# Remove Before You Add

> Summary by Charles Botensten, from the letter “Natural Law and Happiness: Remove Before You Add” (https://icharles.com/articles/natural-law-happiness). Free to use and change.

Pleasure, purchases and more apps keep promising happiness. Natural law points the other way.

**We live in an addition economy.**

Pleasure, purchases and more apps keep promising happiness. Natural law points the other way.

## The problem

Almost everything around us pulls us away from how we were made, and we pay for the distance.

## The usual fix

Then we look for something to add that fixes it. Adding is always easier than removing.

## The move

You already know what has to go. Do a one-minute review every day. Then pick the top one. One change, not five.

## Addition vs Subtraction

- **Addition:** A new iPhone · The newest AI model · A pill
- **Subtraction:** Social media off the phone · Crappy food out · Distractions out

## Worth keeping

- Deep down, you already know.
- Habits are things that happen to us. Routines are things we do.
- Being content is the most pleasurable feeling in life.

## The review

1. What do I need to stop doing?
2. What do I need to start doing?
3. What do I need to continue doing?
4. Then pick the top one.

Source: https://icharles.com/library/remove-before-you-add