Scaling Back to Scale Up
Pulling back to move forward with clarity
I’ve been cutting back.
Everywhere.
Online. At home. In relationships. Even in how I think about my work.
The point isn’t less. The point is clarity. When there’s too much coming in, you lose track of your own voice. And lately I realized how easy it was to forget what I actually wanted.
Digital Minimalism
It started online.
I opened YouTube and saw a homepage full of noise. I didn’t recognize half the people in my subscriptions. The feed had turned into a junk drawer. Every scroll made me feel like I was borrowing someone else’s brain.
So I started deleting. One by one. Hundreds of channels gone.
When I finished, I had a small list I could name out loud. People whose messages I trust. People worth listening to. The kind of creators who make me think deeper instead of skimming the surface.
And something happened the moment the clutter left. My mind felt lighter. I wasn’t checking out ten videos at once, flipping from one voice to another. I was following through on one idea, all the way down. The fewer inputs I had, the stronger the output became.
Physical Minimalism
Once I cleared the digital, I started looking around the house.
The closets were full of things I never touched. The papers stacked in drawers belonged to projects that don’t represent me anymore. Even old clothes carried a kind of weight I didn’t want to carry.
So I started letting it go. Bag by bag.
At first, it felt like losing ground. A little voice whispered, you might need this one day. But the more I gave away, the more I realized how much those things had been holding space that could be used for something better.
I don’t want a sterile life. I want a clean one. A space that has weight because it matters, not because it lingers.
Emotional Minimalism
The hardest cut was people.
My family is pared down to the immediate few. That’s the truth I can live with. I stopped chasing approval I’d never get. I stopped trying to fix what only hurt me.
My friends—I hold them dearly. But only a few are on speed dial. That’s intentional. They know I’ll answer. They know I’m there. A couple of them are walking through hard seasons right now, and I want to show up for them in real ways. Not spread thin. Not halfway. Fully.
The circle is smaller. The roots are deeper.
A Personal Board of Advisors
Around the same time, I built a new kind of circle for myself. A board of advisors. Not official, not public. Just mine.
Some are alive. Some are long gone. Writers. Entrepreneurs. Spiritual teachers. Leaders who left behind words and work that carry me forward.
Reading their work, listening to their talks, studying how they lived. Not to copy. Not to ask permission. But to remember what wisdom sounds like when the world gets loud.
That practice alone has saved me from impulsive decisions and shallow thinking.
Business in Motion
Paring down doesn’t mean I stopped building. If anything, it made room for more.
Business is full right now. Many projects in motion at once. A year ago that would have overwhelmed me.
But now, the focus feels different. My energy isn’t leaking into places that drain me. It’s directed where it belongs. I can hold more because I’ve cleared the rest.
Scaling back personally has created space to scale up professionally.
The Creative Hideaway
I’m also taking a trip. Not a vacation in the usual sense. More like a creative hideaway.
No distractions. No feeds. No shallow noise. Just quiet, notebooks, and deep work.
I need that kind of reset. Time where the only thing left is the work and the soul behind it. I know I’ll come back sharper, with more to give.
This is what scaling back looks like for me.
Less noise.
Fewer people.
Tighter focus.
The less I let in, the more I can give.
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Jane Grismer is a professional coach, brand strategist, and creator of Booked + Branded. She helps quietly powerful experts turn clarity into positioned offers, visible authority, and scalable growth—through structure, simplicity, and intentional focus. www.janegrismer.com
I appreciate the focus on intentionality. Letting go of the old is essential to make space for new opportunities. Clear the noise to catch the signal!