Adding to Your Success by Subtracting
Tips to Growing Your Bussiness and Your Success
I meet with clients over and over who tell me about the problems with their team, company and business are. I hear them saying they want to grow and add to their business, but when I get a chance to slow them down, and we listen to what is being said. I often find there’s a common blind spot. They are looking to add something more in the hopes that somehow more of anything will fix the problem.
My advice before adding something to create the change you want in your business or life it might be time to subtract something, and often that something is someone.
I’m talking about those individuals who, even though they’ve been given every opportunity to perform, either can’t or won’t do their job. We’ve all seen them.
Subtracting to Add may seem like less, but the truth is you get more.
I’m also talking about those individuals who not only don’t do their jobs but quite often, these people are the source of the problems. They are that little cancer in the cube that seems to keep spreading out and adding stickiness to everything around them, and nothing seems to move forward.
I’m talking about those individuals who don’t treat their peers, respectively. The guy who is behind the water cooler talking about everybody, the person that’s always trying to sabotage somebody else’s success, so they don’t have to stand up and become more successful.
Resistance to subtracting to get more is natural
When I point these things out, they all seem to nod their head knowingly but still have opposition to removing these folks. They know and recognize that it’s a problem and they might have attempted to address it as a problem but failed to take action. They somehow expect that if everything around it gets fixed, that will somehow get fixed.
Making the shift
Addition (adding for growth) means you often have to subtract something. If you have to rip off a band-aid, the most painful way to do it is slowly. Just yank that sucker off. And when it comes to working with team members, employees, staff, those people around you. Even if you’re not in a management or team leadership position, you still have a business to business relationships you have worked with awhile, and it’s not working out it’s time to cut it off. Of course, you have to do it legally, morally, and ethically, but these people need to find a life somewhere else.
Get the right people on the bus who are willing to be part of the journey
This idea of addition by subtraction isn’t new. It comes from a great book by Jim Collins called Good to Great. It talks about getting the right people on the bus. If you think about that analogy, there are only so many seats on a bus. That means somebody has to get off the bus to make room for somebody to get on the bus.
Making it Personal is key
Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, an author of nine books, has sold over two million copies in twelve languages. He says, “You will be the same person in five years as you are today, except for the people you meet and the books you read.”
Our lives are influenced by the people we meet or know. So take a minute and ask yourself these three questions in terms of personal addition through subtraction.
- Who’s in my inner circle? It’s said you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Think about the impact of those five people over five years. What kind of influence will they have had on your life over that period? Who are you spending time with? I’m not talking about family.
- What is on my reading list? What am I reading right now? Look at your nightstand, your reading list, your bookshelf. Are you feeding your personal development? Are there books on your list that need to be subtracted? Are there books that need to be added? Commit to reading ten pages a day from something.
- What am I watching? This is probably most important in today’s world. The average American always says, “Oh, I’m so overwhelmed” I’m not sure what whelmed means and how you can be over it. “I feel out of balance. I never have time to do what I want to do.” According to the Wall Street Journal, American’s find time to watch 2 hours and 49 minutes of TV every day. That’s 21 hours of TV a week. I guarantee in 2 hours and 49 minutes I could easily read ten pages out of any book. How much of your time is being invested in your best interest?
Book Recommendations to get you adding to your success:
John Maxwell- The Five Levels of Leadership
Bryan Tracy’s No Excuses
Napoleon Hills Think and Grow Rich
John Maxwell 21 Most Influential Minutes in a Leader’s Day
Brendon Burchard High-Performance Habits
My challenge to you this week is to take a look at what you really might be needing to subtract.
