Steve Jobs is mostly remembered for what he built, and likely much less so for what he deliberately killed.

When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company wasn’t short of ideas. It was drowning in them. Dozens of products, competing priorities, and teams stretched thin trying to do everything at once. His response wasn’t to work harder or expand faster. It was to cut. Entire product lines were scrapped. Focus narrowed. What remained was clarity. Choosing less didn’t cap Apple’s potential; instead it unleashed it.

By this point in January, something usually becomes clear

• You’re not short of ideas.
• You’re not lacking motivation.
• You’re carrying too much.

That weight doesn’t come from ambition.  It comes from accumulation.

How Businesses Quietly Overcommit

Most businesses don’t overcommit dramatically.  Most actually do it via pure politeness.

• A project that “might be useful”.
• A client you should probably say no to, but don’t.
• A process that’s inefficient, but familiar.
• A role you’re still holding because handing it over feels risky.

None of these decisions are wrong in isolation.  However, together and cumulatively, they will create a year that feels so much heavier than it needs to be.

Why Doing Less Feels Uncomfortable

I like nothing more than sitting on my sofa for two hours and watching a football match end to end.  Aside from the love of the sport, it is a visible reward and granting of rest from an otherwise busy lifestyle.  What is it though that makes us often feel guilt for simply stopping and not doing anything? Why do we have to be so busy to stop feeling guilty?

Similarly, in business, choosing less is almost always associated negatively as it gets confused with shrinking.  However, they are not the same thing.

1. Shrinking is accidental.
2. Choosing less is deliberate.

In a well-run business, reduction is not a retreat, it’s a demonstration of focus.

Therefore, every serious organisation decides:

• what it will invest in
• what it will tolerate
• and what it will quietly remove

The difference is that they do it intentionally, on their own timescales, and on purpose, and not by burnout.

The CFO View: Omission Is Part of Strategy

CFOs understand something business owners often don’t get told early enough: Every “yes” creates five invisible obligations.

• More delivery.
• More coordination.
• More risk.
• More decisions.
• More mental load.

Strategy isn’t just about what you pursue.  It’s about what you exclude.  That’s not being conservative, it’s showing discipline.

A Simple Way to Choose Less (Without Playing Small)

Try this.  Create three short lists:

Stop

Things that clearly no longer earn their place.

Continue

What works and deserves protection.

Decide Later

Items that don’t need emotional energy yet.

This isn’t avoidance. It’s sequencing your decisions.

The Relief That Comes With Clear Omission

When something is intentionally removed, something else happens: 

• remaining decisions speed up
• standards start to improve
• your energy returns
• your guilt reduces

And overall the year will start to feel navigable again.

What This Sets Up Next

Once you’ve named your constraints and chosen what you’re not doing, you will see that the shape of the year ahead becomes much clearer, immediately.

Next week, we’ll turn that clarity into a simple, one-page direction for the year. This won’t be a heavy plan, but something that holds up under pressure.  For now, remember this:  Choosing less isn’t about ambition. It’s about making space for what actually matters. 

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas.” Steve Jobs