Be done with it and move on

At 42 years old, all the most significant improvements in my life have come from removing something, not adding something. My life has benefitted 10x by removing things compared to adding things.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do for your life is eliminate something that simply does not belong or is not adding value to the life you actually want. Nothing has to replace it. Removing something from your life is a complete strategy.

That's where people tend to get hung up. They want the replacement before they commit to the removal. But when they can't come up with a clear, confident, or reasonable alternative, they second-guess the change.

When faced with the prospect of change, no matter how minor, almost every replacement option appears unclear, doubtful, or unreasonable. The status quo suddenly looks more attractive in the shadow of the unknown. Next thing you know, the absence of a suitable alternative becomes the justification for keeping a known problem in their life. They stick with the status quo and change nothing.

You don't always need an alternative. Most of the time, you don't, unless you remove a survival resource like housing, money, or health. You want to have good plans in place for replacement with things like that.

But anything else? You can just remove it. You can be done with it. And move forward without it.

ONE FINAL THOUGHT:
First things to remove