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We’re a month into 2026. Are you already feeling it? You had goals and strategic priorities energizing the start of the year. Now the lists are getting longer, the demands getting more frequent, the commitments stacking up. The momentum of a new year has a way of quietly turning into overload.
So today, I want to challenge a familiar habit.
Most of us live by a to-do list. We measure progress by what we add. But what if real progress this year isn’t about what you start… but what you stop?
I know it is hard, trust me. I love to start things.
New businesses. New programs. New ideas. As an entrepreneur, "beginning" feels like momentum, progress, possibility. And honestly, starting comes naturally to me.
But stopping?
Pruning?
Letting go?
That’s the part I still struggle with.
I have been working on writing a new book for over a year, and getting it across the finish line is taking longer than it should. I am accepting that the only thing that will help get it done is by finding things on my to-do list that I can stop doing.
At some point, whether we acknowledge it or not, we hit capacity. Our plates (and calendars) don’t get magically bigger just because we have another good idea. And sometimes the best leadership move isn't to start the next thing… it’s to stop the current one.
My friend Sam Chand says,
“You gain credibility by what you stop doing.”
Why? Because stopping shows clarity. Stopping shows conviction. Stopping shows that you’re committed enough to the right things that you’re willing to release the less important things.
This isn’t just a leadership idea, it’s a biblical principle.
In John 15, Jesus describes pruning:
Every branch that does bear fruit… He prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful.
It’s counterintuitive.
The branch is productive. It’s working. It’s not failing.
But it still gets cut back.
Gardeners understand this truth. But leaders often ignore it.
We keep adding.
We keep pushing.
We keep starting.
And without pruning, eventually even good branches become overloaded.
So here’s the challenge:
Create a “To-Don’t List.”
A list of things you will intentionally stop doing so you can protect the energy, clarity, and focus needed for the things that matter most.
Your future impact might not depend on what you start next…
but on what you stop now.
