If you're a fellow gym bro, you know how bulking and cutting works.
Bulking = eat more, train hard, build muscle. But if you're not careful, you also accumulate a bunch of excess body fat along the way. That's called a dirty bulk.
Cutting = strip the fat. Keep the muscle. Get lean.
Your business works the same way.
As you grow, you add things. New tools. New workflows. New platforms. New subscriptions. New ideas. You're bulking, and that's fine, that's how growth works.
But if you never stop to cut, you end up with a dirty bulk. A business that's bigger, sure, but also bloated, sluggish, complicated, hard to move.
Complexity isn't a sign of growth, it's a sign of accumulated fat.
Think about your business right now. How many tools are you paying for that overlap? How many workflows exist that nobody actually follows? How many "good ideas" turned into half-built projects that are just sitting there, taking up mental space?
That's all body fat. And if you don't cut it, your business starts breaking down. Systems decay. Things fall through the cracks. You start experiencing entropy, the slow invisible collapse that happens when complexity goes unchecked.
So here's what I'd suggest: treat this like a hard cut.
Not a gentle trim. A hard cut.
Ruthlessly eliminate. Cancel the subscriptions you barely use. Kill the projects that aren't moving the needle. Say no to good ideas, not just bad ones.
Consolidate. If three tools do what one tool could do, merge them. Fewer moving parts = fewer things that break.
Simplify first, then systemize. You can't automate complexity. So first get visibility by simplifying, then build systems.
The goal isn't to shrink your business. It's to get it lean. To keep the muscle (the stuff that actually drives results) and cut everything else.
Because a lean business is a fast business. And a fast business is a free business.
So ask yourself: is your business in bulking season or cutting season?
If you've been bulking for a while and things feel heavy, complex, or slow… it might be time for a cut.
No fluff. Just systems.
Chris "The Systemizer" Punt
P.S. If you’d like us to do a free Systems Audit for your business and map out the biggest Notion AI Automation opportunities for you and your team before the end of this week, then book in a call here so we can business on a hard cut.
