I’ve just started reading Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. It’s been out for a couple of years, but I guess I didn’t find reading it to be essential until now. 🙂
Here’s the essence of the concept:
- Only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.
Fair enough, but how exactly does that work? Here’s a nice summary:
- The way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default. Instead of making choices reactively, the Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many, eliminates the nonessentials, and then removes obstacles so the essential things have clear, smooth passage. In other words, Essentialism is a disciplined, systematic approach for determining where our highest point of contribution lies, then making execution of those things almost effortless.
I know this approach has become popular with many since the book’s publication. Author Michael Hyatt told me that this book changed his life, and his entire approach to his business.
I’ve always taken this approach with my business goals, although I somewhat thought it was based on some kind of personal limitation. I was never the one who bounced around from meeting to meeting, call to call, opportunity to opportunity. That said, I constantly explore opportunities, but remain extremely selective in what I pursue — and then I focus on that one thing relentlessly.
Apparently, that’s the heart of essentialism:
- One paradox of Essentialism is that Essentialists actually explore more options than their Nonessentialist counterparts. Whereas Nonessentialists commit to everything or virtually everything without actually exploring, Essentialists systematically explore and evaluate a broad set of options before committing to any. Because they will commit and “go big” on one or two ideas or activities, they deliberately explore more options at first to ensure that they pick the right one later.
It’s good to a a cool kid, I guess. But for many years I was perceived as standoffish and aloof because I said no more often than yes, because I wasn’t a “joiner.” Personally, I simply enjoy accomplishing the things I choose to pursue more than I desire social recognition (classic INTJ personality).
Regardless of your personality type, if you’re trying to do it all, the first thing you should do is stop trying — it doesn’t work. Then pick up McKeown’s book for some guidance on how to focus on what truly matters to you.
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Keep going-
Brian Clark
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