essentialism

What if the whole world shifted from the undisciplined pursuit of more to the disciplined pursuit of less … only better?

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

To become an Essentialist requires a heightened awareness of our ability to choose. We need to recognise it as an invincible power within us, existing separate and distinct from any other thing, person, or force.

William James once wrote, “My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.”

As John Maxwell has written, “You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.”9

His observation was that you could massively improve the quality of a product by resolving a tiny fraction of the problems.

Without clarity and purpose, pursuing something because it is good is not good enough to make a high level of contribution.

So eliminating the non-essentials isn’t just about mental discipline. It’s about the emotional discipline necessary to say no to social pressure.