Not long ago, I stumbled upon a realization that truly shifted the way I approach self-improvement. Many goals I had set for myself—whether related to fitness, productivity, or personal growth—seemed to require building new habits or starting something fresh. But what surprised me was that sometimes, I could get better results not by adding something new, but by simply stopping what I was already doing.
Take fitness, for example. I used to think the only path forward was to train hard, join multiple classes, and push myself every day. But the real turning point came when I simply stopped overeating. Cutting sugar from my diet made a bigger difference than hours spent at the gym. In other words, subtraction often worked better than addition.
The same goes for procrastination. I tried every productivity method I could find—time-blocking, to-do lists, daily planning—but the biggest breakthrough came when I fixed my environment. I stopped playing music while working, removed distractions like my phone or TV, and even set up a separate computer user profile with none of my usual apps or notifications. Just removing the noise made my focus skyrocket.
It reminded me of something often said in business: great CEOs don’t just focus on growth—they rigorously control cost. In our personal lives, maybe we should do the same. Before rushing to adopt something new, we should first remove the things that are silently standing in the way.
For me, that shift in thinking made everything easier—and more effective.
Godspeed!