The biggest gains don’t come from adding new habits but from removing the ones that chip away at you.

One of the first principles drilled into every medical student is simple: first, do no harm. Before you try to fix anything, you look at what could damage the system. I’ve found that idea applies way beyond medicine.

For me, it started with alcohol. I’ve never had a problem with drinking. I never partied in college. I’m not the guy who’s ever gotten out of control. But as I got older, I’d have a drink here and there and started noticing something. My body didn’t respond well. What felt like a heart murmur would flare. My energy would dip. I would have almost crushing chest pain and anxiety. And it made me think.

I’m wired with a lot of intensity. I care deeply. I can swing emotionally when I’m pushing hard on something. So I asked myself, is alcohol actually helping me be the person I’m trying to be? Could it become a real issue down the line? Could it affect my family or my work in ways I don’t want?

So I removed it. Not because I had a crisis. Just because I didn’t want one. It was easier to cut it out than to pretend it was neutral. To go back to who I was before. I drank alcohol for maybe 1.5 years out of my entire life.

That’s how “first, do no harm” has shown up in my own life. I pay attention to the habits and patterns that could quietly mess things up for me. I look at what pulls me off my game, what affects my mood, what undermines my energy. And when I see something that doesn’t support the way I want to live, I try to let it go.

I’m not telling anyone they have to do the same. I’m just sharing what has helped me operate at a higher level. Sometimes the biggest gains don’t come from adding new habits but from removing the ones that chip away at you.

For me, that’s where things really started to open up.