What I’m thinking about: Why I threw away a decade of quotes, what decluttering your office has to do with staying competitive in land investing, and the one question that makes letting go easier.
Most people operate on autopilot with ideas that were installed by their younger selves (and by ‘younger’, that could mean 2 years old, 20 years old, or even just a year ago, depending on the topic).
They never stop to ask: Does this still serve me?
I spent last weekend purging my office. Not just the usual year-end cleanup…I’m talking about dismantling pieces of my identity that had been hanging on my walls for close to a decade, or more.
The quote wall I’d meticulously built throughout and after medical school? Gone.
Class photos from different snapshots of my life? Gone.
Old sports memorabilia from teenage fandom? Gone.
Bins of electronic cords and headphones I’d been saving “just in case” for years? All of it… gone.
Here’s what I realized: Most of this stuff had just become background noise. I wasn’t actually seeing it anymore. It was taking up physical and mental real estate without providing present value.
And more importantly… it represented versions of me that no longer exist.
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The One-Year Rule
I try to operate with a simple framework: If I haven’t used something in a year, I’m probably never going to use it.
(As you can see from the above, I didn’t say I was PERFECT at following this framework…we’re all works in progress.)
This applies to the examples above. Or gifts from well-meaning relatives that don’t match how I live now. Or other memorabilia from phases of life I’ve already moved past.
But it also applies to ideas.
Think about the assumptions you’re carrying around about how land investing works. Or how your business should operate. Or what success looks like.
When was the last time you actually examined those beliefs?
Five years ago? Ten years? Never?
We’re living through the fastest period of change in business history. AI tools are being released every single week that fundamentally alter what’s possible. Competition is getting sharper, backed by more resources/talent. The operators who adapt are pulling further ahead while everyone else wonders what happened.
Holding on to old identities is a recipe for getting left behind.
I’m not saying abandon everything that’s worked. Conservative underwriting principles? Those are timeless. Downside protection? Non-negotiable.
But the tactics for executing those principles? The tools you’re using? The assumptions about what’s required to compete?
Those need constant re-evaluation.
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What Decluttering Taught Me About Business
When I was going through my office, I kept asking myself: Why am I even keeping this?
Sometimes the answer was just inertia: “I’ve had it for years,” or “Maybe I’ll use it someday.”
Other times it was more revealing: “I put effort into creating it…but this represents who I used to be, not who I am now.”
The quote wall was the perfect example. I’d spent hours writing down wisdom from books I’d read over the years. A lot of it was still valuable…but I hadn’t added to it in over seven years. It wasn’t a living document anymore. It was a museum piece.
And you know what? I can take a picture of it (see below). I can verbally thank it for serving its purpose in my life (Marie Kondo-style).
I can plug it into AI and reference it anytime I need it. I don’t need it dominating my visual workspace for the next 30+ years.
Same logic applies to your business.
That acquisition strategy that worked great in 2021? Almost assuredly needs updating.
That disposition timeline you’ve always used? Don’t count on it in this buyer’s market.
That belief that “I need to do X myself because no one else can do it right“? Maybe AI or better systems have changed that calculation.
The operators I respect most are the ones constantly asking: “What am I holding onto that no longer serves me?”
They’re not rigidly attached to old identities. They adapt. They evolve.
And they’re winning because of it.
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Future-Focused, Not Past-Obsessed
Rick Rubin (the legendary music producer) operates in an office with basically zero memorabilia. No awards. No photos from past projects. Nothing.
Just blank walls and space to create.
His reasoning: He doesn’t want reminders of the past. He wants to stay focused on what he’s creating next.
I’m not quite that extreme…but I get it.
After purging my office, I’ve got my daughter’s artwork on the walls (and now room for a LOT more, especially as it evolves from the scribbles of a toddler, haha). Notes from my wife. Stuff that represents this phase of my life, not who I was 10 or 20 years ago.
This is what I’m working for. This is what matters now.
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The Stuff You Inherited (And Never Questioned)
Most of your beliefs weren’t actually chosen by you.
They were installed by your environment. Your parents. Your early mentors. Your younger self who was trying to figure things out.
And that’s fine…if you’ve actually examined them since then.
But most people never do.
They’re carrying around ideas about:
- What’s possible for them
- How business “should” work
- What they’re capable of learning
- What strategies are “safe” versus “risky”
…that were formed years or even decades ago and never re-evaluated.
I grew up in a household with a lot more physical clutter. Trinkets everywhere. Stuff saved “just in case.” That was the environment I absorbed.
^ To be clear, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, and I couldn’t have grown up in a better home environment. But, different people, different values…
And I don’t operate that way anymore. I’ve consciously chosen a different approach because it fits who I am now and what I’m building (IMO, more stuff = more distraction…my greatest weakness).
Same thing applies to your investing and business beliefs.
Maybe you absorbed certain ideas about career growth, or risk tolerance, or what “job security” means from mentors or environments that don’t match your current reality.
You’re ALLOWED to update your operating system.
Create space for what’s next, and the value you are going to bring to the world.
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