Mark Twain was funny and smart, a combination that created some all-time great quotes.

Why Simplify?

When you reduce something to the essential, you gain the value of all you cut out. In other words, when you simplify, you gain all of the time, thought, and energy that went into the excess.

Simple Socks & Underwear

Growing up, I accumulated about 7 kinds of socks. I’d have to sort them and pair them up every time I did laundry. I liked some more than others, so it was weirdly stressful to play sock roulette every day. Would I have any good pairs left?

When I was a young lad, my dad would let me “buy” stocks through him by looking at ticker symbols in the newspaper. I’d pick out names I liked of the penny stocks—most of which are now out of business. I was always eager to get the next day’s paper to see if my stock(s) had gone up or down.

“From very early on in Amazon’s life, we knew we wanted to create a culture of builders – people who are curious, explorers. They like to invent,” Bezos writes. “Even when they’re experts, they are ‘fresh’ with a beginner’s mind. They see the way we do things as just the way we do things now.”

Source: CNBC

The only benefit of being called an “expert” in an area is praise from others and a (false) sense of security. You may legitimately be an expert, but seeing yourself as an expert or wishing to be seen as an expert can hurt your progress. Here are two reasons why choosing a beginner’s mindset is superior.

There is only one way to live a consistently happy life, and that is to learn to enjoy the moments between moments. Real life is the quiet Thursday afternoon before the super fun weekend you’ve planned.

The happiest people find pleasure in very basic and not-traditionally-pleasurable things.