Simple is not easy, but it is Genius.
I don’t share it often but I really struggled in my primary and secondary school. I had problems with attention and concentration, I was bored and disengaged. I barely made it each year. My mom couldn’t understand how comes both of my elder sisters were so brilliant at school and with me there were always concerns from the teachers ‘she was daydreaming during the test’, ‘she was eating during a task’, ‘she was drawing whilst we were doing maths’. Every time she would give me the same phrase ‘it is so simple, just concentrate on what teacher is saying’. For me that simple was so hard to grasp, it was the most challenging thing to do.
So by the time I was 13 I already labelled myself as a failure and dumb and weird. Until I joined my new school. My maths teacher stopped me after one of the classes and said ‘I can see your talent and you are truly special. I can also see your difficulty to focus. Why don’t you try to see your thoughts and distractions as a radio, it is just playing there at the background whilst you are doing maths. Just try it every time you are in my class.’ Her words changed my whole direction of development and growth. Every time I was in her class I imagined switching the radio on and allowing thoughts and distractions to pass by whilst I was doing geometry.
Slowly I became really good in geometry, then algebra, then languages, then history, then geography.. and so on. I graduated from my High School with outstanding grades just by allowing the radio to be on and putting effort over and over and over. And my mom was right, it was very simple, but hell it was difficult.
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A lot of people mention that genius is simple, but simple does not equal easy.
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When I start my Mindfulness Courses I say to participants that meditation is simple, but it is the most difficult thing you may face. The formula is simple but it requires a lot of strength, belief and intention to step into that path.
That’s why not a lot of people stick to meditation or exercise or healthy diet.
That’s why not a lot of people build businesses and create innovations, that’s why not a lot of people maintain relationships, thats why not a lot of people step into the path of their purpose and calling, because it requires facing challenges — commitment and belief when no one else believes in you, stamina and passion when you are tired, continuous effort and intentionality in the world of entertainment and distraction.
