Consistency, Levers, and Quiet Power of Simple Things

Happy New Year, friends —

The older I get, the less interested I am in information and the more interested I become in wisdom.

Information is everywhere. Wisdom, on the other hand, seems to require time, consistency, and a willingness to sit with things long enough for them to reveal themselves.

There’s a quote attributed to the Greek mathematician Archimedes that I’ve been thinking about lately:
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”

What strikes me isn’t the force—it’s the patience. The precision. The understanding that small, correctly applied effort, repeated over time, can move something massive.

If you get the wisdom right, the data and information not only tend to show themselves, but they also begin to improve in the direction you actually want them to go.

For me, this year is about applying that idea consistently across a few core areas of life.

In business, I’m planning on scheduling more time simply to think. That may feel unproductive on the surface, but I’m learning that vacant, free space is essential for original ideas to emerge. If I want to move into new horizons, I have to make room for them.

In relationships, my goal remains the same as last year: fewer, deeper, more meaningful connections. I’m unlikely to have thousands of friends—and that’s okay. Living fully, friending intentionally, and going deep with a hundred feels not only realistic, but rich.

Physically, it comes down to fuel and movement. Putting the right things into the body at the right times, and moving a handful of times each week. Simple. Consistent. Effective.

Spiritually, I’m returning again to presence. A candle lit in the morning. A pause beside the orchid. A moment to simply be. It seems that mystics, sages, and prophets all point to the same quiet truth: not only is less more—but simplicity may be the highest form of sophistication.

No dramatic overhauls. No reinvention. Just small levers, placed well, applied consistently.

Here’s to a year of wisdom over noise, depth over excess, and steady movement in the directions that matter most.

Namaste,
Ashton