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Addition By Subtraction

Addition By Subtraction

A way to do more by doing less

Douglas Finkelstein
April 11, 2024

Every Thursday, I provide simple tips to help you create more pauses — with a generous sprinkling of humor — in 5 minutes or less.

Today’s Setlist

🎩 One Theme → Addition By Subtraction

😄 Funny Business → All donations welcome

📊 Community Poll → We love making up names

First, a word from our sponsor, Tip Defense.

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Addition By Subtraction

At our most recent Full Moon Celebration, my friend Ed said something that stuck with me.

“Don’t do everything, do the good things.”

I believe “the good things” are the actions that move you toward your goals in any given situation.

Our human tendency is to think in terms of what we can add to the situation to move toward our goals.

However, considering what we can subtract from the situation often leads to much more efficient progress.

Adding presents infinite, as-of-yet unreal options, but subtracting requires you to focus only on what's real and directly in front of you.

A way to do more by doing less

I’ve been traveling for the past 14 days.

For the sake of feeling proactive, I usually have my newsletter written well before I send it each Thursday. Due to my travels, I'm writing this on the Wednesday just before its Thursday release.

I knew my theme this week would be “Addition by Subtraction,” but I didn’t know what I was going to say.

Throughout most of my traveling, I could feel a little tension that I didn’t know what I was going to write, and that I hadn’t written it yet. A tension that I had to write some grand, elaborate post about this theme.

Then on Monday —Eclipse Day— I realized:

My only two goals for this newsletter — this “situation” I am facing — are 1) writing for my enjoyment and 2) adding value to your life.

Self-reflecting on Goal 1…I get my enjoyment when things feel effortless. And for me, effortlessness often means doing less, not more.

When I create from a place of effortlessness — a place of flow — my creations are authentic and provide the most value for those consuming my creations. And Goal 2 is achieved.

So...I was able to write this newsletter in about 30 minutes.

I subtracted some length from this post—as well as time spent writing it—relative to others. More specifically, I let go of the belief that my creations need to conform to a specific approach that doesn't align with my instincts in order to achieve my goals.

I stopped trying to do everything, and it created the space to do the good things.

What situation in your life is creating a feeling of pressure? Take a few minutes to contemplate what the pressure is that you’re feeling, your goals, and what you can remove from the situation to ease the pressure you feel.