Now that January has come and gone, how many people are still upholding their resolutions? Not many I would presume. Why? Why do millions of people each year take time to assess their lives and create resolutions which they eventually will abandon?

One reason for the lack of follow through is our ongoing desire to add to our incredibly complicated lives. Among our desire to be thinner, wealthier or more secure, rarely do we ask ourselves, “what do I want to let go of this year?”

In 2011 I spent a summer working for an innovation and design consultancy in southern India. The firm, well regarded for unleashing the power of design thinking in India, often used a framework based on the three major Hindu gods (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva). This framework used each god as guide when it came to making tough business decisions. In short, clients were forced to determine which strategies they would preserve, create or destroy.

Not surprisingly, most clients had no trouble identifying the strategies they wanted to create or preserve. Where they struggled, however, was determining which businesses they wish to destroy.

Similarly, individuals struggle with identifying which parts of their lives to let go off. We add rather than subtract. Instead of limiting the activities we want to devote our precious time and energy toward, we seek ways to do more while giving up less.

However, mastery in any subject depends on focus because when we decrease the extraneous activities in our lives, we make time for the things that truly matter. We preserve our time, energy and resources to reinforce the few things we really want to improve upon.

So when considering your goals for 2017, ask yourself, what are you willing to let go off to ensure that you follow through and fulfill your commitments?