20 Things I Quit to Simplify My Life

About this video

Martell shares 20 things he says he quit to simplify his life, saying success is about what he does not do. The list is: 1) trying to separate work and life — he integrates family and workmates; 2) eating because of emotions, since confidence comes from keeping private commitments to yourself; 3) caring what other people think, especially people who have not done what he wants to do; 4) thinking short term instead of long term; 5) having a rigid morning routine — he prefers a fluid reset taking minutes; 6) cancelling meetings last minute, which signals your priorities are not important and makes others not depend on you; 7) having notifications on his phone, which he calls a professional distractor device that blocks flow; 8) having lots of meetings, when only one or two important decisions a day need thinking space; 9) trying to remember every detail; 10) alcohol, partying or any vice; 11) answering random phone calls, sending unknown numbers to voicemail; 12) trying to finish every book he started — he reads for one nugget; 13) multitasking, which he says is fake and slower; 14) spending time with people who suck his energy, doing a friend inventory to remove energy vampires; 15) trying to make everybody happy; 16) staying up late — he says he turns into a pumpkin at 9:00 p.m. and has an alarm to go to bed; 17) blaming other people, taking 100% accountability; 18) saying yes to everyone; 19) overthinking every decision — he cites a mentor’s rule to decide with 70% of what you need to know; and 20) comparing himself to other people, comparing only to himself from yesterday.

Key takeaways

• Integrate work and life instead of separating them, and protect focus by turning off phone notifications and sending unknown callers to voicemail
• Quit lots of meetings and multitasking to leave space for the one or two important decisions a day and to finish one thing at a time
• Do a friend inventory and stop spending time with energy vampires, and stop trying to make everybody happy
• Decide with 70% of the information instead of overthinking, making the decision and then making it right
• Compare yourself only to yourself from yesterday, and take 100% accountability instead of blaming other people

Episode details: published June 13, 2025 · 7:59 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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