Randy Reviews Essentialism by Greg McKeown
If you read What Would You Do With $26 Million?, then you know that the $26 million I “made” in cryptocurrency this summer taught me a big lesson about the things that are important to me in life. When I thought I was a millionaire for a hot minute, my family, my team, and my freedom jumped to the top of the list. But that experience also taught me what wasn’t important.
You know what I didn’t think about during that whole crypto experience? My stuff! It never crossed my mind to buy a private plane, a yacht, or a new truck. I came out the other side of thinking that maybe those minimalist entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are on to something after all.
It’s easy for our lives to get cluttered with unnecessary junk that doesn’t help us and might actually hurt us. The same goes for our work schedules and businesses. If you need a reminder about what’s important to you, check out the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.
In the book, McKeown shares tips for saying no, delegating, and paring down life to the essentials. He calls this strategy essentialism. It’s all about “doing less, but better” in order to boost your productivity and decrease your stress at the same time. He even shares stories of how entrepreneurs use this strategy of focusing on their strengths to make more money and find more success! I think it’s a lesson any business owner should learn.
“Only once you give yourself permission to try to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter,” McKeown says. “If it isn’t a clear yes, then it’s a clear no.” Entrepreneurs and managers like us have the power to make these kinds of choices and organize our own lives. And there’s nothing sweeter than that freedom! If you have time to do some reading during the Thanksgiving holiday, pick up a copy of “Essentialism” and see where your real priorities lie.
-Randy Sklar
