Subtract Before You Add
You're adding goals while refusing to stop the things consuming the energy they need
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Everyone’s making lists of what they’ll do in 2026.
Read more. Work out more. Build the side project. Launch the business.
Nobody’s making lists of what they’ll stop.
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company was making over 300 products. He cut 70% of them. Not because they were failing. Because they were consuming the focus required to make the remaining 30% great.
Apple wasn’t failing from doing too little. They were failing from doing too much.
Most people have the same problem. Too many commitments. Too many projects. Too many obligations. And instead of subtracting, they keep adding.
The new goal for 2026 gets stacked on top of everything from 2025. Which was stacked on top of everything from 2024. Nothing gets removed. Just more layered on top.
By February, the new thing isn’t working. Not because it was a bad goal. Because it’s getting 5% of your energy while everything else still gets the other 95%.
Watch what happens when someone suggests stopping something. The volunteer position that drains you. The side project you haven’t touched in months. The standing meeting that accomplishes nothing.
The response isn’t “good idea.” It’s “I should probably keep it going.” Not because it matters. Because stopping feels like quitting.
Jobs didn’t save Apple by doing more. He saved it by doing less. By cutting ruthlessly until what remained could actually be great.
Addition feels like progress. Subtraction feels like failure. But addition without subtraction is just accumulation. And accumulation without focus produces nothing exceptional.
The goal you’re adding for 2026 needs space. Not just on your calendar. In your attention. Your energy. Your focus. And that space only comes from stopping something else.
What would you stop if stopping didn’t feel like quitting?
The commitment you don’t care about anymore. The project that made sense two years ago but doesn’t now. The obligation you keep out of guilt. The thing you’d never start today but won’t stop because you already started it.
That’s the list. Not what you’ll add. What you’ll subtract.
Jobs cut 70% so the remaining 30% could be exceptional. You’re trying to add 30% while keeping 100%. Something has to go.
Write the list. Then stop one thing this week. Not because you’re quitting. Because subtraction creates the space addition never will.
Thank you for reading,
Scott
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