RESOURCES

Since 2022, our team has been focused on doing fewer things that have greater impact, or the concept of “addition by subtraction.” (Thanks to coach Robert Friedland for the term.) This practice requires a diligent look at every new and existing commitment – personal and professional.

This rationing of your focus is particularly valuable when time is limited. For instance, the sobering reality that I have only four months remaining to accomplish my 2024 goals hit me recently. While counterintuitive, I quickly accepted that the only way to achieve this year’s priorities is to do less not more.

If you too are staring down a mountain of commitments, I encourage you to reflect on the various demands on your time and energy and pause to ask yourself a few questions about those activities.

• Does this pursuit serve a necessary or substantial purpose for me? How will this help me reach my career or life goals?
• How did this activity get on my list? Has that initial objective been met?
• Am I the only person who can handle this? If not, whom should I involve?
• If I am the only person who can address this activity or process, can I streamline it to make it doable (and often, better)?
• Does the benefit received from this task match the effort required (from me or others)?

These questions can help you do a sanity check on how you spend your time, particularly with more difficult or longstanding undertakings. As go-getters, you are constantly presented with new demands, both personal and professional. It is vital to revisit those demands regularly to ensure that 1) you still want to do them, and 2) they continue to serve your goals for your life and career.

I’d love to hear your answer. Contact us here to chat.

Warmly,

Precious Williams Owodunni | CEO & Founder of Mountaintop Consulting

This letter was originally published in Mountaintop Consulting’s monthly newsletter. You can read the full newsletter here.