Stop Majoring in the Minor

Essentialism is the key topic in Greg McKeown's book, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.??In his book he describes a common phenomenon and suggests a drastic shift.

Let’s face it, we are busy bodies, saying yes, when we should often say no. I'm guilty of that and I'm quite certain many of you reading this post are guilty of saying yes when no is the right answer.

?Doing it all is a myth. In fact, Michael Hyatt, says it best, "When we say yes to something, we automatically say no to something else."

?The side effect?

We are stretched too thin. Pulled this way and that.

Our attention is dissected, and we make little progress on things that supposedly mean the most to us. This happens in our personal and professional life.

This leads to a feeling of being overworked yet under accomplished because we don't spend time on what's important.

Greg McKeown says - "we major in minor activities."

?He goes on to suggest the way out and calls it essentialism:

"Do less but better."?

?Essentialism is defined as the consistent and focused pursuit of less but better.?It’s not about being more efficient or doing more with less (or less with less), as is expected by many companies. It requires stopping regularly to ask yourself whether you’re spending your time and resources on the right things.?Your key resource being your talent pool.

?People can't invest time, effort, and energy into everything. ?They must choose where to focus and those efforts should align with your business strategy. ?

?When we use essentialism, we differentiate among the options and select a few essential ones while ditching the rest.?That’s strategy at its best.?

?Consider integrating the art of essentialism into your organization’s culture.?Your people will thank you for the time they have to “do less but better.”