A LETTER FROM CHRIS SUAREZ
MORE ISN’t ALWAYS BETTER
Waking up every day feeling as if we have to do more than we did yesterday can be overwhelming, discouraging, and downright demotivating. Sure, at times, we may need to show up and just do a bit more. The market, our circumstances, or a very specific goal may require that at times.
But our go-to response or reaction can’t just be to “do more”.
That’s a cop-out answer. It’s the easy way out.
Instead of doing more, we may need to do better. We may need to do different.
So why is it so much easier to just choose to work harder and do more? Put simply, it’s our programming.
As humans we have fallen into the almost automatic trap of always adding.
In a recent study led by Benjamin Converse of the University of Virginia, it was proven that most people will add to solve a problem as opposed to subtract. It was illustrated by asking over 1,500 students to stabilize a structure made of Legos. Almost every student chose to add Legos to the structure instead of removing Legos in order to make it more stable. In a second experiment, even when the students were charged for each additional piece added to the structure and asked to strengthen it while spending the least amount of money, most students chose to add Legos. In either case, the easiest way to stabilize the structure was actually to remove a few Legos. And yet, almost no one opted to subtract from the structure to solve the problem.
We are an additive species. It has become our immediate reaction and automatic response. Perhaps it’s partially cultural. We live in a culture of more - more things, more money, more followers, more like’s. Even as children we learn additional before we are taught subtraction.
This is a problem. If we aren’t careful we will add things to our schedule every week in an attempt to solve problems. We will add things to our to-do list every day in an attempt to reach our goals. We will add things to processes in an attempt to deliver a better solution. At times it almost feels as if a lack of self confidence leads us to attempt as many things as possible with a hope that something sticks or something works.
In many - if not most - cases, the best option is usually to subtract. Remove things from your schedule. Take things off of your list. Reduce the number of steps and tasks in order to simplify what we do every day. Subtraction allows us to find focus, find clarity, find simplicity, and find more time.
This month, if not seeing the results we want, instead of immediately deciding to “do more”, take a step back and ask yourself a few questions:
Is there a better way to do this?
Is there a different way to do this?
Is there something I can stop doing?
What would I need to do in order to get better at this?
It’s time for all of us to head back to grade school for a semester or two.
Somewhere along the way, we all forgot how to do subtraction.
Chris