12. Improvement By Subtraction: Get Better By Doing Less

TL;DR: Too often, when people are looking to improve themselves, start businesses, develop a physique, improve relationships, and generally improve one’s health, we over-complicate. As people for the most part are optimistic about their future, they focus too greatly on the upsides of things yet neglect the downsides. It’s time to stop adding, and start subtracting. Introducing, improvement by subtraction.

Welcome back Upriver, Biohacker.

Today we will be discussing a topic that may seem counterintuitive at first, but once understood properly, can be seen to be commonsensical and incredibly helpful.

The general theme of this shorter article will be introducing you to real productivity improvement. The kind of improvement that comes from eliminating distractions, which leaves room for all the amazing things you’re looking to achieve this year, this decade, and even this lifetime.

Why?

Regardless of what you’re looking to achieve right now, “gurus” with the help of the internet have somehow managed to infinitely overcomplicate what it takes to reach that goal. In other words, in order to achieve the ideal body, we are told that we should download X application to our phones, buy X supplements and perform X bizarre-ass workout routine, which for some reason prioritizes upside-down headstand planks (or whatever the f**k.)

To start a business, we need to download X course and invest X money in some guy on YouTube telling you broadly to get your sh*t together. To improve libido and sexual performance, you need to take X herb before you do the deed, which you “can purchase on my website…” and blah blah blah.

Look. The reality is, at UpRiver, we aren’t trying to sell you something that doesn’t work… We are telling you straight up how it is.

When Warren Buffett and Bill Gates were young, they were asked by Gates’ dad to write down one word that represented the key to their success. Without consulting one another, they both wrote “focus.” (1)

How do you achieve focus, you may ask?

By taking the time to review the practices you hold right now, that even though may represent a small upside, are actually having massive negative impacts on your performance and holding you back from success.

How?

Make a list. Jot down all the things that you know are wasting time or holding you back. This can be anything from pornography use (check out our article HERE), to smoking marijuana, to video games, and social media. The truth, once again, is you’re wasting time. You’re not focusing on what matters…

Do you want to be a professional gamer? If so, keep playing video games. But the same way as all a gamer does is game – as its his life, all a successful high-performance person does, is highly perform. He lives business. He lives meditation. He lives personal development. He IS NOT a people pleaser. He IS NOT a time waster.

Let us give you a few examples of what we mean.

Porn
Upside -> Pleasure for a few minutes
Downside -> General anxiety throughout the day and especially around women
Downside -> Short circuits the dopamine reward pathways, leaving less motivation for things that matter.

Video Games
Upside -> Fun for a few hours, feeling like “the man” while in-game
Downside -> Builds habit to play and have fun when faced with real-world stressors and difficulties
Downside -> Sacrifice being “the man” in real life, so that you can be “the man” virtually.

Smoking Weed & Drinking Alcohol
Upside -> Social lubricant and stress coping mechanism
Downside -> Horrible for generally physical wellbeing
Downside -> Hangovers impede performance significantly longer-term than positive effects last
Downside -> Habit-forming and supports laziness

These are just a few examples, although we are able to see quite readily what issues arise of these distractions. As Gates and Buffett say, the key is to FOCUS. It is up to you to get rid of the things holding you back, despite their minimal upsides.

Try going 30 days without any of these. Delete social media. Stop watching porn. No more smoking cannabis. No drinking or intoxication of any kind. 30 days. See how you perform.

Author’s Motivation

I look around me and constantly see advertisements for more things we as aspiring high-performers should add to our plates. We feel constantly that there must be another productivity hack lurking around the corner that if we had, we would finally start our business, or get our health and physique on track.

While there may be things that give you a little edge over your competitors in these various fields, the reality is that if you’re serious, you’ll start your journey UpRiver by capitalizing on the things that remove the greatest downsides. I’ve been there personally. Namely, I’ve researched what time is best to take a cold shower (COLD SHOWER ARTICLE HERE); or what time I should do meditation for optimal results, and what temperature sauna is the best for X, Y, or Z.
If you really want to change and see that change in your results, it begins with choosing the things that offer the greatest benefit. Often, those things are subtracting the things that take you away from success – as opposed to adding things that marginally increase productivity. Less truly is more.

Conclusion

Guys, get rid of it. All of it. You know what is holding you back and you know what your poison is. If you’re not really a gamer, then don’t worry about the 10 minutes a week you spend playing snake on your computer. But if you’re someone who spends an hour or 6 on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, get rid of that garbage. Don’t try and convince yourself that it’s something that you need – it isn’t. The name of the game is FOCUS. If you get rid of the things holding you back, you free up so much more energy to invest into the things that actually both impact and compound your productivity, efficiency and ultimately, your success. This is called improvement by subtraction.

Until next time biohacker. You’re one step closer to moving UpRiver.

REFERENCES:

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/rainerzitelmann/2019/10/28/what-focus-really-means-learning-from-bill-gates-warren-buffett-and-steve-jobs/#721917073fc8