Why You Need to Subtract Old Habits
Many make to-do lists and read trendy books about forming new habits. But sometimes it’s good to stop and think about all the things you need to stop doing to improve your life. That is, about what negatively affects finances, relationships, health and career.
That’s why it’s worth paying attention to.
1. You focus on what really matters.
The key to success is not to mindlessly add new habits to the list of existing ones, but to focus on only a few actions that bring the desired results.
Doing many things at the same time is not the fastest way to make progress. On the contrary, it is counterproductive and unlikely to bring you closer to your goal.
2. You can achieve more by doing less.
Pareto’s law says that 20% of efforts give 80% of results. If you correctly identify this minimum of the most important actions, you can quickly discard habits that only waste your time or make you worse.
3. You’ll make room for the good by cutting out the bad.
Bad habits can be replaced by good ones. For example, if you stop sitting too much, you will start walking more often, which will positively affect your physical fitness. And by giving up unhealthy food, you will eat healthy.
By cutting down on unnecessary spending, you save more for the future or pay off debt faster. And if you limit your interactions with the people who are dragging you down, you can spend more time with those who are truly important to you.
How to do it
Saying goodbye to something is not easy for anyone. Our nature tells us to achieve more. That’s why it’s hard to become a minimalist, do less, or focus on one task in order to make progress.
Breaking habits can take months or even years. So start small, work incrementally, focus on a small number of changes, and don’t try to achieve lightning fast success. For example, instead of completely changing your diet, subtract unhealthy ingredients or reduce your serving size and add healthy foods. So you get those same 80% of the result without any extra effort.