"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." — Confucius
During a recent coaching call, a client was sharing how she's been feeling a lot of tension and tightness in her neck and upper back,
And she wanted to know if there were some special stretches or exercises she could do to help alleviate the issue.
Before answering, I asked her to try to lift her arms above her head.
And, not to my surprise, she couldn't.
This client is an attorney in NYC and meets with me during her workday (via Zoom) for coaching sessions, so I get to see the kinds of clothing she wears to the office.
Blazers. Blouses. Form fitting dresses.
Clothing that makes it nearly impossible to move her upper body freely.
Add to that, she doesn't use a laptop stand, which means that she needs to look down to see her screen. Hmmm...
So you spend 8-10 hours a day with your arms practically glued to the side of your body AND staring down at a screen...
And you're telling me that your neck and upper body are feeling stiff?
Shocker.
Now, I could have just given her some exercises to include in her routine, but that wouldn't address to ROOT of the problem.
And...there's a MUCH simpler solution to be had here.
👉 Move the screen up and invest in some office appropriate knitwear so that you can move throughout the day and stop putting so much strain on your neck.
But humans are quick to dismiss simple solutions.
Because our brains have a tendency to complicate things.
In fact, there's even a name for this.
Complexity bias is our tendency to believe that complex solutions are better than simple ones.
It's why you might spend hours mentally debating over whether you should strength train 2 days a week or 4, instead of just moving your body for 30 minutes everyday.
OR
Why you might insist that your doctor check your iron levels because you're chronically exhausted, while ignoring the fact that you sleep 5 hours per night.
OR
Why you buy the face cream that "contains peptides" instead of the one that doesn't, even though you don't fully understand the claims being advertised.
Now, here's the thing,
Complexity bias is the result of your brain trying to save mental energy.
When you write something off as "too complicated" you give yourself a free pass to avoid solving a problem or understanding a concept.
So yes, you save yourself the mental energy needed to figure things out,
But you also release your responsibility and give away your power.
Instead of,
"Hmmm, I'm not losing weight...I must not be in a calorie deficit. Where am I eating more than I realize?"
It becomes,
"ARGH! I'm not losing weight...my hormones MUST be out of balance. I better go watch a ton of YouTube videos and buy a year's supply of fancy supplements this influencer is telling me I need."
(Side note, marketers looooooove complexity bias because they know that complicated solutions sound sexier than simple ones).
So,
Here's my reminder to you that most of the time, the solution to the problem you're facing is MUCH simpler than you're making it out to be.
Tired all the time? Go to bed earlier.
Body aching? Move it more.
Burnt out? Take breaks.
Feeling sad? Pet a dog (or a cat...I guess...)
And if you find it challenging to implement these simple solutions...
Get yourself a coach. 😉
Want to learn how to make healthy eating simple?
Register your email HERE and I'll put you on the list to be notified when enrollment opens up for the next round of the Empowered Eating Blueprint.
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