Goals for 2019 – Less

Posted on Posted in Personal Development


Derek Sivers wrote a post in December 2018 called “Subtract” – he started by noting “Life can be improved by adding, or by subtracting. The world pushes us to add, because that benefits them. But the secret is to focus on subtracting.” Side note – his book Anything you Want is worth a read.

For the last 15+ years I’ve been focused on doing more, saying “yes”, ever expanding my comfort zone. MORE. NEW. DIFFERENT. CHALLENGING. And let’s be clear I continue to have big goals around fitness, work, relationships, travel, education, and personal growth. But I am also clear that I need to find places in my life to do less, to subtract.

Even before I saw the post by Derek Sivers I’d been pondering the idea of “less” or “subtracting.” In this theme, I’ve been pondering a few articles by Minter Dial (friend of a friend I met once in c. 1990) on Linked In Networking and how he was managing his connections to keep them relevant.

And it has me wondering what to do with my almost 1,000 contacts, most of whom I’ve met in person or at least exchanged an email with at some point. I’ve changed careers a few times. What makes sense? On Facebook I have an easy rule – as the annual birthday reminder comes around – do I want to wish the person a happy birthday? And, can I actually post a greeting on their wall – if not, “unfriend.” Easy. What’s right for LinkedIn? Where else can I subtract?

I’m still committed to my job, my fitness, people who are important to me, and my continuing education. While I’m not doing anything as rigorous this year as the year long PN Level 2 Certification, I did just sign up for an Udemy refresher for the Salesforce App Builder Certification. I did the Salesforce branded training a few year ago (to add to my administration credential), but never scheduled the exam. Since there are new releases 3x a year, and the exams keep up with platform changes, a refresher is definitely needed.

So far in 2019 I’ve already taken on two new responsibilities – joining the Advisory Board for Wise Women (if you are an amazing executive female in Denver ask me about this wonderful group) and joining the Board of my HOA.

What will I give up? They say to put your big rocks in first – job, fitness, family, important relationships – and I do. Every hour seems scheduled. Something needs to go. What are you giving up in 2019?

3 Comments on “Goals for 2019 – Less”

  1. I have been having the same thoughts for Facebook friends. Far too many connections accumulated over the years that don’t really mean anything… Mostly because I didn’t use a filter at the beginning (puppy love with the platform). Am ever more resolute in winnowing down on LI… but the platform doesn’t make it easy to cull. I like to see, for example, if we’ve ever exchanged a message, if the connection has had a tendancy not to reply to a message, etc. It’s cumbersome.

    • I think Facebook is easier for me to curate since it’s a “friendship” platform vs. professional network. With LinkedIn I do an abysmal job of going back to clear out connections that were made only because of specific work role I had – i.e. people I don’t actually want to stay connected to and would never recommend for a job/role. I like that you are thinking about the challenge and have processes & guidelines to drive how you manage yours.

      • At a seminar today in Riga we talked about the need for annual cleansing. Yet it takes a concerted effort… But a good network takes energy!!