David’s Reviews > Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less > Status Update

Conclude with "Be," living as an essentialist rather than a nonessentialist who tries to apply some essentialist principles.

Appendix section on essentialist leadership describes some high-level practices.

Pretty obvious message for "Focus": get your mind to be in the present, not the past or future.

Story of the coach he says they always win, which the mostly did, but meaning they ask "What's Important Now?"

It all reminds me of a lyric from Rent: "There's only now, there's only this...."

"Flow" is the genius of routine. Various books on habits have covered this ground, but maybe the thing to remember is "cue, response, reward."

"...the more we reach for the stars, the harder it is to get off the ground." Instead we should seek "Progress."

Instead of going for the big, flashy win, strive for small and simple wins. More or less "slow and steady wins the race."

"Subtract" things from your process that hold you back. Remember the example of putting the slowest hiker first, and then making that item's work easier/faster.

"What is the obstacle that, if removed, would make the majority of other obstacles disappear?"

Edit: making the effort to remove the nonessential and keep the important front and center. Like in film editing.
Setting Boundaries: being able to articulate what we are and are not willing to do, like the bride-to-be who busted her butt to finish an extra project weeks before her wedding but was then rewarded with another request, but she had spine enough to say no.

"Dare," as in "dare to say no." Contains various techniques for declining invitations we don't really want to do, plus more reasoning about why we should feel good about not doing things that don't seem essential to us.

Appreciate the story of a dad turning down a friend's invitation for dinner because he had a date with his daughter. Dad was Stephen Covey.

"Clarify." Make a decision that guides the next 1000 decisions. Answer the question "how will we know when we are done?"

We should be really clear about what we're trying to do, not just kind of clear.

New section "eliminate" will illustrate techniques for getting rid of commitments that seem ok but are not the best fit for us. Pretty sure that won't be easy to do, especially since the section intro says that!

"Sleep" and "select" chapters hew to their titles. Sleep is no longer a practice of the weak but an important way to "protect the asset." Saying "yes" to things that are just ok is a way to miss out on the opportunities that are most in line with our skills and interests. Suggested plan is summarized by "it's either 'hell yeah!' or it's a 'no.'"