Essentialism, a philosophy that encourages us to distill our lives down to their most vital elements, can be a transformative practice. Discover the art of essentialism and how it can help you focus on what truly matters.
Essentialism
Essentialism is the art of discerning between external noise and internal voice
- It’s a mindset-a way of life.
- Work more. Do more. Get more. Fit in more. More more more
- Say yes to everything
- Know tradeoffs or trade what is most dear
- Create pause with your decisions, even with your boss, and properly identify the essential
- Make a decision based on internal clarity of purpose
Implement a rating scale to measure true value and effectiveness
Evaluate where each thing falls on a 10pt scale
- Discern more and do less
- Elevate value and get the real results
- Don’t misinterpret pressure for purpose, don’t mistake effort with output, and don’t comment.
- Join fewer calls
- Attend fewer meetings
- Stay on the primary contributions and real results
Be an anti-endowmentalist
The Endowment Effect is the idea that we value objects and opportunities higher if we own them versus if we don’t
- Essentialism is a mindset-not a tactic or tip to do more
- Stop making the fool’s bargain
- Things inevitably take longer, doing fewer things and choosing more carefully is essential
Lose the popularity contest
Do not attend meetings that are not important-when people question your absence, apologize and ask what they need you to contribute
- Be okay with what you lose short-term from a drop in popularity
- The long-term respect you gain from real results, real work, real contributions, and real tangible value outweighs the loss in popularity votes
- Protect against rampant moment erosion
- Reduce the impulse to always have something to do
- In the end, what truly matters?
