8 Ideas You Should Know From: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

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The 8 Big Ideas:

  • Always remind yourself – what is the highest and best use of my time

  • Only you are looking out for your priorities. Other people may try to dictate your priorities, but rarely will it be in your best interest

  • Before committing, evaluate a lot of options. Once you decide, fully committ

  • Solitude is essential

  • 90% or no

  • Clarity is essential

  • Essentialism should impact all aspects of your life

My Highlights From the Book:

Always remind yourself – what is the highest and best use of my time

“Is this the very most important thing I should be doing with my time and resources right now?

The way of the Essentialist isn’t about setting New Year’s resolutions to say “no” more, or about pruning your in-box, or about mastering some new strategy in time management. It is about pausing constantly to ask, “Am I investing in the right activities?”

MOST OF WHAT EXISTS IN THE UNIVERSE—OUR ACTIONS, AND ALL OTHER FORCES, RESOURCES, AND IDEAS—HAS LITTLE VALUE AND YIELDS LITTLE RESULT; ON THE OTHER HAND, A FEW THINGS WORK FANTASTICALLY WELL AND HAVE TREMENDOUS IMPACT. —Richard Koch

An essential intent doesn’t have to be elegantly crafted; it’s the substance, not the style that counts. Instead, ask the more essential question that will inform every future decision you will ever make: “If we could be truly excellent at only one thing, what would it be?”

Only you are looking out for your priorities. Other people may try to dictate your priorities, but rarely will it be in your best interest

If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.

REMIND YOURSELF THAT EVERYONE IS SELLING SOMETHING This doesn’t mean you have to be cynical about people. I don’t mean to imply people shouldn’t be trusted. I am simply saying everyone is selling something—an idea, a viewpoint, an opinion—in exchange for your time.

Before committing, evaluate a lot of options. Once you decide, fully commit

Whereas Nonessentialists commit to everything or virtually everything without actually exploring, Essentialists systematically explore and evaluate a broad set of options before committing to any. Because they will commit and “go big” on one or two ideas or activities, they deliberately explore more options at first to ensure that they pick the right one later.

Solitude is essential

The Perks of Being Unavailable WITHOUT GREAT SOLITUDE NO SERIOUS WORK IS POSSIBLE

90% or no

You can think of this as the 90 Percent Rule, and it’s one you can apply to just about every decision or dilemma. As you evaluate an option, think about the single most important criterion for that decision, and then simply give the option a score between 0 and 100. If you rate it any lower than 90 percent, then automatically change the rating to 0 and simply reject it. This way you avoid getting caught up in indecision, or worse, getting stuck with the 60s or 70s

Clarity is essential

So why is it so hard in the moment to dare to choose what is essential over what is nonessential? One simple answer is we are unclear about what is essential. When this happens we become defenseless.

Essentialism should impact all aspects of your life

There are two ways of thinking about Essentialism. The first is to think of it as something you do occasionally. The second is to think of it as something you are. In the former, Essentialism is one more thing to add to your already overstuffed life. In the latter, it is a different way—a simpler way—of doing everything. It becomes a lifestyle. It becomes an all-encompassing approach to living and leading. It becomes the essence of who we are