For Impact

Blog

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Daily Nuggets | | Nick Fellers

516TXpkm6+L._SX332_BO1,204,203,200_This week’s W.O.W. is a book – Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.

His core message: Do less, but better. You can unlock quality and make your highest contribution toward the things that really matter by doing only what is essential.

He dubs this ‘Essentialism.’

In some ways this isn’t a new idea, and yet, I found myself underlining nuggets on every page:

  • If you don’t prioritize your life, somebody else will.
  • To embrace the essence of Essentialism requires we replace false assumptions with three core truths: “I choose to,” “Only a few things really matter,” and “I can do anything but not everything.”
  • Once we accept the reality of trade-offs we stop asking, “How can I make it all work?” and start asking the more honest question “Which problem do I want to solve?”
  • Essentialists spend as much time as possible exploring, listening, debating, questioning, and thinking… Almost everything is noise, and a very few things are exceptionally valuable. This is the justification for taking time to figure out what is most important.

This makes a lot of sense. Recent discoveries in neuroscience tell us that the decision-making function in our brains does not prioritize!

Essentialism is applicable to any human endeavor:

  • Sales/Major Gifts. Spend more time with better prospects. Just Visit. Just Ask. The  discipline of the Sales Process (e.g., strategy, predisposition, follow-up.) These are the essentials; almost everything else is noise and nonessential. 
  • Life. An Australian nurse named Bronnie Ware, who cared for people in the last twelve weeks of their lives, recorded their most often discussed regrets. At the top of the list: “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.” McKeown argues for LIFE DESIGN, “This requires, not just haphazardly saying no, but purposefully, deliberately, and strategically eliminating the nonessentials.”

I agree with McKeown’s notion that Essentialism is an idea whose time has come. We are in an age-of-noise. Discern. Focus. Do less. Have more IMPACT.