Make Everything Awesome Again with Simpleology Systems!

Your business … Your bank account … Your body … Everything.

• Automatically obliterates all of the “Four No’s” so you (and your team if you have one) will finally use Systems to unleash your full potential.
• Integrates seamlessly and intuitively into the rest of Simpleology so you can optimize your life with envious HIME simplicity.
• Effortlessly check the status of your Systems when you do Start My Day. (It’s so easy. There is hardly anything new to learn.)
• Automatically sends out reminders when Simpleology Systems tasks are not completed on time. Relax and let Simpleology do the leg work.
• Quickly and easily set up new Systems in moments. Fly past your rivals while they are still monkeying with complex methods that don’t work.
• Set up Simpleology Systems for your office … your marketing … your home … your kids … your health … everything. You will finally get your life so dialed in that everyone will stand in awe of your mastery.
• Much more …

P.S.  We will rollout Simpleology 5.7 (with Simpleology Systems) to 10,000 users at a time.  Keep your eyes on your inbox for your invitation to upgrade.

Your daily life rituals can make you fat, sick, and broke … Or healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Change your rituals.  Change your life.

Easy to say.  Not so easy to do.

The solution to this problem was shockingly simple.  It’s called “Phased Linear Prompting™” and it’s the basis of our new app:  Rituals (by Simpleology).

Here’s how it works …

Science shows there are four “mental muscles” that fatigue when learning a new ritual (decision fatigue, will power fatigue, cognitive capacity fatigue, and focus fatigue).

It’s no wonder changing a daily ritual is so hard.  With four ways to go wrong, failure seems inevitable.

Enter Rituals (by Simpleology).

Like most elegant solutions, it doesn’t seem like it would work.

If you had never heard of “leverage,” you would doubt that a weak man could lift many times his own weight just by putting a stick on a fulcrum.

But he can.

Put one way, this new app gives you leverage over the process of acquiring new rituals.

Really it’s more like a bio-mech suit that prevents all four types of the aforementioned fatigue.

By simply taking the steps of any given ritual …

… and presenting each step in linear fashion …

… you remove all four types of fatigue that make the acquisition of new rituals difficult.  The solution was so simple.  We were as surprised as you’ll be.

You can use this method to easily acquire new rituals of any type.

• Morning rituals …
• Pre-game rituals to get yourself “in the zone” …
• Pre-negotiation rituals to make sure you always get the best deal possible …
• Pre-dating rituals to make sure you show off your best self …
• Pre-workout rituals to create motivation for going to the gym out of thin air …

The app comes pre-loaded with 3 extremely useful rituals to get you started.  (One will prevent you from ever cheating on your diet again …  Another will get you the best night sleep ever …)

But you can use it to create as many custom rituals as you like, for whatever purpose.

The app works on iPhone …

… and the web version works on Android and in your (mobile or desktop) browser.

That way, you can comfortably create new rituals on your desktop …

… and then conveniently pull them up on your phone.

The whole system is the first ever stand-alone addition to Simpleology.  It exists in a vacuum by design.  When you are using the app, it keeps you focused on one thing and one thing only:  the ritual.

“It’s free for everyone?  How do I get it?!”

Keep your eyes on your inbox for your “Invitation to Upgrade” email.  We’re rolling out 5.6 to groups of 10,000 users at a time so we can keep the system rock-solid stable and make subtle improvements along the way based on your feedback.

(short version:  we think the mobile app form factor has a limited lifespan due to the imminent likelihood of graphene-based foldable full-sized mobile displays, our time was better spent making the desktop version more awesome, etc etc)

… but the timing is finally right for us.

It’s simple (of course!).  It’s sexy (mais bien sûr!).  It’s super fast (pow!).  And it works on pretty much every mobile device imaginable.

Version 1.0 includes the two features you said you need most on-the-go:  Dream Catcher and Daily Targets.  Future iterations will add new features based on user demand.

If you’re a Simpleology Elite member, you can begin using it immediately:

• iPhone/iPad mobile app
• Android mobile app (Samsung, Kindle Fire, etc.)
• Download-less mobile browser version (Windows/Blackberry users go here)

… if you’re not, start your free trial now - Simpleology Mobile is only one of many procrastination-busting / business-simplifying / productivity-turbo-charging superpowers granted to the Simpleology Elite.  Plus, we bribe you with all kinds of super-useful stuff just for trying – all yours to keep even if you cancel your free trial.

Get the big idea: the Simpleology Project Marketplace

(click thumbnail to view the cartoon)

Step 2.  

Learn how you will profit from it: author Simpleology Projects

(you know the drill … click the thumbnail)

Step 3.  

Build your first Simpleology Project for the Simpleology Project Marketplace

What are you waiting for?

Step 4.  

OK, maybe you need more instructions …  Here’s a short walkthrough video

(Watch it full screen in HD for the best experience …)

Step 5.  

Want some inspiration?  Unlock this example Simpleology Project for free …

… by visiting this link and logging in.

……………………………………………………………

Notes …

1.  The grand opening of the Simpleology Project Marketplace will begin on October 21st, 2014.  We’ll open it to 10,000 users at a time until we’re confident it’s stable and then we’ll open it to the general public.

2.  The price of your Simpleology Projects will be set by you.  The only rule:  $2.99 minimum.

3.  Currently there is no limit to the number of Simpleology Projects an author (you) can have in the Simpleology Project Marketplace.

4.  Oh, and one more thing … Simpleology Project authors are now automatically Simpleology Strategic Partners.  After you publish your Simpleology Project we’ll give you a short link to promote it.  If this results in a new Simpleology sign up, you will earn recurring commission (25%) when they upgrade to Simpleology Elite.

Questions?  Feel free to post them below … I’ll be answering them personally.  (If it’s a support request you’ll get a much faster response from our awesome Customer Care Team, of course.)

Mark

Let’s start with a quick recap, gang …

We are expected to “stay on top of” … well, everything.  So, we are always “checking” everything.  Gotta check email.  Gotta check social media.  Gotta get the news.  Gotta check the stats.

This creates a handy illusion of productivity.  In reality, we perform these rituals in an ADD-distracted, OCD-obsessed, or overwhelmed, state..  This is “normal,” we are told.  From time to time we feel little pangs of terror and think …

We are then expected to lead, but – holy shiatsu – we don’t really understand leadership.

As you’ll see in a moment, there’s a single elegant solution to both of these problems …  But first, we need to take a quick detour together.  It’s a short, but supremely important, trip down the rabbit hole.  I want to show you why this is just the tip of ….

The Mother of All Icebergs!

(cue dramatic music)

Let’s get geeky for a minute before we get back to the story.  Check out these projections from IDC.

By 2020 we are projected to pass the 40,000 exabyte mark. Can you imagine what that chart will look like by 2050?

The details are debatable (how is the data measured?  what’s included?) …

But such a debate misses the point:  the global volume of data is increasing.  And more importantly, the rate at which it is increasing is exponential.

Now some might say …

Well, consider this. The human brain can only process about 7 bits of information in conscious memory at a time (Miller, 1956, Princeton Psychological Review).  This number doesn’t change.

I call this “The Complexity Gap”

This chart doesn’t do “the gap” justice, but you get the idea.

In other words … The world is rapidly becoming more and more complex in the Information Age. But the human brain can only handle the same amount of complexity it was able to handle in the Stone Age.

And this “gap” gets wider with every passing day.

Is it any wonder everyone feels overloaded? (And is there any reason to believe this situation will get better on its own?)

By the time you’ve finished watching this short picture-story …

… you will see: 1) how “Yoda’s” lesson solves The Complexity Gap and puts you back in the commander’s chair …

… 2) why it delivers the ultimate “knock-out punch” to your competitors in business …

… and, 3) that it has other very surprising (and surprisingly pleasant) side effects.

OK, let’s roll up our sleeves and get down to it. The answer to “Yoda’s” torturous question …

… is simple, but requires a little nuance to understand: “seeing the battlefield.”

It doesn’t matter how good you are at everything else.  You could have the brain of Da Vinci, and the charisma of Mahatma Gandhi himself, but …

If you can’t “see the battlefield,” success in any endeavor is always going to be a crapshoot.

Imagine a football player wearing a blindfold …

How could we ever expect him to arrive in the end zone? Even if he’s a 300 pound wall of muscle with lightning reflexes and a genius IQ.

If you can see the battlefield when your rivals can’t, you will always outsmart them (no matter how “good” they are) …

… and you will always win.

“Um – fascinating, but … this isn’t relevant to my life.”

Au contraire!

Think of it this way …

If you don’t know which parts of your business are bringing in profit and which are bleeding you dry, how could you ever hope to turn it into the coin-operated profit machine you want it to be?

If you don’t know whether your health regimen is actually working, how could you ever hope to have a beach body by summer (let alone the pep required to enjoy your golden years)?

Seeing the Battlefield is a metaphor that applies to everyone.

No matter who you are, or what you want to become, seeing the battlefield is the essential foundation. Strategies and tactics come and go. The dire urgency of seeing the battlefield always remains.

“But …” (The Mother of All Buts)

When we’re constantly distracted by, and bombarded with, information, we may have the physical ability to see the battlefield …

… but our brains can’t process what we see because it’s clouded by too much information.

Military leaders call this the “fog of war.”

Today the “fog of war” looms over everything.

It does make for some bizarre, albeit entertaining, behavior, though …

We have access to more exotic business metrics than at any time in history …

… but we fetishize the raw availability of these numbers …

… instead of focusing on the one or two that will tell us what we actually need to know.

We have access to everything …

… but we click from distraction to distraction …

… instead of focusing on the real “profound knowledge” that will give us a competitive edge or make our lives better.

See, seeing the battlefield is not just about access. It’s about focus and choice. It’s not just looking – or being able to look.

It’s actually seeing.

Alas, we have the physical ability to see …

… but tragically, our brains are too overloaded to use it.

Or, in the immortal words of Louis C.K. …

“So, more amazing = less happy?”

Maybe not …

Hey.

What if there was another way to be?  What if there was some kind of “hack” that would let us bypass this whole mess?

For example, what if you had a place to log in (from the lush comfort of your wherever-you-want)…

… and in a single stress-free glance …

… you could see the vital few numbers that tell you the health of your business (or your investments, or your kids) in a visual display  …

… the uplifting, idea-generating, or advantage-giving info that matters to you (filtering out the noise that doesn’t) …

… and anything else that allowed you to calmly get the drop on your competition while they are mired in distraction?

And what if it was infinitely customizable with just a few clicks …

… with drag and drop ease …

 … and with no technical skills required?

And what if it was totally integrated into your Simpleology account so you could draw in any Simpleology goodness you choose – like Daily Targets, Lists, Trackers, and more?

What if there was finally a way to filter out the fog of war … to actually see your battlefield every morning – instantly, automatically, and with calm zen-like focus?

So you could spend more time doing things you love – the things that increase the quality and quantity of your life?

Introducing Simpleology Dashboard

If you are one of the Simpleology Elite, we installed Dashboard for you this morning. You’re welcome! Have fun playing with your new power toy.

If you’re not Elite yet, let’s fix that.  You’re moments away from instant access to all this (and more) when you start your free trial now …

• Your very own infinitely customizable dashboard – tweak it however you want with just a few clicks.  Soon you’ll wake up each morning stoked and in control – with an almost supernatural ability to “see the battlefield” in perfect clarity.  (Starting each morning with a finger-steeple “exxxcellennt” – optional.)
• Pull in data from anywhere – Simpleology Trackers, MySQL queries, Google Sheets (and more on the way) – so there is nothing beyond your reach.  (The fulfillment of life-long Star Trek captain’s chair fantasies – also optional.)
• Add any RSS feed in the world.   Create your own masterfully-curated intelligence stream, so you can stay abreast of what matters – and only what matters – while your competitors are bogged down in the “fog of war,” baffled that you are so calm and commanding.
• And much more – and much more on the way …

Maybe your mind is already racing with the business-domination and life-simplification possibilities, but here are a few idea generators to get your juices flowing even more …

“RSS feeds” are but one of the many things you can pull into your Simpleology Dashboard.  They exist for just about anything you can imagine. Yes, every blog in the world has an RSS feed, and that’s only the beginning.

There is a hidden “other Internet” (arguably a “better Internet”) in the world of RSS … What will your custom-curated info-stream look like?

Want to see only motivating/inspiring quotes or images? There are RSS feeds for that. Well, thousands of them, actually.  It’s like start each day with an invigorating cup of “go juice.”

Want to find out any time your brand is mentioned in the news or on the web? You can create an RSS feed for that, too.  X-ray specs for the buzz-o-sphere!

Want to see all the top tech news, as voted on by geeks? Then the Reddit tech news feed is for you.  (My friends always ask, “Wow, how do you know so much about what’s happening in tech?”  It’s not hard to be smart when you’re hanging out in the right places.)

An RSS feed for pretty much anything you could ever want exists, or can be easily created by you.  The days of info-overwhelm are over, folks.

And that’s just RSS … we haven’t even scratched the surface of the business metric, bio-metric, and anything-you-want-metric possibilities.

Remember Pearson’s Law?  ”That which is measured improves.  That which is measured and reported improves exponentially.”

Now, ask yourself this question:

Is there any part of my life I’d like to improve exponentially?

Got one?  Drag it into your Dashboard and enjoy the magic.

When you start your free trial today, you’ll also get free pass to a live webinar where I will reveal …

( click here )

We’ve been wanting to integrate project management into Simpleology for a very long time …

And with Simpleology 5.5, Projects are finally here.

In the same way Simpleology simplifies your complicated life, with 5.5 you can now simplify your complicated projects.

First, let’s get geeky …

If your eyes glaze over when the techno-babble begins, skip this section.  If you’re an uber-nerd-deluxe (like most of us around here), read on.

With Projects you can create cardwall/kanban style workflows to manage your projects, be they Agile-compliant …

… or a totally customized project workflow of your own design.

If you’re not familiar with this method of project management you are in for a productivity-skyrocketing treat.  With its roots in the work of W. Edwards Deming, it is one of the most important foundations of the new Agile-everything trend.

You can use it to organize almost anything in a simple and optimized way (adaptable to “pull systems,” “just in time,” and many other methodologies).

In practical terms …

With 5.5 collaboration is as it should be:  the simple seamless joy of interacting with people meaningfully.

Use it to lasso business projects  …

… to plan a family vacation …

… or, well, to simplify any project of any type and any complexity.

You can even use it to track software bugs …

… or household chores.

And best of all, tasks inside each “card” are seamlessly integrated with the rest of Simpleology …

… so when we guide you through Start My Day each morning, you can breeze through your projects in manageable chunks.

We help you make effective decisions about what to do next so that you can put your mind at ease …

… or reach new heights of zen-like focus …

… or both.

 What’s next?  Keep your eyes on your inbox for your “Invitation to Upgrade” email.  We’re rolling out 5.5 to groups of 10,000 users at a time so we can keep the system rock-solid stable and make subtle improvements along the way based on your feedback.

Already one of the lucky ones on 5.5?  If you love it, please comment below to spread the love.   Want a feature you don’t see?   Post a feature request.   Want to report a bug or need help with anything at all?  Contact our stupendously awesome Customer Care team.

(click for full-sized cartoon)

Folks have been asking me a lot of questions about 5.5 …

When will it be released?

Short answer:  as soon as it’s awesome.

As always, we never broadcast specific release dates unless we’re in the rollout stage.

Will Black Belt be part of it?

Yep.  When you see Black Belt and 5.5 together you’ll understand why we waited to release them at the same time.

What will be included in 5.5?

We dropped some pretty strong hints in the last two cartoons … All I can say is:  it’s our most significant release to date.

How can I get an early look at 5.5?

We’ll be reaching out to Simpleology power users, members of the press, and prominent bloggers to take an early peak before we start rolling it out to the user base.  If that’s you, comment below and we’ll consider adding you to the list.

As usual, in order to keep the system stable we will be rolling out to groups of 10,000 users at a time in random order.

(click for full-sized cartoon)

Y Combinator is the legendary tech incubator responsible for Reddit, Dropbox, Airbnb, Scribd, and scores of other notable startups.  When asked what made the difference between profit machines like Dropbox and catastrophic startup failures, Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham had this to say:

“Several founders mentioned specifically how much more important persistence was than intelligence.  ’I've been surprised again and again by just how much more important persistence is than raw intelligence.’” - Paul Graham, Co-Founder of Y Combinator

He’s obviously not alone in his assessment that grit (persistence … perseverance … whatever you want to call it) is a more accurate predictor of success than intelligence.

“The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.”
- Roger Bannister

In retrospect it’s obvious.  ”We miss 100% of the shots we don’t take,” as Wayne Gretzky said.   Simple, right?

But isn’t this just sports and startup folklore?  I thought so as well, but it turns out science has been corroborating the notion.

While this is intellectually interesting, what’s really exciting is the practical application.  How fortunate that grit is, as Duckworth mentioned, a trainable skill.  (See:  The Grit Habit - free PDF that teaches Grit in a single page).

We can’t control how much “talent” we have.  We can’t change the genetic cards we’re dealt at birth.  But we can learn to persist in spite of all limitations.  And now we know:  that’s what really matters.

“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

(click here for full-sized cartoon)

Well, it’s official.  The Story of Dreu will continue …  Thanks to everyone who responded to our last post letting us know what you wanted.

Two highlights for the folks who did not read the comment thread …

1.  The overwhelming majority of respondents let us know that they wanted us to finish the story.

2.  The cartoons so far have always had something to do with new features we’re releasing, even when it doesn’t look like it.  Today’s cartoon, for example, is starting the conversation about a new feature we’ll release very soon.

How will the story end?  You’ll have to read the cartoons to find out.  But before it’s over, Dreu will learn many interesting things that might just give you a competitive edge as well.

(click here for full size version …)

I put together a little guide for you chock full of biohacking shortcuts called Do-It-Yourself Nanotech Super Nutrients.  This is some pretty edgy stuff I learned as part of the underground biohacking movement in Silicon Valley.  It goes way beyond what you’ll find in the more popular biohacking blogs and books.

It also includes the bonus guides:  Nanotech Detoxes and Reverse-Engineering the Limitless Pill.  Learn the very latest info about next-generation “nootropics” and electronic devices biohackers are using to boost their intelligence.   (Hint:  it isn’t about Modafnil.  That’s so last year …)