Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

by Greg McKeown

the pursuit of success can be a catalyst for failure. Put another way, success can distract us from focusing on the essential things that produce success in the first place.

We have lost our ability to filter what is important and what isn’t. Psychologists call this “decision fatigue”:

creating a system for removing obstacles and making execution as easy as possible.

Essentialists see trade-offs as an inherent part of life, not as an inherently negative part of life. Instead of asking, “What do I have to give up?” they ask, “What do I want to go big on?”

In every set of facts, something essential is hidden.

As you evaluate an option, think about the single most important criterion for that decision, and then simply give the option a score between 0 and 100. If you rate it any lower than 90 percent, then automatically change the rating to 0 and simply reject it.

Instead, ask the essential question: “What will I say no to?”

but if a team does not have clarity of goals and roles, problems will fester and multiply.

either we can say no and regret it for a few minutes, or we can say yes and regret it for days, weeks, months, or even years.

What is the “slowest hiker” in your job or your life? What is the obstacle that is keeping you back from achieving what really matters to you? By systematically identifying and removing this “constraint” you’ll be able to significantly reduce the friction keeping you from executing what is essential.

Instead of just jumping into the project, take a few minutes to think. Ask yourself, “What are all the obstacles standing between me and getting this done?” and “What is keeping me from completing this?” Make a list of these obstacles. They might include: not having the information you need, your energy level, your desire for perfection. Prioritize the list using the question, “What is the obstacle that, if removed, would make the majority of other obstacles disappear?”

The Nonessentialist operates under the false logic that the more he strives, the more he will achieve, but the reality is, the more we reach for the stars, the harder it is to get ourselves off the ground.

the Essentialist starts small and celebrates progress.

of all forms of human motivation the most effective one is progress.

we need to start small and build momentum.

“Done is better than perfect.”

“What is the smallest amount of progress that will be useful and valuable to the essential task we are trying to get done?”

“What is the minimal amount I could do right now to prepare?”

Yet every second spent worrying about a past or future moment distracts us from what is important in the here and now.

“What do you need to do to be able to go to sleep peacefully?”

He spent three years not reading any newspapers because he found that their contents added only nonessential confusion to his life.