67 - Addition through Subtraction (Mental Model)

Call to Action:

• For You: Take out a notebook or word document. Write a list of everything that you can think of that is preventing you from achieving your goals. This can focus on whatever part of your life you want. If its investing, identify the weaknesses of your investing process. If its personal finance, what are you spending money on that you can eliminate? Whatever your goals, make a list, and start allowing addition through subtraction to work for you.
• Support the Podcast: Pick your favorite episode of my podcast and share it with one of your friends or family members. Talk to them in person, send them an email, or share it through text. I would really appreciate your support.

Mental Models discussed in this podcast:

• Addition through Subtraction

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Show Outline

The full show notes for this episode are available at https://www.diyinvesting.org/Episode67

Addition through Subtraction Mental Model

• First introduced to me by Joshua Kennon on his blog.
  • https://www.joshuakennon.com/mental-model-addition-through-subtraction/
• You can improve aspects of your life, whether that's personal finance or your investing process by removing things instead of always trying to add things.
• Companies can do this as well. Apple is a great example of a company that has been able to leverage Addition by Subtraction. 
  • They improved the smartphone by removing the physical keyboard. This led to the creation of the iPhone.
• Challenge for you today: What is preventing you from achieving your goals? What actions are you taking, what distraction are you allowing into your life, and what investments do you currently own, that are limiting your ability to achieve success?

Summary:

When trying to improve don't solely focus on adding things to your life or adding steps to your investing process. It is important to also spend time trying to identify and remove pieces that are slowing you down or preventing you from achieving your goals. The addition through subtraction mental model captures this simple truth in a way that I believe is useful.