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I used to be the guy who made everything complicated.

Every decision was a philosophy seminar. Every question led to 10 more questions. I'd see something simple — a comment on a video, a random interaction, a business decision — and immediately start drilling down.

• Why does this resonate with people?

• What does this reveal about human behaviour?

• What's the deeper meaning here?

I couldn't help myself. Look at anything long enough and it goes infinitely deep.

And you know what? It made me understand a whole lot about the world.

But it also made me anxious as hell.

The Overthinking Addiction

Overthinking isn't just exhausting. It's addictive.

You convince yourself that asking the next question will finally give you the answer. That if you just think about it one more time, you'll figure it out. That complexity equals sophistication.

But really? You're just making things harder than they need to be.

I'd fall into rabbit holes that led nowhere. I'd obsess over details that didn't matter. I couldn't separate the important from the noise because everything felt important when I looked at it long enough.

Meanwhile, I was so busy thinking that I forgot to actually live.

When You Can't Afford to Waste Time Anymore

I didn't wake up one day and decide to stop overcomplicating things.

My business forced me to.

When you're just starting out, you have all the time in the world to philosophize. You can spend three hours researching the perfect content strategy. You can agonize over every decision. You can make everything as deep and complex as you want.

But then your brand starts growing. Opportunities multiply. DMs pile up. People want your time, your input, your attention.

And suddenly you don't have three hours to waste on questions that don't matter.

You're forced to choose. And fast.

That's when I learned the real skill isn't thinking deeper. It's knowing what's worth thinking about in the first place.

The 80/20 Nobody Actually Applies

Everyone knows the 80/20 rule.

Twenty percent of your efforts drive eighty percent of your results.

But knowing it and living it are two different things.

Most people can't identify their 20%. They think everything might be important. Every opportunity could be the one. Every decision deserves deep consideration.

Here's what I realized: most things genuinely aren't that deep.

Not every collaboration request deserves your energy. Not every business strategy deserves investigation. Not every philosophical question deserves an answer.

And when you're prone to overthinking, that's a hard pill to swallow.

Because you've convinced yourself that depth equals intelligence. That if you're not analyzing something from every angle, you're being lazy or shortsighted.

But really? You're just making yourself paralyzed.

My Weekly Filter

Here's how I figure out my 20%:

Step 1: Brain dump on Sunday

Every Sunday evening, I have a list of everything demanding my attention that week. Client calls, content ideas, collaboration requests, the book outline sitting in my notes, optimizing my email sequence, researching new strategies, chats with "potential partners."

All of it goes on paper.

Step 2: Ask one question

Then I ask one question: "If I could only do three things this week, which ones would actually move the needle?"

Not which ones sound interesting. Not which ones might pay off eventually. Which ones create tangible results right now.

For me, that's usually: create content, talk to clients, build relationships.

Step 3: Delete, delegate, or delay

Everything that didn't make the top three? I either delegate it, delete it entirely, or let it sit until it actually becomes important.

And here's the thing: most of it never becomes important.

Simplicity Isn't Simple

Da Vinci said it: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

The older I get, the more I understand what he meant.

I used to think depth required complexity. That simple answers were for simple people. That if I wasn't diving into the philosophical implications of everything, I was missing something.

Turns out I had it completely backwards.

The deepest experiences aren't complex. They're simple.

Being present in a conversation instead of analyzing it. Making a decision and actually following through. Creating something without second-guessing every detail. Enjoying a moment without needing it to mean something profound.

That's what depth truly looks like.

It’s not in the endless mental loops. Not in philosophizing until your mind is all washed-up. Not in making everything harder than it needs to be.

Just in being here. Fully. Making things happen.

Much love,

— Martijn

P.S. If there's one thing I'd tell my younger self: Stop looking for complexity where there is none. The most powerful decisions you'll make are the simplest ones. Pick what matters. Ignore the noise. And for god's sake, stop thinking and start doing.