Simple Works

I saw one of those little math tricks floating around the internet again. You know the kind, the ones that promise to reveal something shocking if you just follow the steps exactly.

This one said:
“83 beers minus your age, plus 40 will reveal the year you were born.”

Well… of course I tried it.
And yes, annoyingly, it worked.

I love these puzzles. Not because I’m good at math (I’m not), but because I’m endlessly fascinated by how they work. There’s something oddly satisfying about numbers lining up just right, especially when I fully expected them not to.

Naturally, I tinkered with it.
I swapped out the beers (because really?) and simplified the whole thing:

125 blessings minus your age reveals the year you were born.

Still worked.
Less drama. Fewer steps. No hangover.

But here’s the thing: it’s probably not as viral. Why? Because we are strangely captivated by complexity. The more complicated something sounds, the more impressive we think it is, even when the outcome is exactly the same.

And that, my friends, is a work-life balance lesson hiding in plain sight.

We overcomplicate our days. Our systems. Our goals. Our schedules. We add steps, rules, apps, frameworks, and mental gymnastics—then pat ourselves on the back for surviving them. But at the end of the day, the real question isn’t how impressive was the process? It’s simply this:

Did it work?

Simple doesn’t mean shallow.
Efficient doesn’t mean lazy.
Clear doesn’t mean careless.

In life and in work, I’m all for fewer beers, fewer steps, and more blessings. If the math adds up and peace is still on the balance sheet, I’ll take simple every time.

Sometimes wisdom isn’t found in adding more, but in trusting that less can be enough. God is not impressed by complexity—He values faithfulness, clarity, and fruit. When our lives and work begin to feel tangled, it may be an invitation to simplify and return to what truly matters.

As Scripture reminds us:
“Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.” (Matthew 5:37)

Clear. Honest. Sustainable.

May your days be ordered, your work be fruitful, and your life leave room for rest. And may you remember, you don’t have to complicate things for them to work.

So if you’re tired of overthinking, overbuilding, and overdoing, this is your invitation to choose a simpler, more sustainable way of working and living.
You can order my “Stillness” devotional on my website, and join me inside Work-Life Brilliance, where we focus less on complexity and more on what actually works.