## Notes [[Fundamental productivity comes from subtraction]] ## Highlights When I added (determination, grit, self-confidence, desire), I failed. When I took away (the desire for success), my body moved with greater fluidity and naturalness. I improved. I enjoyed it more as well, which, as an athlete of 30 years, I didn’t think was possible. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haz6023c3n0bc85hppz7teg7)) The tactic of subtraction goes against the grain of the so-called mind-set revolution, in which it seems everyone is adding this or that quality to their mental approach. The growth mind-set. The abundance mind-set. The gratitude mind-set. But in this genre of self-optimization, if it can be called that, we are adding more and more duct tape to something that isn’t broken — our mind — until it is so covered we lose sight of the beautifully designed machine underneath it all and it thus becomes, in fact, broken. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haz60sndbrkhq6tgkh6b9b39)) Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add but when there is nothing left to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01haz624bp2hm1s3d4hh0b091q)) ^zkf00h