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I’ve long been told this quote and in each new stage of my life, it has faired to be true.

What got you here, won’t get you there.

The things we did to get to this point, and stayed consistent with, have served us to get “here”, but will ultimately become a glass ceiling.

Why?

Because life is about constant, iterative change, personal development and growth.

We learn things to grow and if we stop learning, we stop growing.

That’s the basic fundamentals of life.

It’s the same for your relationships, business, art, health… everything.

Now, where I’d like to push back on conventional thinking is with “hustle culture.”

Do I believe we need to keep “doing” new things to achieve new goals?

💯

Do I believe that you have to be doing “everything” to achieve them?

No!

And this is where I implore you to rethink your blueprint to achieving your next levels of “success” whatever that may be that you’re striving for.

Speaking as a former PTHD (Post-Traumatic Hustle Disorder) candidate, I can accurately tell you, it’s not about “doing” more, but “removing” more and “expanding” more from less.

I’ve passionately spoken about this on my podcast, The Niche is You (Apple, Spotify), several times, and now I’m challenging you to 3 basic fundamental principles that I believe will alter your course in 2023 and beyond.

Three principles, three succinct ways of gaining more from less, three specific ways you’ll optimize your life and business.

For my creators, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs… I want you to pay attention cause this affects you greatly.

You’ve been lied to in being told that you must do everything.

This may have been true half a century ago, but the old business paradigm… one found on the industrial era whereby working for work sake and trading time for money was a fundamental principle… is dead.

Have we advanced in the past 50 to 70 years? Yes.

Have we hit a glass ceiling on what works? Yes.

Is the old way of working, putting our health second (or in some cases last), gaining prestige from our titles and credentials and defining our wealth from our external possessions becoming irrelevant? You bet it is.

The Big Shift in Success

The old-school measures of success were based on numbers, material wealth and prestige, such as size of bank account, amount of salary, value of house, advanced degrees, schools attended, club memberships, and position at work.
All of these involve what people ‘do’ and what they ‘have’. And most of these things don’t actually make people happy.
These measures have been gradually losing meaning as more people focus on how they ‘feel,’ who they are ‘being,’ and how their actions impact others and the planet.
We are seeing the tiny house movement and many back-to-land choices… a growing fascination with artisans and craftspeople and niche markets; millennials and newer generations are opting out of the so-called rat race and making choices that do not fit our old paradigms. (- Evelyn Levenson)

I am not saying that we are forgoing “work” so let me be very clear on this.

What I am saying is that we now live in a time where the intersection of technology, systems, access to a global population and our gifts/skillsets can produce a far greater income, quality of life and impact on the world versus boxing us into a path that was once deemed “safe” and has proven to be safe no more.

As we shift our mindset around what ‘success’ is for each of us, a big component of that should include what can you remove to advance you further into more of what does serve you.

Here are 3 principles to consider… all of which I adopted from the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.👇🏼

One Decision That Makes a Thousand

The first question you must ask yourself is…

Are you clear?

Are you clear about what you want, what your purpose is, where you want to go, what you want to do, who you want to spend your life with or what a vision for your life would be?

It’s okay if the answer is no because many people have not slowed down long enough to answer this for themselves.

However, if that’s the case, you need to pause immediately and ask yourself these questions.

Why?

Because knowing any of the above will create clarity… clarity creates direction… direction creates better decision making… better decision making cuts out 90% of the unimportant things (more on that below).

When we’re clear, we make key decisions in substantially less time, for very specific intentions that make a thousand other things (decisions) happen seamlessly.

If you want to listen to my podcast episode on this, CLICK HERE.

Example 1: My health

Goal: Have a healthy, sustaining body that also contributes to my vitality, creativity, brain function and making better choices in my life and business.

My 1 Decision: I hired a a personal trainer & nutritionist that tells me exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it while observing me, tracking my progress and instilling new long-term habits.

The Affects: That one decision removed obstacles in my way from trying to do them alone, which has also helped me make 1,000 other decisions… including what I eat, when I sleep, how I do my workdays as well as how I optimize my work.

Literally thousands of other decisions… not to mention my body is the fittest it’s ever been and I’m 43.

Example 2: My business

Goal: Work less hours, help more people, earn more revenue and do more of what I love (professionally).

My 1 Decision: Removed trading time for money and taking on new clients that have different needs. Additionally, I took “by referral only” clients with the EXACT same needs while also “productizing” my work (creating digital ‘how to’ products).

Instead of servicing clients and starting over each time we get new projects, I decided to…

a.) only work with clients with the exact same need so I can quickly implement my processes, and
b.) solve a very specific common problem / need in the market and replicate the process of delivery through “productization” so I don’t lose time. Additionally, MORE people can afford my services and I scale my output… it’s a win-win.

The Affects: That one decision to work less helped me decide what was important, who to serve, how to create more systems, how to replicate my process, and how to get more people better results. I reduced my hours of work by 75% going from working 65-hour weeks to 16-20 hours/week.

*If that seems impossible, get on my waitlist HERE for my free workshop on Scheduling & Calendaring Your Future Self… i.e. Reverse engineering work, rest, play and money for less chasing and more freedom and flow.

In short, get clear on what you want so you can get clear on making decisions that best suit your vision.

But first, it will require you to remove 90% of things that are unimportant.👇🏼

90% of Things Are Unimportant… Remove Them & Double Down on the Remaining 10%

In the book, Essentialism, author Greg McKeown expands that 90% of things are unimportant calling them the “trivial many”.

Instead, we should focus on the 10% that really matter, or the “vital few.”

Most of what exists in the universe — our actions, and all other forces, resources and ideas — has little value and yields little result; on the other hand, a few things work fantastically well and have tremendous impact.
- Richard Koch

Greg proposes some of his most vital questions and principles in this chapter of the book:

Is there a point at which doing more does not produce more?
Is there a point at which doing less (but thinking more) will actually produce better outcomes?
Working hard is important, but more effort does not necessarily yield more results. ‘Less but better’ does.
What is the most valuable result I could achieve with this job (or initiative)?
At a certain point, more effort causes our progress to plateau and even stall.
The “Law of the Vital Few” states that you can massively improve the quality of a product by resolving a tiny fraction of the problems.
Sometimes what you don’t do is just as important as what you do.
According to the “power law” theory, certain efforts actually produce exponentially more results than others.

While I think the entire combination of the above are vital to removing what isn’t important and doubling down on the 10% that is, highly reviewing the “power law” theory and the “law of the vital few” should drastically improve your quality of life, quality of business, quality of income and the quality of your overall state of being.

And of course, routines must be implemented because they are disciplines for our vision and in discipline there is freedom.👇🏼

The Genius of Routine

I will spell this out for you in as few words as possible.

Routines create predictable workflow for the exact things that matter producing measurable results that compound.

Hence, your future outcomes are more predictable than you thought.

Side note, please use your intuition as to what kind of future you want to create.

My routines are simple. I base them on the vision I set out for myself, the priorities that get me the results that match that vision and then I schedule those priorities so I don’t have to keep thinking about what I’m going to do, but just do them instead.

We call this routines.

Again, if you’re interested, I’m launching a “Life by Design, Not by Default” mini-workshop for free. CLICK HERE to get on the waitlist for when it drops.

I’d much rather show you exactly how I create my vision, audit my time and plan my days/weeks.

TL;DR

What got you here won’t get you there and hustle culture isn’t the answer, intentional work is.
The old-school measures of success are being redefined by those who are intentionally choosing to create a life by design, not by default.
Learn to make one decision that makes a thousand. You’ll remove the 90% of unimportant in your life to do this.
There is a point where doing more does not produce more.
Working hard is important, but more effort does not necessarily yield more results. ‘Less but better’ does.
The “Law of the Vital Few” states that you can massively improve the quality of a product by resolving a tiny fraction of the problems.
According to the “power law” theory, certain efforts actually produce exponentially more results than others.
Routines create predictable workflow for the exact things that matter producing measurable results that compound.

Simplify, Multiply, Diversify below…👇🏼

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SIMPLIFY…

Sometimes what you don’t do is just as important as what you do.

Sometimes solving problems or situations don’t mean you should work your way out of them. Sometimes, it’s stopping what you’re doing in the first place and removing yourself from it to begin with.

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MULTIPLY…

It’s not that you can’t have more. It’s that you’re doing more than you should. Remove 90% of the unimportant things, double down on the 10% that are vital and you’ll have more of what you want.

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DIVERSIFY…

Trading time for money is the fastest way to ensure you’ll lose time and money. Instead, diversify the way in which you serve others using today’s technology tools, automation and leverage of building an audience online.

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New Podcast Episode ➠ How to Make One Decision That Makes a Thousand (Apple, Spotify)

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What Got You Here Won't Get You There