Less is more

I used to think more = better.

After 6 productive years in business and in exploring life, I now have the opinion that life should be improved both by adding, and by subtracting.

Not just by having more.

Less is more, most of the time.

The world, economy, social norms, is designed to make us add. Want more. And it makes us think that more is always better. Because that benefits them.

The secret is to focus on subtracting, reducing, having less on your plate, saying no, more.

Imagine your week. You want 7 meaningful commitments, but you've said yes to 10.

You ask yourself how you can get to 7?

Maybe you can get to 7 by I scheduling a productivity workshop. Or add a morning routine. Or join that networking group?

No amount of adding will get you there.

You need to cancel 3 things.

The adding mindset of wanting more, doing more, is deeply ingrained in us.

It’s easy to think we need something else.

We have to look instead at what to remove.

Some of the most successful people i know have a narrow focus. In all aspects of their life. They don't spread themselves thin. In terms of financials, business, time, relationships, commitments, sports, assets, whatever it may be.

They have a narrow focus. They protect themselves against time-wasters, strictly only spend time doing what they love, saying no to almost everything.

The least successful people I know run in conflicting directions, I was once there. Easily drawn to distractions, building 5 companies at once (and not really doing well in any of them), saying yes to almost everything, and become chained to emotional obstacles.

For most of human history, the problem was not having enough.

Today, more people die from eating too much than too little.

Obesity kills more people than starvation.

And what's the response? Add more. More diet plans. More supplements. More meal replacements. More fitness programs. More willpower strategies.

The solution is right there: subtract. Eat less.

But we're so conditioned to add that we'll try everything except the obvious answer.

We'd rather add a $200/month meal plan than simply subtract the extra meal.

More people die from eating too much than from eating too little.

Most of us have too much baggage, too many commitments, and too many priorities.

Less is more.

What I need to change is something already here, not out there.