The forgotten art of simplicity

I have spent the last few days at the sea. A cold one. A windy one. The one I love the most. With wide, sandy beaches. Wind that blows through your head. Sun that sets late. Salt that stays on your skin.

And it was sooo good to just be there. Without plans and fancy activities. Just going to the beach every day, eating fish baguettes and waffles, drinking tea. Reminding myself that life can be ridiculously simple when we let it be.

My soon-to-open business was waiting. Because if I have learnt something over the last year of recovering from burnout and dealing with depression, it’s this: no rest, no fun.

And now I can sit here, in front of my computer, and write again, because I actually have the energy and enough topics to cover. Even after the summer with the kids (parents know). And after that realisation about the simplicity of life.

But wait. I keep talking and writing about complexity. Now this simplicity kicks in? How does that make sense?

Well, surprisingly — it does.

A quick story from my last trip.

I booked tickets for a ship to get from one island to another. It’s a regular service for tourists and people who live there as well. As we were boarding, the captain announced that there would be no return trip later that afternoon because of the weather forecast. So people with round-trip tickets would need to find alternatives or stay. Some travellers were then asking about the service the next day, wanting to make sure they could get where they wanted to go. But the captain simply said: “I can’t promise anything.”

You see, the context we operate in is complex and often very unpredictable. Just like the weather conditions for sailing. But some decisions we can make are, in fact, very easy. Just like stopping the service because of the weather. And when the conditions are good enough again, the service will resume.

This is the type of simplicity I am talking about. Looking at the nearest horizon and choosing what fits best here and now.

My trip was like that too. While in the long term I want to build a steady training and mentoring business, I know already: no rest, no fun- or no work. So taking that trip was about recharging my batteries and getting ready for the challenging time to come.

The direction was there. And in the short term, I made decision-making as simple as possible. Being there. Choosing things that worked with the current conditions. Not fighting them.

Simple and effective — to preserve energy and a good mood. And to help me come back refreshed and happy.

Sometimes we are so eager to achieve something great that we forget that small, simple steps are what actually make it possible to navigate the whole complex sea of entrepreneurial life.


Inspired by this rediscovery of simplicity, I am starting in September.

My Open Office is back, and you can either book a call or meet me in person on Fridays in Vienna.

Over the course of September, I will also be adding some dates for new online and offline workshops for the upcoming autumn.

Until then — stay tuned to my newsletter and my updates on Substack!

green grass field near sea under cloudy sky during daytime
Photo by Karsten Würth on Unsplash

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