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What do I love about: Essentialism?
In this era where we are inundated with so many options, the writer uses the principle of essentialism to describe how one can achieve more happiness and success by eliminating noise, saying more Nos, avoiding the undisciplined pursuit of more and placing emphasis on FOCUS of a few important things.
What do I not love about: Essentialism?
Zilch
Who should read: Essentialism?
Everyone who is anxious by all the things they have to do and achieve. Anyone who thinks they do not have enough time in the day to do all the need to do. Anyone who thinks they are stretched thin either at work or at home.
Who should not read: Essentialism?
Zilch
Notes on Essentialism
Chapter 1: The essentialist
- The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials
Chapter 2: Choose
- If you do not priorities your life, someone else will
- It is the ability to choose that makes us human
Chapter 3: Discern
- Pareto principle: that 20 percent of our effort produces 80 percent of the result
- The law of the vital few states that you could massively improve the quality of a product by resolving a tiny fraction of the problems
Chapter 4: Tradeoff
- You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything
- The law of power means that certain efforts actually produce exponentially more results than others
Chapter 5: Escape
- In order to have focus we need to escape for focus
- Without great solitude no serious work is possible
Chapter 7: Play
- Nothing fires the brain like play
- Stress increases the activity in the part of the brain that monitors emotions (the amygdala), while reducing the activity in the part of the brain responsible for cognitive function (the hippocampus)
- Play does not just help us to explore what is essential. It is essential in and of itself
Chapter 8: Sleep
- We need to be as strategic with ourselves as we are with our careers and our business. We need to pace ourselves, nurture ourselves, and give ourselves fuel to explore, thrive and perform
- Our highest priority is to protect our ability to prioritize
Chapter 9: Select
- If the answer isn’t a definite yes then it should be a no
Chapter 11: Dare
- Courage is grace under pressure
Chapter 12: Uncommit
- Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying YES too quickly and not saying NO too soon enough
Chapter 16: Subtract
- To attain knowledge add things everyday. To attain wisdom subtract things everyday
Chapter 17: Progress
- Everyday do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow
Chapter 18: Flow
- Routine in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition
Chapter 19: Focus
- Life is available only in the present moment. If you abandon the present moment you cannot live the moments of your daily life deeply
- In work, do what you enjoy. In family, be completely present
Chapter 20: Be
- Beware the barrenness of a busy life