Because there is an x on both the left- and right-hand sides,
the first step is to subtract x3 from both sides,
31x−1−31x=x−31x
so as to collect x on the right-hand side
−1=32x
Then, multiply both sides by 32,
23−1=2332x
so that 23 can be eliminated on the right-hand side to give us
−23=x