Some people prioritize everything by importance and urgency, while others draw a hard line between what to do and what not to do. Buffett’s advice is for the latter: write down your goals, divide them into two groups—A goals to pursue and B goals to set aside—and then discard the B goals. Focus only on what matters most, and get it done sooner and better. As for the B goals you set aside, come back to them after completing the A goals and reprioritize them alongside your new goals at that time. Life is short and energy is limited; completing a few things first is better than spending ages juggling everything and finishing nothing.
Sometimes you’ll find that some B goals are connected to your A goals. Once you complete an A goal, the related B goal may become easier to achieve. So you can start by completing a small number of A goals, then use that momentum to help achieve most of the B goals as well.
Returning to the dual-goal list itself, it is really telling us that giving something up can be a good thing. As Mencius said, “A person must first refrain from doing certain things before they can accomplish anything.” You have to choose not to do some things before you can achieve something. There is also a saying, “You have to give something up to gain something,” which means the same thing. Giving something up before gaining something is not just a transactional mindset; it is also a form of self-adjustment. First, use the practice of decluttering and letting go to clear the cache of your life, so you can make room for more important things. But “you have to give something up to gain something” is not quite the same as the dual-goal list: it is a principle of life, while the dual-goal list is one method based on that principle. Knowing only that you have to give something up to gain something, without knowing how to do it, can leave you feeling that you understand all the principles but still can’t live well. If you only know to eliminate goal b without understanding that giving something up is meant to help you gain something, you may fail to grasp the point and end up conflicted, regretful, and remorseful.