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What’s truly essential? 3 steps to Essentialism

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I'm highlighting key take-aways from this book.
I’m highlighting key take-aways from this book.

I’m always trying to cram more into my day. Who isn’t? But I’m reading a fascinating book called Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and trying to discern what’s really essential to me and where can I make the greatest contribution.

Greg McKeown is the author of Essentialism, and I heard him discuss this form of “systematic discipline” on this podcast with Michael Hyatt.

McKeown makes the point that we live in a world where “the preponderance of choice has overwhelmed our ability to manage it. We have lost our ability to filter what is important and what isn’t.”

He uses the analogy of our clothing closet — just like it gets cluttered, so do our lives as we make commitments and the list of things we are doing keeps growing.  So the Essentialist way of approaching life, like his or her closet, is three-fold:

1. Explore and evaluate. Take a look at everything you’re doing and determine what you really love or what pertains to your goals.

2. Eliminate. Get rid of the nonessential activities.

3. Execute. Develop a process so you have a method, a systematic discipline, for making these decisions on an ongoing basis. As McKeown states, “It’s about learning how to do less but better so you can achieve the highest possible return on every precious moment in your life.”

I actually read a library copy of this book while on vacation about two months ago, and I liked it so much, I purchased my own copy. Now I’m re-reading it, highlighting key points. From there, I plan to do some discernment as I look at all the activities I have in my life. Now is a good time for me to do this, as it’s been two years since I left daily journalism to “rewire.”

As part of this exercise, I’m going to look back at my journal from 2013-14 where I wrote about what I imagined my life would be like when I left 33 years of full-time journalism. I know I’ve accomplished a lot, but am I achieving what I dreamed? Have those dreams and goals changed?

How about you? What changes have you made in your life to be an Essentialist? Or are you, like me, in need of some soul-searching discernment? 

 

Summer reading for writers: 4 recommendations

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books_writingVacation season is upon us, and besides packing a  good beach read, how about re-charging your writing batteries?

There are many ways to improve your writing, and a little continuing education isn’t hard to come by. Here are some of my favorite books on writing, in no particular order:

Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark:

I’ve learned a lot from Clark over the years, both through his books and by attending seminars at the Poynter Institute. Clark outlines each strategy in just a few pages, so you can easily read a few chapters over lunch.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White:

This classic is probably the most-read book on writing and it easily fits in your pocket or satchel. Who didn’t get their first copy in a high school English composition class? The “Approach to Style” chapter in particular resonates with me: “Write in a way that comes naturally. Write with nouns and verbs. Revise and rewrite. Do not over write.”

On Writing Well by William Zinsser:

I’ve had this book since college days and it’s the book I’ve recommended most often to high school and college students. I love what Zinsser says at the opening of Chapter 2, which is titled Simplicity. “Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.” Amen.

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. 

The subtitle of this book is “Freeing the Writer Within.” This book is full of inspiration. Goldberg points out that just like running, the more you write, the better you get at it. As for running, “You practice whether you want to or not. You don’t wait around for inspiration and a deep desire to run…That’s how writing is, too. Once you’re deep into it, you wonder what took you so long to finally settle down at the desk.” 

So true for me.

So what are your favorite books about writing?