Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

What I mean is that a good editor is someone who uses deliberate subtraction to actually add life to the ideas, setting, plot, and characters.

HALF OF THE TROUBLES OF THIS LIFE CAN BE TRACED TO SAYING YES TOO QUICKLY AND NOT SAYING NO SOON ENOUGH. —Josh Billings

“If I did not have this opportunity, how much would I be willing to sacrifice in order to obtain it?”

than others.

“If I wasn’t already involved in this project, how hard would I work to get on it?”

What if schools eliminated busywork and replaced it with important projects that made a difference to the whole community? What if all students had time to think about their highest contribution to their future so that when they left high school they were not just starting on the race to nowhere?10

Nonessentialist Essentialist Piles on quick-fix solutions Does more Removes obstacles to progress Brings forth more

The right “no” spoken at the right time can change the course of history.

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, systema