What Would This Look Like If It Were Simple? (Transcript)

In the spirit of keeping it simple, today’s episode is only 8 minutes long. In just a few minutes, I share some advice I got last year from one of my mentors that’s allowed me to work significantly LESS while increasing our revenue by over 80%.

Who knows, maybe it’s exactly what you need to hear to work less and earn more in your business, too!

This is a transcript of Work Less, Earn More, Episode 48. Listen to the episode here.

We became entrepreneurs because more than anything we want freedom. We want to be in control of our own schedule, income, and life, but unfortunately, that isn't always the reality of being a business owner. I'm Gillian Perkins, and I'm on a mission to take back entrepreneurship or what it's supposed to be. In every episode, I'll share with you how to get the most out of every hour you work so that you can work less and earn more. Let's get to it.

We all do it, we judge books by their cover and also by their size. Somehow we think that if a book has more pages then we're going to get more out of it. And we do the same thing if we buy an online course, we think that if it was more expensive it's going to be more valuable and that if we open it up and it has more modules that we're going to get a lot more out of it and it will be more useful. Sometimes I find myself doing this with podcast episodes too. “Oh, that episode's only five minutes long, it won't even be worth my time.” Maybe you thought that about today's episode because this one isn't going to be very long.

But if we think about it we know that bigger isn't always better. I mean, how many times as a kid did you think the biggest present under the tree was going to be the best one? Maybe you wanted to save it for last, maybe you were hoping that it was for you, but it turned out that a present in a small package turned out to be the nicest and even your favorite. And you know, we do this in our businesses as well. We think that more complicated strategies will surely get us bigger and better results, that they're worth our time because clearly they're better but that's just not always the case.

I hadn't put much thought into this until about a year and a half ago when I was in San Francisco and I met up with Pat Flynn. And Pat shared with me something that has profoundly changed my business. It is very simple, it's just the question. The question is, what would this look like if it were simple? And how this question is used is like this. Whenever you're planning something, whenever you're trying to figure out how to do something, how to solve a problem, how to reach a goal and plans start getting a little bit too complicated you stop and you ask, “What would this look like if it were simple? What would it look like in the very simplest version? What is the very simplest way we can get the result that we're looking for?”

Now, the idea here, isn't that you're going to go with the simplest option. Sure, maybe you might, but it's more to give yourself a different perspective to force yourself to think outside the box, or maybe here to think in a very small box. So you stop, you put a pause on all your crazy, big, amazing plans and you just say, “What would this look like if it were simple?” Whether you're trying to solve a customer service challenge or come up with an idea for a new product or plan a promotion, it doesn't matter, what is the simplest way you could accomplish your real goal for what you're trying to do here?

Because sometimes we get caught up in the process and the systems and the how and we forget what we're really trying to do. What are you really trying to do and what is the easiest way you can do that? When Pat shared this with me I knew it was a good idea but I wasn't sure how practical it would be to implement. But in this past year and a half I can say that without a doubt we have used this at least once a week and it has saved us countless hours of work.

If you're listening to this podcast because you want to learn how to earn more and work less, this is a valuable tool for your tool belt. Stop and take a minute and think about the simplest way you could possibly do what you're trying to do. And remember, you don't have to commit to doing it that way, you're just trying to come up with some alternative solutions and give yourself some better perspective on how simple things really could be if you wanted them to.

When you start planning a project it's really easy to get carried away and to make your plans more and more complex. And with each additional complexity that you add, it's easy to assume that those complexities are actually necessary, because once you see that as part of the plan and you see the little benefit that you're going to get from that additional complexity you feel like you can't live without it, at least I often do. But when you take a step back and you consider your real objective and you think about the easiest way you could possibly do it, then that can help you to find some middle ground and decide what you really want to do and where you really want to spend your time.

I know this episode is short but I also know that asking this one simple question can have a really big impact on your business. And the reason I know that is because it's had a big impact on my business and really on my entire life. So, what are you working on today? What is your real goal for that work? And what's the simplest way that you could accomplish that goal?

This episode is brought to you by Startup Society. If you run an online business or you're thinking about starting one then Startup Society is the place for you. It's a bootcamp training program for entrepreneurs plus an incredibly supportive membership community. If you're looking for a framework to make building an online business as simple and straightforward as possible then that's exactly what you'll find inside Startup Society. Every month we create a step-by-step action plan for our members to follow to create a specific result in their business so that they can keep moving forward and growing. Past action plans have helped our members write their websites, launch online courses, and hire their first employees.

And when you become a member not only will you get access to our future action plans but you'll also get access to our entire library of past action plans, including the ones that I just mentioned. You'll also get business coaching directly from me during our live monthly coaching sessions. During these sessions you can ask any business questions that you have so that you can make sure that you get the answers you need in order to be able to keep moving forward and not get stuck. As a member you'll also be invited into our membership community where you can connect with other online entrepreneurs who are crushing it so that you can be inspired and make some lasting connections.

If you're interested in becoming a member of Startup Society then there's no time like the present to make that happen. To sign up, just head to gilliamperkins.com/startupsociety. Again, that's gillianperkins.com/startupsociety. And as a listener of this podcast, I have a special offer for you. You can become a member of Startup Society for $10 off every single month. Just use code, earnmore, when you are signing up. Again, that code is earnmore, a one word, and it will give you $10 off your monthly membership costs. If you want to turn your online business into a success as quickly and as strategically as possible then I would love to work with you to make that happen.

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of Work Less, Earn More. Now here's what I want you to do next, take a screenshot of the episode you're listening to right now and share it on Instagram Stories. And when you do make sure you tag me @gillianzperkins So I can see that you're listening. Sharing on Stories is going to help more people find this podcast so that they too can learn how to work less, earn more and take back their lives.

And if you really love the show, then head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a review to give it a boost. Not only will this help the show out but it's also going to give you the chance to win a 12-month membership to Startup Society. Each week I'll be picking one winner. To enter, all you need to do is a post a review on Apple Podcasts and be sure to include your Instagram handle so we can send you a DM if you win. Okay, now let's wrap this up. I'm Gillian Perkins, and until next week stay focused and take action.