What Would It Look Like if It Were Easy?

Let’s be honest — running a Shopify business isn’t always a walk in the park. It can feel more like a sprint through a jungle with a butter knife. There’s always something: your email marketing’s overdue, your ads need testing, and your to-do list looks like the Dead Sea Scrolls. But here’s a deceptively simple question I want you to ask yourself today:

What would it look like if it were easy?

That question hit me like a truck the first time I heard it from Pat Flynn (Smart Passive Income Podcast). And now, it’s one I come back to constantly — because it forces clarity. It cuts through the noise and shines a light on the path of least resistance (aka the path of less stress, higher ROI, and maybe even a little fun).

Let’s break down why this one question is such a game-changer for Shopify merchants — and what to do with it.

1. Clarity First, Then Strategy

You can't simplify something until you know what simple looks like. That’s the problem. Most Shopify merchants (myself included at times) try to optimize without actually knowing the outcome they want.

Take email marketing for example. You sit down to write your campaign and think, “Ugh, this is going to take forever.” But stop — ask yourself, what would it look like if this were easy?

Maybe:

• You’d have a bank of customer-generated content to pull from.

• You’d use a tool like Klaviyo or Omnisend with smart templates.

• You’d have a VA writing the first draft so you’re only editing.

• You’d automate 80% of the flow.

Whatever your answer is, it’s your blueprint for what to build toward.

And trust me, this kind of simplification works. According to a report by Omnisend, automated emails drive 32% of email marketing revenue with only 2% of the sends. Simpler can be way more effective.

2. The “Do Not Do” List

Everyone’s got a to-do list. Some of us have five. Mine’s on my whiteboard, my phone, my wall, my brain, and written on the back of a napkin somewhere I’ve already lost.

But here’s something I don’t see enough Shopify merchants doing: building a Do Not Do List.

Seriously. There are things on your list right now that you’ve convinced yourself are important — but they’re not. They’re distractions. They’re perfectionist traps. They’re time-killers. And they’re stealing time from the stuff that actually grows your business.

According to the Pareto Principle (or the 80/20 Rule), 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. I’d argue in e-commerce it’s more like 95/5. So the question is: what’s in your 95% that needs to die?

Here’s how to build your Do Not Do List:

• Look at your to-dos and ask: is this directly tied to growth or customer experience?

• Be ruthless. Cross out the ones that aren’t.

• Schedule time for deep work on the things that are.

If you want your Shopify store to grow faster, you need to stop doing the things that don’t move the needle. Period.

3. Progress Isn’t About Hustle. It’s About Focus.

I started the Shopify1Percent podcast to share one simple truth: if you improve just 1% every day, you’ll be 37X better by the end of the year. That’s not a fluffy motivational quote. It’s math.

And those 1% wins come from focus. From identifying the things that actually matter. From getting clear on what “easy” looks like — and trimming away everything that’s not that.

This isn’t about being lazy. It’s about being strategic. Shopify success doesn’t come from burning yourself out doing 100 things. It comes from doing 5 things really well, consistently.

Final Thoughts

So here’s my challenge to you:
Today, pick one area of your Shopify business — email marketing, fulfillment, content creation, whatever. Ask yourself:

• What would this look like if it were easy?

• What do I need to not do today to make it happen?

If you do that every day, just once, that’s your 1%. And that’s how you win.

Now, get back to building — but make it easier on yourself.