essentialism
“eliminating the non-essentials isn’t just about mental discipline. It’s about the emotional discipline necessary to say no to social pressure.”
from Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
essentialism
To understand what an essential intent is, we may be best served by first establishing what it is not.
Greg Mckeown • Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
William James once wrote, “My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.”
Greg Mckeown • Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
As Peter Drucker said, “In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time – literally – substantial and rapidly
... See moreGreg Mckeown • Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
The Essentialist doesn’t just recognise the power of choice, he celebrates it. The Essentialist knows that when we surrender our right to choose, we give others not just the power but also the explicit permission to choose for us.
Greg Mckeown • Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
It’s easy to say something should do everything well because saying something is easy doesn’t involve any work, or require any tradeoffs. But building products is all about tradeoffs.
Jason Fried • Directional decisions
The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing. It stayed singular for the next five hundred years. Only in the 1900s did we pluralise the term and start talking about priorities. Illogically, we reasoned that by changing the word we could bend reality. Somehow we would now be
... See moreGreg Mckeown • Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
How many times have you started your workday with a schedule and by 10 a.m. you were already completely off track or behind? Or how many times have you written a “to do” list in the morning but then found that by 5 p.m. the list was even longer?
Greg Mckeown • Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
The prevalence of noise: 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. Because some things are so much more important, the effort in finding those things is worth it.