Less Is More

[DISCLAIMER]

The above selfie was taken during my internship at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, in association with my social work graduate school program. Having already earned a master’s degree in counseling before that, I was confident about my clinical note-taking abilities.

However, when one social worker showed my notation to a psychologist and asked what he thought, he replied, “Oh, I remember when my notes were verbose [containing more words than necessary]. Now, I just do the minimum necessary.”

I didn’t know what to make of the remark. Was I adding nonessential information to client records? Previously, a psychiatrist at a former job nominated me for special recognition regarding my notation. Had I deceived myself about how well I performed as a clinician?

All these years later, I’ve kept in mind what the psychologist said. After all, he highlighted a worthwhile point. Not always will people appreciate more information. In fact, sometimes less is more. Further contemplating this matter, I’m reminded of a book that I’ve been steadily reading.

As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.

Admittedly, nothing the psychologist said about my note-taking ability led to significant change. I still write excessively – as evidenced by the content of my blog. Nevertheless, I take into account the words from ancient Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius who stated (page 121):

Don’t act grudgingly, selfishly, without due diligence, or to be a contrarian. Don’t overdress your thought in fine language. Don’t be a person of too many words and too many deeds. . . . Be cheerful, not wanting outside help or the relief others might bring. A person needs to stand on their own, not be propped up.

Of note, Aurelius’ Meditations is a series of personal writings by the Stoic philosopher. He apparently was somewhat verbose in his writing, too. Of course, I may be guilty of using rationalization herein. In any event, authors of The Daily Stoic state of this topic (page 121):

In most areas of life, the saying “Less is more” stands true. For instance, the writers we admire tend to be masters of economy and brevity. What they leave out is just as important—sometimes more important—than what they leave in.

There is a poem by Philip Levine titled “He Would Never Use One Word Where None Would Do.” And from Hamlet, the best of all—the retort from Queen Gertrude after a long, rhetorical speech from Polonius: “More matter with less art,” she tells him. Get to the point!

Perhaps when my writing was a bit too wordy, others who read my clinical notation thought “Get to the point!” It’s quite possible that less is more. I can admit that. Concluding their examination of Aurelius’ perspective, authors of The Daily Stoic state (page 121):

Imagine the emperor of Rome, with his captive audience and unlimited power, telling himself not to be a person of “too many words and too many deeds.” Let that be a reminder the next time you feel self-indulgent or a little full of yourself, the next time you feel like impressing people.

If I’m being honest with myself, I don’t think I’m trying to impress people with my writing. Mostly, I’ve been told that the manner in which I write is convoluted, which isn’t impressive. For instance, consider another anecdote from my time in a social work graduate program.

Three other students and I were assigned to a group with the task of investigating the school-to-prison pipeline. We were responsible for conducting interviews, reviewing data, and synthesizing information into a single paper that accounted for a heavy chunk of our overall grade.

With writing tasks equally distributed, two of the students would read through everyone’s work and draft the final paper. Yet, when they completed their efforts, I reviewed the paper and discovered that something like only a sentence of two from my writing was included. That’s it!

Asking one of the editors what happened, a woman to whom I was close and with whom I began an intimate partner relationship thereafter, she told me, “We [editors] were confused. It’s not that you’re a bad writer. It’s just that your writing style doesn’t mesh well with everyone else’s.”

In other words, less was more. Undeniably, my writing waxes and wanes from time to time. Taking into account the wise words of Aurelius, I comprehend that although I’m not trying to impress anyone people often have difficulty interpreting the meaning of my writing.

As such, I still mentally grapple with the “less is more” paradox. Favorably, I don’t self-disturb regarding this matter. How about you? Is there anything that comes to mind when contemplating a less is more strategy to rational living? Unlike me, are willing to make needed changes?

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

References:

Daily Stoic. (n.d.). Translating the Stoics: An interview with “The Daily Stoic” co-author Stephen Hanselman. Retrieved from https://dailystoic.com/stephen-hanselman-interview/

Holiday, R. and Hanselman, S. (2016). The daily stoic: 366 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living. Penguin Random House LLC. Retrieved from https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-daily-stoic-366-meditations-on-wisdom-perseverance-and-the-art-of-living-d61378067.html

Hollings, D. (2022, March 15). Disclaimer. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/disclaimer

Hollings, D. (2024, May 17). Feeling better vs. getting better. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/feeling-better-vs-getting-better-1

Hollings, D. (2023, October 12). Get better. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/get-better

Hollings, D. (n.d.). Hollings Therapy, LLC [Official website]. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/

Hollings, D. (2023, September 19). Life coaching. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/life-coaching

Hollings, D. (2025, September 8). Need to know. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/need-to-know

Hollings, D. (2023, September 3). On feelings. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/on-feelings

Hollings, D. (2023, April 24). On truth. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/on-truth

Hollings, D. (2025, September 25). Paradoxical goal? Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/paradoxical-goal

Hollings, D. (2024, May 5). Psychotherapist. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/psychotherapist

Hollings, D. (2022, March 24). Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rational-emotive-behavior-therapy-rebt

Hollings, D. (2024, May 15). Rational living. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rational-living

Hollings, D. (2024, March 4). Rationalization. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rationalization

Hollings, D. (2022, November 1). Self-disturbance. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/self-disturbance

Hollings, D. (2024, April 21). Stoicism. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/stoicism

Hollings, D. (2025, February 28). To try is my goal. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/to-try-is-my-goal

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Hamlet. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Marcus Aurelius. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Meditations. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Philip Levine (poet). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Levine_(poet)

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Ryan Holiday. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Holiday

Wikipedia. (n.d.). School-to-prison pipeline. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School-to-prison_pipeline