Time To Start Subtracting
Our own busyness is getting in our way of being more disciplined and focusing on being a great business owner.
Imagine you have a closet that only fits 24 hangers. Egads!!
What clothes would you keep?
The fact of the matter is that you only have 24 hangers that fit in your closet.
Would you ask if you can put more than one outfit on a hanger?
Either way, your first thought was about how to get more into the closet. And this is what we do with our lives.
The first thought in our lives is often to get more out of ourselves by finding ways around hanging clothes on hangers or building shelves or fitting more on each hanger.
What if we stopped and asked, how many clothes we need? What are the most important outfits to keep on these 24 hangers?
And
If there is an outfit to add to the closet, an existing outfit is subtracted to make room. Therefore, the new outfit needs to be more important than one of the existing outfits.
Subtract to add.
The soul grows by subtraction, not addition.
SUBTRACT TO ADD
If you are anything like me, your life is already full, but we continue to say yes to more things that take up our time, thinking, hoping, that we can fit it all in.
We live in a world that continues to tell us that we can do more, to multitask and to get an App for it.
But true growth comes when we begin eliminating things from our life to grow in the things that give us energy.
LETTING GO
I recently worked with a client and their biggest take away from our session was their struggle with letting go – subtracting.
As we explored what letting go meant, we uncovered a lifelong habit of holding onto things because they thought they were worth more than they were.
A Gardener will tell you that next to the soil, the most important aspect of growing a healthy plant is pruning. The pruning is the letting go so that new growth can flourish.
PRUNING
How does this have an impact on your business?
Our own busyness is the very thing that is getting in our way of being more disciplined and focusing on being a great business owner.
What are some solutions?
The answer is in analyzing what you are saying yes to and discovering when you can say no more often. Subtracting.
When we are adaptable and open to change in our life this causes us to get uncomfortable.
However, to be open to change, subtracting, all the time is to be in a growth mindset.
Consider subtracting in your life and then review your goals to step into a growth mindset and build manageable, actionable disciplines every day.
Now go back to your closet and those 24 hangers. They represent the 24 hours in a day.
What would you hang on each hanger to get the most out of each hour?