea I want to share, I’ll think it over for a bit to first make sure it's worthy of sharing. But, when it's finally time to write, I’ll have either mentally moved on or failed to prioritize my time well. It’s a shame, really. Because I love publishing here, and it’s embarrassing that there’s such long gaps in between my posts. But, like most things, I’m probably way overthinking it.

Which, by the way, brings me to the main point for this post. I was walking home from work the other week, when I suddenly had the urge to tweet this out:

My "urge" was actually caused by a terrible Twitter ad by a famous marketer, hocking his “secrets to success” and IMHO, duping people out of their money in exchange for a clearly fictional promise land.

I then elaborated on my rant explaining, most people already know everything they need to know to achieve any of these things, but what they’re actually looking for (and in this case paying for) is a shortcut.

But, how do you shortcut something that’s already pretty simple? For example, here are some things I wrote down that make me happy:

family, friends, time at home relaxing, the feeling after a beautiful long run, a cup of coffee and a good book, listening to a beautiful song on good speakers, cuddling with someone and watching a movie, playing, the feeling I get when I help someone in a meaningful way, being in good physical shape, learning how things work, improving my skills, cooking dinner with a good friend

Does happiness need to be more complicated than this?

None of the above is a one-time solution that will bring happiness for all days to come, but looking for some magical “secret” is a fool’s errand.

Perhaps it’s just our nature to overcomplicate things. But lately, my mission has been to see through the crap and make it simple.

Try this. Next time you catch yourself stressing over a decision or problem, ask: “What would it look like if this were easy?” Chances are, there've been solutions under your nose that for whatever reason, seem too inconvenient or simple to be viable. But, they're not. They are real effing answers.

So in an effort to keep things simple, I’ll do better to post here more frequently. Also, I've noticed quite a few new subscribers tickling in through my email list, so thank you, whoever you are, and welcome everyone reading my work for the first time. If you found this post useful, I’d love it if you shared it with just one friend, or if you have feedback, feel free to email me directly: brianjhertzog AT gmail.com