How to Be a Healthy Skeptic in a World Selling You “More

A few weeks ago, I read a post about someone who only ever reads nonfiction, self-improvement books. And it wasn’t a “read one or two a year” kind of thing. They’re constantly reading a new one.

Personally, I can’t fathom that amount of information intake. Partially because I need to enjoy a good fantasy book every now and again.

When I read something to improve, I read slower. I can fly through a thick fantasy book in less than a day if I ignore my kids, to be honest.

But when I read to improve, I’m reading to comprehend the suggested strategies in the context of my business and my life — and thinking through how I might actually implement them. Then I need time to implement anything I’ve determined to be in alignment and worth it.

Reading back-to-back self-improvement or business books would create too many shiny-object directions in my brain and ultimately be counterproductive.

Part of my point isn’t to judge how this person learns; it’s to reinforce the idea of keeping things simple. And part of doing that is not feeling the need to constantly reinvent things in your life while also figuring out what works best for you.

This past week, I felt compelled to go off my content plan and dive into the idea of simplicity after rolling my eyes at Home Depot setting up Christmas decor in the second week of October.

From all angles of life, we’re being pushed and shoved into trends, buying things, and going down rabbit holes. It takes real awareness, intentionality, and accountability to not fall into these traps.

Now, I don’t speak from a pedestal of perfection. I speak from a tree stump of experience: not glamorous, cut down a few times, still grounded and functional, and covered in rings — coffee rings, rather.

I’ve made things far more complicated than they needed to be through my own decisions and actions. And once I embraced simplicity — once I became ruthlessly skeptical of unnecessary complications — I experienced an immense amount of joy and success.

Now, as always, I’m not one to leave you high and dry with some vague philosophy. So let’s get practical.

Ways I’ve Overcomplicated My Business

• I switched from FreshBooks to QuickBooks when I felt like a “grown-up” business because it seemed like the right thing to do, even though I hated QuickBooks. I’ve since switched back to FreshBooks.

• When we were dealing with some client experience issues a few years ago, my ops manager and I went down a rabbit hole of creating trainings, SOPs, and endless resources for our VAs. In reality, we just needed to let a few people go and level up who we brought onto the team.

• When a business coach I followed kept talking about “stepping into your CEO seat,” I over-delegated to my ops manager. It created its own problems and pulled me away from parts of the business I actually love. Now, when I tell clients to step into their CEO seat, it’s in a way that’s unique, profitable, and in alignment with them and their business.

• I almost killed off our virtual assistant services because I wanted to feel “big and badass.” I overfocused on lean operations and process improvement because I was chasing numbers instead of the work and clients I actually enjoy.

The point is — I’ve made a lot of nasty, costly mistakes and personally invited chaos into my business. It didn’t even need to knock and ask to come in. I tracked it down and dragged it in myself.

Ways You Might Be Overcomplicating Yours

• Adding another project meeting to “get ahead of issues” instead of figuring out what’s actually causing them.

• Spending half a day on a system demo you don’t have the budget or bandwidth to migrate to — and that doesn’t even fix the real issue.

• Building AI agents for tiny parts of a process that create more headaches than they solve.

• Over-standardizing your service delivery because someone told you to document everything — now your file folders are just messier.

• Hiring before clarifying roles, then wondering why the new person isn’t solving the right problems.

• Reorganizing your team when what you really need is to hold one person accountable.

• Buying another course or tool before you’ve implemented the last one.

• Rewriting your entire offer because you got bored, not because it’s broken.

• Starting a “team culture” initiative when your team still doesn’t have clear priorities for the week.

How To Be Ruthlessly Skeptical Of Unnecessary Complication

1. Stop Being Oversubscribed

You don’t need to follow ten business coaches, read every new book, or sign up for every newsletter that lands in your inbox. Pick a few trusted voices that genuinely help you think and tune out the rest. Too much input makes you doubt your own instincts.

2. Question what problem you’re actually trying to solve.

Before you buy a new tool, hire someone, or start rebuilding a process, ask yourself, what’s the real problem here? Most business “fixes” are just Band-Aids for unclear problems. Get to the root before you start patching.

3. Make peace with the boring.

Most of what actually drives profit and stability isn’t exciting. It’s repetitive, predictable, and—thankfully—simple. The more comfortable you get with consistency, the less tempted you’ll be to chase shiny new chaos.