Everyone is on a quest for their own sense of meaning. Maintaining a proper sense of perspective is essential.
I received a timely gift from my friend and colleague.
Adam Griffin sent several folks in WordPress VIP a copy Greg Mckeown’s book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. I listened to the Audible version at 1.5x speed over the weekend and felt a sense of micro renewal.
Adam describes the book as something he returns often. Given the current global reality, he thought it would be helpful to focus on “small hinges that swing big doors.” (Love that!)
Key Takeaways…
There is a path to our highest contribution. Mckeowen asks, at the end of your life, will you say, “I wish I’d been less true to myself and done all the nonessential things others expected of me?”
Our highest contribution matters most. On any given day, we have things we could do and should do. The could is the easy stuff, the should is the hard stuff. If we’re not prioritizing the should stuff, it means we’re borrowing from our future success.
I can do anything, but not everything. This means the things we choose to do need to have our full attention, especially when stress runs high. This is a great reminder, especially for people that wear lots of hats (like me).
If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will. We all have people vying for our attention, which is limited bandwidth. Prioritizing our time is a gift we can give to ourselves and to others. Don’t rush to make other peoples problems your own.
Trigger phrases need disruptive thinking. Taking a note from Stephen Covey’s famous maxims, Notice and change phrases…
“I must!” –> “I choose.”
“It’s important!” –> “Only a few things matter.”
“I can do both.” –> “I can do anything, but not everything”
Trade-offs are an inherent part of life! Saying yes to something means saying no to something else. Instead of thinking about what you’re sacrificing, think about where you can go big.
I especially appreciated McKeown’s long view on metanoia, or change through inner conversion. Our work in digital media blends form and function, art and tech, the mystical and lucid. Mckeowen encourages the modern thinker to read the classics in philosophy and literature. He swims in the deep end of the pool with theological concepts of chronos and kairos, a refreshing surprise within a business text.