Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

The commitment to doing only the things that were truly important — and eliminating everything else — restores the quality of your work.

Give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone.

The Essentialist way

The way of the Essentialist is the relentless pursuit of less but better.

Essentialism is a disciplined, systematic approach for determining where our highest point of contribution lies, then making execution of those things almost effortless.

Three core truths:

  • “I choose to”
  • “Only a few things really matter”
  • “I can do anything but not everything”

On attention

Essentialists are powerful observers and listeners. They pay attention to everything — listening deliberately for what is not being explicitly stated.

On clarity

If we could be truly excellent at only one thing, what would it be?

How will we know when we have succeeded?

It takes asking tough questions, making real trade-offs, and exercising serious discipline to cut out the competing priorities that distract us from our true intention.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

Clarity about what is essential fuels us with the strength to say no to the nonessentials.

On saying no

The point is to say no to the nonessentials so we can say yes to the things that really matter. It is to say no — frequently and gracefully — to everything but what is truly vital.

Tips for saying no:

  • Separate the decision from the relationship
  • Saying no gracefully doesn’t have to mean using the word no
  • Focus on the trade-off
  • Remind yourself that everyone is selling something
  • Make your peace with the fact that saying no often requires trading popularity for respect

On journaling

A journal is like a storage device for backing up our brain’s faulty hard drive.

Capture the headline.

On relationships

“Bonded him to me forever because I knew what mattered most to him was me.”

On preparation

Use extreme preparation — create a buffer to keep your work and sanity from swerving off the road.