Before you click play on the episode click play on this music video from Iceland's best kept musical secret, Kaleo. I've spent hours with these gents playing in my headphones whilst walking about in the middle of the night, or in the early morning hours. They're terrific.

I like them so much I bought their latest record - Surface Sounds - twice! Intentionally. Well, I pre-ordered it on Apple iTunes and was able to download a couple of songs that were released early. This was early last year. Then the release date on the record kept moving back. And back. Hello, COVID Pandemic. Then the album was released, but Apple iTunes didn't let me download the other songs. So I Googled to troubleshoot Apple iTunes and followed at least 3 things suggested to fix such a problem. Nothing worked. In time I gave up and just hit the buy button again. Two weeks after the second purchase I got an email from Apple iTunes (see below).

So I bought the album twice but got it once. Maybe it'll put a few extra pennies into the pocket of the band. Thanks, Apple Music (I still call it Apple iTunes). Did I tell you I've been a devoted Apple user since the first Mac in 1984? Well, it's true. But even I lack the skills to know how to contact Apple about the aforementioned customer challenge. Such is life in 2021, right?

But I digress from the main point of today's special episode - yes, that's two special episodes in a row. Special because it wasn't planned. Instead, it's spontaneous. But I rather enjoy a good bout of spontaneity at times.

That song, "I Want More," rang in my ears and played in an endless loop for days. It sounds selfish, but it isn't. Not really. It's ambitious. It's restful. It's like a favorite place of mine. A place where you go to just exhale. And feel better. But where you can't quite get enough. Leaving you wanting more. And more. Because it's so highly valuable. A place where your arrival causes you to sigh with relief. Where the weight is lifted away.

A place where less is more. 

There are gobs of books about less being more. Some are business-related. Others are about health and fitness. Some are about stuff and lifestyle, like the one published in 2016 by noted minimalist Joshua Becker, The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own.

Another famous minimalist Leo Babauta wrote The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life in 2009. That was my first foray into the idea, meaning...it was my first deep dive into learning more about minimalism and why folks became converts of that way of life.

But in 2006 I had already been influenced a bit by John Maeda, author of The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life). Maeda is an MIT-educated tech brainiac. My lifelong devotion to my own lack of brainpower had forced me to simplify things. Part laziness. Part stupidity. I had a lifelong history of searching for simplicity in 2006 when I bought the book. I still have that passion - a relentless pursuit of straight-forward and simple.

I had to learn the hard way that simplifying things is hard, hard work. Sometimes my laziness doesn't pay quite like I expected. No matter...I still found it worthwhile. So much so that I continue to do it. Every single day.

Beginning with your physical surroundings.

I wish I had, but I didn't. My quest for more by leaning toward less first erupted in my career. Business pursuits. Business is challenging enough. There's no need to complicate it further. So I figured. So I still figure. Experience has confirmed my youthful yearnings for simplicity.

And one of the first things I learned as a young business leader was the power of beginning with your physical surroundings.