Thread by @srnkcx

#life THREAD. On Subtraction.

1/ It’s simple to note: One has to subtract before adding. Give up what’s bad, before thinking about adding what’s good. True for habits, food, news and everything else.

#life 2/ We live in a world with many apparent "signals”.

We’re consuming:
- More info/news/entertainment
- More food
- More social networking
- More things to-do/work...

…than prior generations. It’s making us lazy and critically, disengaged.

#life 3/ It’s unclear what the signal to noise ratio is - it’s a function of one’s own consumption habits.

And separately, we’re prone to setting additional goals too:
- Read good books
- Eat a healthy diet
- Have fewer but better friends
- Work smart

etc.

#life 4/ It’s a never ending cycle of compounding to-dos and things never getting done. But there's an easy answer:

Subtract before adding. Give up the bad habits rather than trying to pick up good ones.

Easier, lazier approach that works.

#life 5/ The question is how to choose what to cut out. Filters I find useful:

a) Lindy filter: Doing what’s worked over 100s of years (think food). Conversely, anything that’s not going to be relevant in a day isn’t worth consuming (think News)

Ref: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_eff…

#life 6/ b) Status filter: Taking a close look at what one's doing purely for social points vs intrinsic satisfaction, wealth/other actual asset. Don't play for status, esp on social media.

c) Health filter: give up anything/anyone you KNOW is making you less healthy / unhealthy

#life 7/ How to cut something out?

Doesn’t always work but a method that can help discover the good feeling of giving up something bad is: Fasting.

Best example: Dopamine fasting (medium.com/personal-growt…)

#life 8/ Wondering what I cut out this year?

Swearing:

END.

#blog Posted as a blog here: srinivaskc.com/home/subtracti… and here: medium.com/@srinivaskc/on…