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I'll be the first to admit that choices are hard. By definition they involve saying no to something or several somethings, and that can feel like a loss. Outside the workplace, choices can be even harder. Any time we walk into a store or a restaurant or anywhere selling something, everything is designed to make it hard for us to say no.
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Greg McKeown |
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To eliminate non-essentials means saying no to someone.
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Greg McKeown |
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Instead of forcing execution, Essentialists invest the time they have saved into creating a system for removing obstacles and making execution as easy as possible.
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Greg McKeown |
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This is why an Essentialist takes the time to explore all his options. The extra investment is justified because some things are so much more important that they repay the effort invested in finding those things tenfold. An Essentialist, in other words, discerns more so he can do less.
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Greg McKeown |
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story: ignoring the reality of trade-offs is a terrible strategy for organisations.
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Greg McKeown |
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Most creative individuals find out early what their best rhythms are for sleeping, eating, and working, and abide by them even when it is tempting to do otherwise," Mihaly says. "They wear clothes that are comfortable, they interact only with people they find congenial, they do only things they think are important. Of course, such idiosyncrasies are not endearing to those they have to deal with.... But personalizing patterns of action helps..
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Greg McKeown |
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what really counted was the relationship between time and results.
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Greg McKeown |
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20 per cent of our efforts produce 80 per cent of results.
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Greg McKeown |
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once you've figured out which activities and efforts to keep in your life, you have to have a system for executing them.
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Greg McKeown |
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According to the power law theory, certain efforts actually produce exponentially more results than others. For example, as Nathan Myhrvold, the former chief technology officer for Microsoft, has said (and then confirmed to me in person), "The top software developers are more productive than average software developers not by a factor of 10X or 100X or even 1,000X but by 10,000X."8 It may be an exaggeration, but it still makes the point tha..
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Greg McKeown |
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The best surgeon is not the one who makes the most incisions;
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Greg McKeown |
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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?"
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Greg McKeown |
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Essentialism is not abotu how to get more things done; it's about how to get the right things done. It doesn't mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential.
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Greg McKeown |
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Instead of making choices reactively, the Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many, eliminates the non-essentials, and then removes obstacles so the essential things have clear, smooth passage.
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Greg McKeown |
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Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it's about how to get the right things done.
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Greg McKeown |
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Psychologists call this "decision fatigue": the more choices we are forced to make, the more the quality of our decisions deteriorates.5"
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Greg McKeown |
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When we don't purposefully and deliberately choose where to focus our energies and time, other people - our bosses, our colleagues, our clients, and even our families - will choose for us, and before long we'll have lost sight of everything that is meaningful and important. We can either make our choices
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Greg McKeown |
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not just haphazardly saying no, but purposefully, deliberately, and strategically eliminating the non-essentials, and not just getting rid of the obvious time wasters, but cutting out some really good opportunities as well.
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Greg McKeown |
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In your personal or professional life, the equivalent of asking yourself which clothes you love is asking yourself, "Will this activity or effort make the highest possible contribution towards my goal?" --
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Greg McKeown |
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to give up?" they ask, "What do I want to go big on?" The cumulative impact of this small change in thinking can be profound."
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Greg McKeown |
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Essentialists will commit and "go big" on only the vital few ideas or activities, they explore more options at first to ensure they pick the right one later."
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Greg McKeown |
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anytime you fail to say "no" to a nonessential, you are really saying yes by default."
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Greg McKeown |
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When making decisions, deciding to cut options can be terrifying - but the truth is, it is the very essence of decision making.
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Greg McKeown |
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it in one?
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Greg McKeown |
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condensing doesn't mean doing more at once, it simply means less waste. It means lowering the ratio of words to ideas, square feet to usefulness, or effort to results. Thus to apply the principle of condensing to our lives we need to shift the ratio of activity to meaning. We need to eliminate multiple meaningless activities and replace them with one very meaningful activity. For example, one employee at a company I've worked with (one who ..
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Greg McKeown |
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Understanding the overarching intent allows him to make the corrections that even Spielberg himself might not be able to verbalise.
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Greg McKeown |
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Similarly, in our own professional or private lives we can make corrections by coming back to our core purpose.
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Greg McKeown |
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Editing aids the effortless execution of the Essentialist by removing anything distracting or unnecessary or awkward.
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Greg McKeown |
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we can reduce the friction of executing the essential in our work and lives simply by creating a buffer.
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Greg McKeown |
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If I had made an exception then I might have made it many times."2 Boundaries are a little like the walls of a sandcastle. The second we let one fall over, the rest of them come crashing down."
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Greg McKeown |
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However, not pushing back costs more: our ability to choose what is most essential in life. For Jin-Yung and Clay, respect in the workplace and time for God and family were most important, so these were the things they deliberately and strategically chose to prioritise. After all, if you don't set boundaries - there won't be any. Or even worse, there will be boundaries, but they'll be set by default - or by another person - instead of by de..
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Greg McKeown |
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was once paired with a colleague who approached projects in a completely opposite way. People predicted there would be fireworks between us. But our working relationship was actually quite harmonious. Why? Because when we first got together I made it a point to lay out my priorities and what extra work I would and wouldn't be willing to take on over the life span of the project.
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Greg McKeown |
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saying yes to any opportunity by definition requires saying no to several others.
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Greg McKeown |
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we can either make the hard choices for ourselves or allow others - whether our colleagues, our boss, or our customers - to decide for us.
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Greg McKeown |
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Essentialists ask the tougher but ultimately more liberating question, "Which problem do I want?" An Essentialist makes trade-offs deliberately."
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Greg McKeown |
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trade-offs represent a significant opportunity. By forcing us to weigh both options and strategically select the best one for us, we significantly increase our chance of achieving the outcome we want.
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Greg McKeown |
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only with real clarity of purpose can people, teams, and organizations fully mobilize and achieve something truly excellent.
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Greg McKeown |
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This logic holds true in our personal lives as well. When we were newlyweds, Anna and I met someone who had, as far as we could tell, an amazing marriage and family. We wanted to learn from him, so we asked him, What's your secret? One of the things he told us was that he and his wife had decided not to be a part of any clubs. He didn't join the local lodge. She didn't join the book clubs. It wasn't that they had no interest in those things..
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Greg McKeown |
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a simple, systematic process you can use to apply selective criteria to opportunities that come your way. First, write down the opportunity. Second, write down a list of three "minimum criteria" the options would need to "pass" in order to be considered. Third, write down a list of three ideal or "extreme criteria" the options would need to "pass" in order to be considered. By definition, if the opportunity doesn't pass the first set of cri..
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Greg McKeown |
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Phones are prohibited. E- mail is outlawed. There is no agenda.
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Greg McKeown |
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a lead contains the why, what, when , and who of the piece.
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Greg McKeown |
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Imagination is the source of every form of human achievement. And it's the one thing that I believe we are systematically jeopardizing in the way we educate our children and ourselves.
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Greg McKeown |
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Since becoming an Essentialist I have found it almost universally true that people respect and admire those with the courage of conviction to say no.
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Greg McKeown |
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ADD 50 PERCENT TO YOUR TIME ESTIMATE
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Greg McKeown |