When there is a lack of clarity, people waste time and energy on the trivial many. When
Think about it this way. Options (things) can be taken away, while our core ability to choose (free will) cannot be.
The right no spoken at the right time can change the course of history.
The Latin root of the word decision – cis or cid – literally means to cut or to kill.
THE WISDOM OF LIFE CONSISTS IN THE ELIMINATION OF NON-ESSENTIALS. —Lin Yutang
So if the stigma of sleep still exists in your workplace, consider developing an initiative at work to explicitly encourage sleep. If that sounds radical, consider how the many benefits of sleep—great...
Nothing fires up the brain like play.
Norway also benefited enormously from windfall taxes from oil but unlike Britain, Norway invested much of its good fortune in an endowment.2 Today, this endowment has grown over time to be worth an ex...
My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.
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...
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.
I choose to, Only a few things really matter, and I can do anything but not everything.
GIVE ME SIX HOURS TO CHOP DOWN A TREE AND I WILL SPEND THE FIRST FOUR SHARPENING THE AXE. —Attributed to Abraham Lincoln
Bill Gates, who regularly (and famously) takes a regular week off from his daily duties at Microsoft simply to think and read.
We live in a world where almost everything is worthless and a very few things are exceptionally valuable.
Saying yes to any opportunity by definition requires saying no to several others.
Discern the vital few from the trivial many.
Yet on closer examination we can see this compulsion to do more is a smokescreen. These people don’t believe they have a choice in what opportunity, assignment, or challenge to take on. They believe t...
WHERE IS THE KNOWLEDGE WE HAVE LOST IN INFORMATION? —T. S. Eliot
There is something powerful about visibly seeing progress toward a goal. Don