Essentialism Summary (Greg McKeown)"

1. Execute

1.1. Leadership

1.1.1. Strategy: defines an essential intent (the one thing) and eliminates all non essential distractions

1.1.2. Accountability: checks with people in a gentle way to see how he can remove obstacles

1.1.3. Communication: Listen to get what is essential, communicate crystall clear

1.1.4. Empowerment: focus on highest role and contribution of each team member

1.1.5. Talent: extreamly selective, removes people who hold the team back

1.1.6. Teams: clarity of purpose is essential

1.1.7. Mindset: less but better

1.2. To be (an essantialist)

1.2.1. When others are speaking, you will be listening

1.2.2. When others are saying yes, you are saing no

1.2.3. When others are doing you will be thinking

1.2.4. You will live a life of impact and fulfilment

1.2.5. Fully embrace the way of an essentialist

1.2.6. Living a life that really matters

1.2.7. Allways ask what is essential?

1.2.8. Eliminate everything else

1.2.9. Less but better

1.2.10. More control

1.2.11. More clarity

1.3. Flow

1.3.1. Design a routine that enshrines what is essential, making execution almost effortless

1.3.2. Mix up your routines: tackle youre routines one by one

1.3.3. Overhaul your triggers, create new one's

1.3.4. Do the most dificult thing first

1.3.5. The power of the right routine

1.4. Subtract

1.4.1. Remove the obstacles: "catch more flies with honey" approach

1.4.2. What is getting in the way of achieving what is essential

1.4.3. Identify the slowest "hiker" and improve him first

1.4.4. Be clear about the essential intent

1.4.5. Remove obstacles to progress

1.5. Focus

1.5.1. Multi-tasking possible but not multi-focusing

1.5.2. focuse your mind on the present

1.5.3. Get the future out of your head

1.5.4. Kairos: live fully in the now

1.5.5. What is important now

1.5.6. Enjoy the moment

1.5.7. Prioritise

1.6. Buffer

1.6.1. Build in a buffer for unexpected events

1.6.2. Practise extreme and early preparation

1.6.3. Add 50% to your time estimation

1.6.4. Conduct scenario planing

1.7. Progress

1.7.1. The primary internal motivators for people are achievement and recognition for achievement

1.7.2. A small , concrete win creates momentum and affirms our faith in our further success

1.7.3. Start with small changes in the things we do often

1.7.4. Start early and small not late and big

1.7.4.1. Start small and get big results

1.7.5. Focus on minimal valuable progress

1.7.6. Visually reward progress

1.7.7. The power of small wins

1.7.7.1. Celebrate small wins

2. Non-Essentialist vs. Essentialist

2.1. Essence

2.1.1. 1.

2.1.2. 2.

2.1.3. 3.

2.2. Explore

2.2.1. 1.

2.2.2. 2.

2.2.3. 3.

2.2.4. 4.

2.2.5. 5.

2.3. Eliminate

2.3.1. 1.

2.3.2. 2.

2.3.3. 3.

2.3.4. 4.

2.3.5. 5.

2.4. Execute

2.4.1. 1.

2.4.2. 2.

2.4.3. 3.

2.4.4. 4.

2.4.5. 5.

2.4.6. 6.

2.4.7. 7.

3. Explore

3.1. Select

3.1.1. Say yes to only the top 10 % of opportunities

3.1.2. Use narrow explicit criteria like "Is this exactly what I am looking for?"

3.1.3. If it isnt a clear yes than it is a clear no

3.1.4. What taps my talent?

3.1.5. What am I deeply passioned about?

3.2. Look

3.2.1. Keep your eyes peeled for unusual details

3.2.2. Find the essence of the information

3.2.3. Filter for the fascinating

3.2.4. Get out into the field

3.2.5. Clarify the question

3.2.6. The big picture

3.3. Sleep

3.3.1. Sleep enables the highest level of mental contribution

3.3.2. Enough sleep = higher productivity

3.3.3. Sleep is for high performers

3.3.4. Sleep breeds creativity

3.3.5. Sleep is a priority

3.4. Escape

3.4.1. Create space to escape and explore life

3.4.2. Space to concentrate

3.4.3. Space to read

3.5. Play

3.5.1. Play sparks exploration and creativity

3.5.2. Play is essential

4. Eliminate

4.1. Dare

4.1.1. The "no" repertoire

4.1.1.1. Let me check my calendar and get back to you

4.1.1.2. The awkward pause: just pause for a moment

4.1.1.3. Yes, what should I deprioritise?

4.1.1.4. The soft "no": not yet but later

4.1.1.5. Use eamil automatic replies

4.1.1.6. Offer an alternative

4.1.1.7. Say no with humor

4.1.2. Dare to say no firmly, resolutely, and gracefully

4.1.3. Say yes only to the things that really matter

4.1.4. Seperate the decison from the relationship

4.1.5. Remind yourself that everyone is selling something

4.2. Clarity

4.2.1. Essential Intent: inspirational and concrete, meaningful and memorable

4.2.2. Once the big decison is made, all subsequent decisons come into better focus

4.2.3. Only with real clarity can people fully mobilise and achieve something truly excellent

4.2.4. How will we know when we have succeeded?

4.2.5. From pretty clear to really clear

4.2.6. What do you really want?

4.3. Limits

4.3.1. Craft social contracts: "lets just agree on what we want to achive", "Here are a couple of things that really matter to me"

4.3.2. Set rules in advance that eliminate the need for the direct "no"

4.3.3. Their problem is not your problem

4.3.4. Dont rob people of their problems

4.3.5. See boundaries as liberating

4.3.6. Find your dealbreakers

4.4. Edit

4.4.1. Make cutting, condensing and correcting a natural part of your daily routine

4.4.2. Eliminate the distracting words, images and details

4.4.3. Making thingsbetter means subtracting something

4.4.4. Edit less: resist the temptation to add your two cents to a draft discussion

4.4.5. Correct by coming back to your core purpose

4.4.6. Cut out options

4.5. Uncommit

4.5.1. If I werent't already invested in this project, how much woul I invest in it now?

4.5.2. Pretend you dont own it yet to evaluate the value

4.5.3. What else could I do with this time or money if I pulled the plug now?

4.5.4. Run a reverse pilot: check if removing an activity or initiative has any negative effect

4.5.5. From now on pause before you speak

4.5.6. Stop making casual commitments

4.5.7. Get over the fear of missing out

4.5.8. Admit failure to beginn success

4.5.9. Be aware of the status quo bias

4.5.10. Win big by cutting your losses

4.5.11. Get a neutral second opinion

4.5.12. Apply zero-based budgeting

4.5.13. Get over the fear of waste

4.5.14. Stop trying to force a fit

5. Essence

5.1. Choose

5.1.1. If you could do only 1 think with your life, what would it be?

5.1.2. Exercise the power of choice

5.2. Discern

5.2.1. Destinguish the vital few from the trivial many

5.2.2. Almost everything is non-essential

5.3. Trade Off

5.3.1. What is the trade off I want to make?

5.3.2. What can I go big on?