5 Reasons That Make Essentialism The Most Rich Habit
Have you ever felt like doing unnecessary things that are not just unuseful, but they drain your time and energy? Also, working overtime and not having time to spend with family?
We live in a society where most often we are punished for acting good and awarded for our bad habits.
As it is presented in “Essentialism”, by Greg McKeown, all the choices we have in life are shown as a comparison between the system of managing our life and dealing with the clothing closet, where our life is presented in three steps where you evaluate and estimate if you are good looking in that clothes and if you are ever going to wear them (the same applies to your activities), then eliminating part of the clothes (activities), and execute at the end.
“Less but better” principle
Essentialism isn’t about getting everything done, but get the right things done.
-Greg McKeown
You will need a strong effort to start the process of eliminating the unimportant activities from everyday life and the bigger plans and ideas for the future, learning how to SAY NO, to the others, but first to yourself, and instead of doing everything, do the right things.
But, you need to make time for fun too, because that is what keeps our mind fresh. The word “school” itself comes from the greek word which means “time off”. Games are a good way to stimulate the parts of our brains which are responsible for logical thinking and productivity. When we were kids, nobody was teaching us intentionally how to play. A big part of the companies in the world are considering the games to be waste of time, unnecessary and childish, but it is proven that the game has the power of improving things like your health, your relationship, education etc, and contributes to creativity and adaptability.
I must apologize: if I had more time I would have written a shorter letter“
-Blaise Pascal
If you focus on being selective toward your daily activities, You will have more time for the things that matter. Have you ever caught yourself missing a life event in your family, just because you couldn’t afford the luxury of missing a meeting at work? Focusing your energy in many directions, pressured by everyday and social life, thinking that you can have everything done.
If you dare to SAY NO to the things that don’t really matter, You will get the right things done. You should make a difference between canceling the meeting and canceling to the person, and that also it can be said with polite NO and with an explanation for the reasons for canceling. Everyone sells something (idea or opportunity) in exchange for your time and you will decide what will you trade your time for. You need to learn to say slow YES and fast NO. Be brave and confident to admit your mistakes and change directions no matter the cost of your time and efforts until that point.
In contrast, the nonessentials are considering that if they were spending money and time on something, they should keep going further until they get back what they have invested (money and time).
If you manage to stay focused, You will feel more productive and successful. It is very hard or impossible to focus on two things at the same time. It is one thing to be present, but another to be focused. Despite the fact that you need to be focused on what you are doing at the moment, you also need to take out of your head the thoughts for the future, because that is holding you back from completely dedicating to what is happening at the moment.
You can try with creating a system, similar to the one that is used by the police, where instead of punishment technique you will be using an award technique on yourself. It is crucial for you to start with minor progress and celebrate the small wins. The power of the progress is in the small wins. You need to start with smaller steps and celebrate the progress you make because the small specific wins are creating the moment and confirm your faith in future success. The best way to start with those minor changes is with changing our daily routines and with that You will have more time for working on yourself. The routine for the intelligent person is a sign of ambition. As an essentialist, you will create a routine that contains only the essentials, and no effort is needed for its pursuit. That is one of the most powerful tools for removing obstacles. And the real routine is not a monotony of the things that you are doing, but it can stimulate you to be innovative and creative.
The essentialist is investing his time in a manner of giving himself space for thinking, listening and debating with one main purpose, to increase his own values.
Finding a way how to escape your busy everyday life can make you Better organized person with more predictable events. You can start simple with reading a book or thinking about the essentials and working on the bigger picture. Setting up daily routines will help you change your habits, no matter if it is about working habits or personal habits. You should always focus on the present and enjoy it without thinking about the past or the future.
Always make a selection and if the choice is “weak YES” it means NO. You need to have clear goals. If you don’t understand the rules of the game and the goal, you won’t be able to adjust to that game and you will just follow your own rules and expect your own results. You will want to look just better than your competitors and you will lose the direction that you were heading to.
That happens in your real life too, when you have NO CLEAR WHY, then you play your own social game, trying to compete with other people.
„No more Yes. It’s either HELL YEAH! Or No!”
“ If it isn’t a clear YES, then it’s a clear NO”
-Maricar L. Testa
