Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Perfectionism makes essential tasks hard to start, self-doubt makes them hard to finish, and trying to do too much too fast makes it hard to sustain momentum.

the first step toward making things effortless is to clear the clutter in our heads and our hearts.

Guy Kawasaki called a “Bozo explosion” – a term he uses to describe what happens when a formerly great team or company descends into mediocrity.

a high level of contribution to the shared mission of the company.

Life in teams today is fast and full of opportunity. When teams are unified, the abundance of opportunity can be a good thing. But when teams lack clarity of purpose, it becomes difficult if not impossible to discern which of these myriad opportunities are truly vital.

The second is the pathetically tiny amount of time we have left of our lives. For me this is not a depressing thought but a thrilling one. It removes fear of choosing the wrong thing.

if you don’t prioritise your life someone else will.

Nora Ephron, “The Best Journalism Teacher I Ever Had,” Northwest Scholastic Press, June 18, 2013, www.nwscholasticpress.org/2013/06/18/the-best-journalism-teacher-i-ever-had/#sthash.ZFtUBv50.dpbs; also written about by Ephron in her essay “Getting to the Point,” in Those Who Can … Teach! Celebrating Teachers Who Make a Difference, by Lorraine Glenn

What if, instead of just focusing on catching criminals – and serving up ever harsher punishments – after they committed the crime, the police devoted significant resources and effort to eliminating criminal behaviour before it happens?

“There is a difference between losing and being beaten.