# Essentialism  ## Metadata - Author: [[Greg McKeown]] - Full Title: Essentialism - Category: #books ## Highlights - “Is this the very most important thing I should be doing with my time and resources right now?” ([Location 64](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=64)) - If he couldn’t answer a definitive yes, then he would refuse the request. ([Location 65](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=65)) - Instead of making just a millimeter of progress in a million directions he began to generate tremendous momentum towards accomplishing the things that were truly vital. ([Location 76](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=76)) - In this example is the basic value proposition of Essentialism: only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter. ([Location 83](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=83)) - succinct principle, captured in just three German words: Weniger aber besser. The English translation is: Less but better. A more fitting definition of Essentialism would be hard to come by. ([Location 98](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=98)) - It is about pausing constantly to ask, “Am I investing in the right activities?” ([Location 103](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=103)) - Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. ([Location 106](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=106)) - The way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default. Instead of making choices reactively, the Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many, eliminates the nonessentials, and then removes obstacles so the essential things have clear, smooth passage. In other words, Essentialism is a disciplined, systematic approach for determining where our highest point of contribution lies, then making execution of those things almost effortless. ([Location 116](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=116)) - If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will. ([Location 151](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=151)) - “What would happen if we could figure out the one thing you could do that would make the highest contribution?” I asked him. He responded sincerely: “That is the question.” ([Location 171](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=171)) - We have lost our ability to filter what is important and what isn’t. Psychologists call this “decision fatigue”: the more choices we are forced to make, the more the quality of our decisions deteriorates.5 ([Location 198](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=198)) - It leads to staff meetings where as many as ten “top priorities” are discussed with no sense of irony at all. ([Location 211](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=211)) - The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing. It stayed singular for the next five hundred years. Only in the 1900s did we pluralize the term and start talking about priorities. Illogically, we reasoned that by changing the word we could bend reality. ([Location 212](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=212)) - “Will this activity or effort make the highest possible contribution toward my goal?” ([Location 241](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=241)) - “If I didn’t already own this, how much would I spend to buy it?” This usually does the trick. ([Location 246](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=246)) - Essentialism is about creating a system for handling the closet of our lives. This is not a process you undertake once a year, once a month, or even once a week, like organizing your closet. It is a discipline you apply each and every time you are faced with a decision about whether to say yes or whether to politely decline. ([Location 264](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00G1J1D28&location=264))