Clarity is not something you find. It is something you remove your way into. And for high-capacity people, the problem has never been a lack of ideas. It has always been a lack of elimination.

What This Episode Is Really About

If you can see five viable futures at once, the issue is not that you cannot decide. The issue is that all of them feel doable, which means nothing gets cut, and nothing compounds. Most fast thinkers treat clarity as an accumulation problem: more research, more time, more information, more thinking. But nothing compounds until something else gets cut.

The distinction that changes everything is this: 2x thinking asks how do I improve what I already have. 10x thinking asks should this even be on my plate. High-capacity people are good at almost everything they touch. So instead of eliminating, they refine. Instead of cutting, they manage. Instead of choosing one direction, they move five forward simultaneously, because that feels productive. Until it does not.

Jess walked through this herself: the slow, quiet drain of being positioned as the integrator when the answer she gave every time someone asked what she would do if skill and money did not matter was the same one she had always given. Public speaker. The problem was not a lack of clarity. It was a wrong center of gravity that had been reinforced for years. Subtraction is how she recentered it.

In This Episode

• Why clarity is a subtraction problem, not an information problem
• The Midas touch trap: being good at everything means you cut nothing
• 10x vs. 2x thinking: the difference between optimizing what exists and asking what should exist at all
• Jess's own story: the integrator identity, the quiet drain of feeling capped, and the decision to re-center
• The ILC case study: how eliminating verticals and concentrating on one model created more traction in months than years of optimization
• Why you feel unclear: you are protecting too many versions of yourself at once
• Why you cannot hold multiple centers of gravity even if you hold multiple skill sets
• The four-step subtraction framework: 30-day anchor, identity realignment, calendar audit, kill list
• Why the fear that shows up when you cut something is usually a sign you are cutting the right thing
• The one subtraction to make before this week is out

The Big Idea

You do not need more information. You need fewer live wires. Clarity does not show up because you think harder or longer. It shows up because you remove enough noise that the next move becomes completely obvious. Competing priorities do not compound. Concentration does. And the path to concentration is not addition. It is a deliberate, uncomfortable act of removal.

Memorable Lines from This Episode

"Clarity is a subtraction problem."

"Nothing compounds until something else gets cut."

"You don't feel unclear because you're lacking in ideas. You feel unclear because you are protecting too many versions of yourself."

"You can hold multiple skill sets, but you cannot hold multiple centers of gravity."

"You're not unclear, you're unsubtracted."

"Clarity isn't hiding from you. It's buried under what you are refusing to cut."

Resources

Book: 10X Is Easier Than 2X by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan — https://amzn.to/4qJEoav

Your One Thing This Week

Do not add something. Subtract something. Pick one initiative that is good but not primary and pause it: send the email, communicate the stop, remove it from your mental RAM. Then do a 30-day anchor: choose one thing that becomes your central focus for the next 30 days. Not your only activity. Just the thing that centers your choices, your speech patterns, and your time. Everything else either feeds that center or it pauses.

Connect with Jess

If this one landed, come find me at BigIdeasMadeSimple.com. That is where the newsletter lives, where everything I am building is taking shape, and where you can connect directly. One idea in your inbox every week, nothing else. And if you know someone who is brilliant at everything and committed to nothing, send them this one. The right idea at the right time changes everything.

Follow Jess: @thejesswebber on Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook

Key Themes

• Clarity as a subtraction problem, not an information problem
• The Midas touch trap for high-capacity people
• 10x thinking as an elimination strategy, not a growth hype concept
• Center of gravity as an identity and positioning concept
• Competing priorities vs. concentrated force
• The four-step subtraction framework as a practical execution tool
• Protecting too many versions of yourself as the root of feeling scattered

Welcome to the Big Ideas Made Simple podcast.

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If you're new here, I'm Jess, and this show is for fast thinkers or people who see

patterns quickly, generate ideas quickly, and often feel like their brains move faster

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than their calendar.

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This for me is not a hype show or something with surface productivity tips.

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I built this as a thinking show where we can take big ideas, strip them down, and make

them usable for you today.

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And so in this episode, I want to talk about clarity.

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And I am going to say something that might irritate you a little bit.

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Clarity is not something that you find.

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It's something that you remove your way into.

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Clarity is a subtraction problem.

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And most people honestly think that they lack clarity because they need to do more

research or have more time or collect more information or schedule more thinking or find

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more alignment.

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But I really don't think that's true for high capacity people.

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I think most people aren't lacking in clarity.

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They're lacking the skill of elimination.

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So if you're somebody who's wired like I am, you are not a person who struggles with

generating ideas.

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You can see multiple viable futures all at once.

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you can look at your current life and say, I can build this or I can pivot there.

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I could double down here.

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I could launch that.

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I could scale this.

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I could reposition entirely.

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And the worst part, all of those things I just listed feel completely viable.

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They feel doable because the optionality in them feels powerful.

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It feels strategic.

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It feels intelligent.

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It feels like you are staying flexible, which is a position that most people value.

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Here is the uncomfortable truth.

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Nothing compounds until something else gets cut.

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I'm the type of person that has read hundreds of books over the years, but honestly, very

few of them actually have changed the way that I think about life.

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One that did, however, was 10X as Easier Than 2X by Dr.

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Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan.

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And it didn't change my mindset because of growth hype, but because it taught the strategy

of elimination.

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The idea that 10X growth doesn't come from doing more, rather it comes from removing what

you're doing.

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and developing a concentrating force at one thing.

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So 2X thinking says, how do I double down on this thing?

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Do I improve it?

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Do I layer upon it?

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How do I optimize what I'm already doing?

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And 2X is additive.

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10X thinking, on the other hand, asks, should this thing even be on my plate?

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What deserves to exist in my world?

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What is noise, even if it's good noise?

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And that is the space where high capacity people get stuck.

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Because you are good at almost everything you touch.

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We'd classify that as a Midas touch.

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You can optimize anything, improve anything.

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And so instead of eliminating, you consistently refine.

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Instead of cutting, you manage.

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Instead of choosing one direction, you try to move five forward simultaneously, because to

you, that feels productive.

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Until it doesn't.

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And for me, this hit when I realized I was positioned primarily as an integrator.

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Now, I am good at that.

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I can build systems in my sleep.

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I actually have done that before.

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I can structure ideas.

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I can turn chaos into execution.

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I used to pride myself on the title of chaos coordinator, right?

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But when people used to ask me long before I was ever an entrepreneur, if money didn't

matter,

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and skill was not an issue.

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What would you see yourself doing happily for the rest of your life?

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And every single time I answered a public speaker, it never changed.

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My conviction in that never wavered.

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But my center of gravity has changed.

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I slowly built a reputation as the behind the scenes operator, the go to problem solver.

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And it paid well enough, it was respected, it was certainly needed.

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ah Yet that thing drained me.

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Not loudly, but honestly quietly.

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It started with feeling like I was being underutilized.

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Not because I didn't have enough to do, but because I was doing too much of the wrong

things.

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And there's a specific emotional texture to that.

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Because you're seen as competent, you're valued, you're definitely busy, but yet you feel

slightly invisible.

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I once described this as I felt calm, yet capped.

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Or safe, yet shrinking.

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And to me, that's

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not a clarity problem.

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It truly is a subtraction problem because I didn't need new skills.

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I needed a new center.

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And this is the key distinction for me.

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I didn't eliminate operations as a skill in my toolbox.

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I just made the active decision to eliminate that.

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as my primary identifier.

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You see, when I would show up to events, I would lead with, I am the integrator.

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I am the former director of operations, not I am a speaker or a clarity architect or a

strategist or a coach, right?

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And so I made the decision that I wanted to show up.

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as a speaker, like I have always desired to be.

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And so I made a choice to invest in myself as a speaker.

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I built a keynote so I could pitch confidently.

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I got coaching on my delivery and structure.

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I rebuilt my calendar and I said no to easy money that reinforced the wrong positioning.

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I even changed my bio and rebuilt my website.

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and practiced introducing myself differently in the rooms that I stepped into.

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That, to me, is subtraction.

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It wasn't burning the boats or burning everything down, right?

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It was re-centering my gravitational pull.

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And, I mean, if I look back, I can tell you that I've seen this same pattern time and time

again.

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One big space that it's been in for me recently besides my own world.

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is that of iLove Coaching.

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It is an incredible organization built by Adam Roach and focuses on helping people build

their own unique coaching business based on their skills, expertise, and passion, not

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their previous industry or role.

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I loved the mission of changing and serving 100 million lives through the Real Coach

Method.

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And so I was bought in to Adam's vision.

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And when I first joined, there were many verticals, so many verticals, so many offers, so

much potential in a variety of growth opportunities.

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And let's face it, every one of them was viable.

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Adam is a skilled visionary and strategic thinker of creating opportunities for others.

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But there was a problem.

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With everything being viable, nothing was being concentrated.

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It felt like I was being handed a million plates to juggle.

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And there were a million more waiting for me to be the one to pick them up.

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Energy was dispersed and focus was diluted inside the organization.

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So my execution consistently felt fragmented.

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Yet when we finally applied the 10x thinking, we recognized that it wasn't about adding

effort.

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It was about eliminating options.

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And so we took

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the vision and the current product, services, offerings, verticals, et cetera, and chose

one model, one executable path, one primary offer.

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And every decision that we made after that either supported it or it was paused.

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And that one decision created more traction in the company in months than the

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years of trying to optimize all of those different verticals because concentration

multiplies.

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And that is the part most fast thinkers resist.

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You don't feel unclear because you're lacking in ideas.

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You feel unclear because you are protecting too many versions of yourself.

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Founder, operator, creator, strategist, consultant, speaker, infester.

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partner, parent.

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Everything is possible, but not everything should be primary.

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And you can truly hold multiple skill sets, but you cannot hold multiple centers of

gravity.

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So until you actively decide to choose one, everything is constantly competing.

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And competing priorities don't compound.

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Now, this wouldn't be a big ideas made simple episode without taking that concept or that

idea and turning it into an execution strategy.

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So here is what subtraction actually looks like for somebody today, right?

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First, I wanna challenge you to do a 30 day anchor.

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Pick one thing for the next 30 days that is going to become your central focus.

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It's not going to be your only activity.

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It's just going to be the thing that centers your thought patterns, your speech patterns,

and your choices.

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Everything else that you are doing either needs to feed that center or it needs to be put

on pause.

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And pause just means that you stop investing your emotional or mental energy in it.

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Not, I'm still going to dabble or tinker with it.

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you know, in my free time, but truly stop it.

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Then once you're anchored, the second thing you can do is an identity realignment.

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And for that, I would challenge you to write down how you currently describe yourself.

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Let's start with professionally, right?

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Write down who you show up as and then look through that and write down of those.

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Who do you feel like you're becoming?

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If they don't match, then I would challenge you that you are reinforcing the wrong center

of gravity.

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There is misalignment in that that is leaking energy.

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And you cannot build forward while describing yourself backwards.

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Once you have clarity on the center of gravity and how you're showing up for the next 30

days,

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I want you to do a calendar audit.

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Open up starting, let's say, the next week and be honest.

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Is your calendar reflecting that declared center?

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If your focus is becoming a speaker, right, but your calendar is 80 % operations and

reactive cleanup, then you're not unclear, you're unsubtracted because

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time reveals truth.

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So when you have clarity on where your time is spent and it is aligning with that anchor

and showing up uh agreeing with the identity that you're choosing for yourself, I'm gonna

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give you the fourth and final piece of this.

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I need you to activate a kill list.

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Now, before you turn this off, it is an uncomfortable one, but it's not what it might

sound like.

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I want you to write down,

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three active initiatives that are good, but they're not primary.

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And I want you to work on intentionally choosing which one you're going to kill first.

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Not forever, but just for the first 30 days, right?

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So it's send the email or communicate the pause, remove it from your mental RAM, right?

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I would bet

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that the second you do this, you have immediate relief.

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And I'm gonna tell you honestly, probably some fear around it, but that fear is usually a

sign that you're cutting out the right thing.

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Subtraction always creates space and space creates force so that force can create

momentum.

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Clarity doesn't show up because you think harder or longer.

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It shows up because you remove enough noise that the next move becomes completely obvious.

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You don't need more information.

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You need fewer live wires.

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If this is hitting home, I'm going to challenge you, please don't overthink it.

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Instead, head on over to bigideasmadesimple.com.

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And that is where I am building tools and frameworks specifically for fast thinkers who

want to move from scattered capability to focused execution.

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This week, I don't want you to add something else.

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I want you to subtract something.

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Pause on one identity.

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Kill one initiative.

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Reallocate one block of time towards your declared center of gravity.

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Because clarity isn't hiding from you, it's buried under what you are refusing to cut.

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Thanks for listening, and I'll see you on the next episode.