Good Design Is As Little Design As Possible

“Good design is as little design as possible.” – Dieter Rams

When I created my first coaching offer in 2018, it had a ton of features:

• Half-day coaching sessions

• Constant check ins

• Long workbooks

• Fillable PDFs

• Homework

• Journaling prompts

• Flowers (I’m not kidding. I used to send my clients a bouquet when the signed up.)

I thought my people wanted me to give them every solution to their problem.

What did they actually want?

Their problem solved.

Nobody actually wants more. They just want the result.

Once I figured that out, my offer was simple:

Weekly coaching sessions. That’s it.

And now that my practice is full, I’m in the process of creating a new offer that can hold more people.

I watched my brain slide back into my old pattern of thinking that it would require me to offer more.

But I caught myself. Nope.

Don’t create a Swiss Army knife solution for a problem that can be solved with a knife.

Just create a sharper knife.

This Has All Been Given To Me

From left to right: Me, my mother Jan Arnold, and actor Jason Clarke. Shot by Greg Williams at the Everest Premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 2015.

“I walk into a room, or a location, and the first thing I think is… this has all been given to me. The sun is at that point in the sky for a reason. Or the window is letting some light in for a reason. Or the light next to the bed is there for a reason. The environment has been dressed like that, all for me. It’s a little game I play. And then I think, okay where do I want to make my photo within that?” – Greg Williams, Photographer

This has all been given to you.
The impossible challenge you’re facing has been given to you so you can become exactly who you were meant to be.

So you can create a legacy that only someone with your specific combination of beautiful and brutal experiences could create.

This has all been given to you.

Gradually, Then Suddenly.

“How did you go bankrupt?”
“Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

– Ernest Hemingway

My overnight viral success on Twitter occurred after publishing more than 1000 pieces of content online.

My burst of $10k months began in September 2020 after more than two years of barely making a part time income.

Gradually, then suddenly isn’t just the path to bankruptcy.

It’s also the path to success.

If you’re in the gradual part of your journey right now, don’t be fooled into thinking that’s all there is.

The sudden part is coming.

It’s THIS CLOSE.

But only if you embrace the gradual part and keep going.

So if it seems like nothing is working, do not stop.

Do not switch tactics.
Do not change strategies.
Do not seek new solutions.

You’ll sabotage the momentum you’ve built up in your current direction, and end up back at the starting line.

Gradual progress means it’s working.

Someone said no? It’s working.
Someone said yes? It’s working.
Small win? It’s working.
Big fail? It’s working.

It’s working. It’s always working. It never stops working.
As long as you don’t stop working.

Keep going. The sudden bit is coming.

The Energy Shift You Actually Need

Last week, a client told me she wanted to feel more grounded.

I googled the definition:

Ground.
Verb.
“To prevent from flying.”

She changed her mind.

The energy you’re craving isn’t grounded. It’s uplifted.

So ground yourself just long enough to refuel your jet.

Then do something that makes you feel alive, energised, connected, inspired and uplifted.

You’ll experience life on a whole different level.

Ask Sarah: Am I doing enough?

Q. “No matter how much I get done, or how productive I am, I always feel like I should have done more. How do I know if I’m doing enough?” – M, Serbia.

A. Define “enough”.
Enough to make a million dollars?
Enough to pass your driving test?
Enough to gain 10 pounds of muscle?

You have to know what your desired result is.

Then, you must identify what actions actually create that result.

Crucially, it’s not about identifying what actions would make you feel productive, legitimate, or like you’re doing it right.

It’s about pinpointing what is truly required to get the result.

I call it the Result-Producing Action.

It’s the action that comes directly before the result you desire.

Let’s say your desired result is to sell 20 new websites to architects every year.

Your Result-Producing Action would be to reach out to architectural firms and offer it to them.

You can spend all day working – posting a cute graphic on social media, designing a new logo, reworking your pricing, even working on your existing client websites – but none of that is ever going to feel like enough, because it isn’t.

It’s not your Result-Producing Action.

Instead, you could spend 30 minutes each day of the year making five phone calls to architectural firms, offering your website services – and that would be enough.

(That’s 1825 offers per year. You’d easily land 20 of them.

Even if most people say no, that’s still a result. You got real-world feedback and data. Something actually happened.

Here’s how to do the math:

1. Define the result you want.

2. Identify the Result-Producing Action.

3. Calculate how many times you need to perform that Result Producing Action to ensure you’ll create the result.

4. Just do that. That’s enough.

TLDR:

You’ve done enough when you’ve done something that will produce a result.

This Is Your Sign To Go ALL IN

You’re not the kind of person who is satisfied with a chilled existence.

There are people who are content with the way things are. (Good for them!)

But as a highly driven person, you know you've only scratched the surface of what you can achieve.

Nothing scares you like the thought of wasting your potential.

But that’s what it feels like, right? Like you’re running out of time to make an impact.

It’s not too late.

You know that thing you’ve been thinking about doing?

The one you keep starting and stopping?

The one that will change everything when you actually do it?

It’s time to commit.

This is your sign to go all in.

You Didn’t Come Here To Be Good

You didn’t come here to do your best.
Or please your mother.
Or stay on top of your laundry.

You didn’t come here to meet expectations.
Or commit to forever.
Or purchase a 3 bed, 2 bath.

You didn’t come here to be liked.
Or attend university.
Or be good in bed.

You didn’t come here to follow the rules.
Or give your parents grandkids.
Or shave your legs.

You didn’t come here to be good.
You came here to be free.

Stop Optimising Your Life

If you’re not already making money, you don’t need a plan to scale your business.

If you’re not already posting on social media 7 days a week, you don’t need a content calendar.

If you’re not already going to the gym, you don’t need a workout schedule.

Stop trying to optimise what that hasn't been created yet.

Unless you’re already knee-deep in action, it’s just procrastination.

In the beginning, your job is just to create, make, sell, share, publish, send, post, write, or paint, without preparation.

When I blogged daily for two years, I never batched my content ahead of time. Not even once.

To this day, everything I create is made for the current deadline I’m facing.

Videos, blogs, podcasts, emails – none of it is done in advance.

Planning is an illusion. It’s a trick your brain plays on you to stay in motion without having to face the real work.

That’s why during the first coaching session with my clients, we make a simple, guaranteed plan for their goal.

Then we never, ever plan again.

No organising.
No prepping.
No templating.
No batching.
No strategising.

Only doing.

“Who Do You Know That Can Write Me a 100 Million Dollar Cheque?”

“It’s honestly that simple, Sarah. Just keep asking people “Who do you know that can write me a 100 million dollar cheque?” until you meet someone who can connect you to the right person.”

It’s such an obvious answer, I want to kick myself for asking.

I’m sitting on Zoom in a Sydney Airbnb, talking to a Venture Capitalist who has secured giant cheques from some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley.

I’ve just asked, on behalf of a client, how to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

I’m expecting him to explain a formal process for approaching investors.

Instead, he tells me he mainly just sends DMs on LinkedIn.

It dawns on me as we’re talking, how many of the results in my own life have come from simply asking.

Clients, apartments, jobs – all because I called or emailed someone (often a stranger) and asked.

What is your version of the “Who do you know that can write me a 100 million dollar cheque” question?

• Who do you know that can help me break into the luxury market?

• Who do you know that can get me featured in a major publication?

• Who do you know that can help me become a professional singer?

• Who do you know that can get my child into a top-tier pre-school?

It feels uncomfortable to ask. Inappropriate, even.

But outrageous requests get attention.

Note that the question is not “Do you know anyone who…”

Because that only requires a yes or no answer.

“Who do you know…” requires a name.

This is one of those times where grit matters.

You can’t ask three people today and then forget about it.

It’s got to be the main question on your lips for the next six months until you get the result.

Most people reading this will think about asking their question.

But what if you actually did it?

How To Want It Bad

If you only kinda want it, you’re only kinda gonna get it.⁠

You have to want it bad.⁠

More than you did yesterday.⁠ ⁠

More than anyone.⁠

More than anything else in your whole life.⁠ ⁠

When you want it that bad, you’ll be willing to do whatever it takes.⁠ ⁠

Anything.⁠ ⁠

Rules no longer apply.⁠ ⁠

You won’t be afraid to knock on every door in your neighbourhood to ask for donations.⁠

Or ring up people you haven’t spoken to in 10 years to ask for help.⁠ ⁠

Or look like you’re trying really, really hard.⁠

When you want it that bad, all excuses fall away.⁠ ⁠

So how do you get yourself to want it that bad?

You devote energy – like you might to styling your hair or cooking dinner – to kindling determination.

Not occasionally, but every single day.

Start making a conscious daily attempt to turn desire into decision, and decision into [relentless] action.

Visualise.
Meditate.
Blast Kendrick Lamar.
Run.
Read a quote.
Listen to a podcast.
Anything that compels you into action.

It doesn’t need to be at the same time each day (your pursuit of the perfect morning routine is just another way to procrastinate what really matters), but it does need to be every day.

My practice? I write.

My notes app is filled with intentional thoughts (5128 notes in my icloud, to be exact).

Most I will never return to.

Because the moment they flow from my fingers onto the page, they have already served their purpose:

To generate drive.