With Essentialism, Greg McKeown helps us decide and commit to what's truly important to us. Our toughest challenge is not distinguishing between good and bad choices, but consistently selecting the best choices. Keeping perspective and having the discipline to follow through on the proper decision in varying situations helps you sleep better at night, knowing you used your day to be true to yourself.

Takeaways:

1. How to say no. McKeown mentions several approaches that help you say "no" more easily. One of them is clarifying your priorities so you can cut out nonessential activities. In line with one of his ongoing sayings throughout the book: if you're not saying "no" by design, then you're saying "no" by default. Prior to serving as a church class director, I was volunteering in several areas: coffee service, widows, and prison ministry, to name a few. When I began my term as director, I struggled to detach from the other activities, which meant I was ultimately forfeiting sleep, spontaneous opportunities, and downtime. Having to decline fun things that came up because I was already too exhausted left me in a frustrated and self-loathing state.

2. Intentionally evaluate. If people don't take time to assess their priorities and contrast them with their calendar and checkbook, they shouldn't expect to be surprised if they go nowhere. Vision without action is a dream; action without vision is a nightmare. After stepping down as director, I narrowed down what I wanted to commit to. I decided on leadership, dancing, and international service. This meant transitioning out of prison ministry, serving coffee, and other extraneous church volunteer opportunities. This also meant having to critically evaluate new activities that came up to see if they aligned with my updated priorities.

3. Cut out noise. One difficult aspect in embracing Essentialism is to admit I can be my own worst distraction-prone enemy. Viewing ESPN and Netflix might help me recharge, but those outlets merely drain time in the middle of an important project. One of the greatest ironies is storing all my work online, which puts my most urgent tasks next to my biggest distraction. One approach, then, is to either set up a website blocker or remove wireless access from my laptop so I don't default to comfort. The next would be to cancel the Netflix subscription to keep movies out of reach.

4. Create margin. Relaxation helps your focus and energy level. Commit to leave fifteen minutes earlier than your originally scheduled departure time, or deliberately clear out one Saturday each month. Before moving to Houston, I struggled to fill my life with fun. Living there gave me the opposite problem, however. I've had to filter the overwhelming amount of activities as I battle the fear of missing out.

5. Develop internal courage. While we all need the help of others to check our blind spots, we are still in charge of our own lives. Excessive reliance on external opinions for direction leaves us feeling paralyzed and unsatisfied. Once I committed to my new priorities, plenty of people asked me why I wasn't as involved with previous activities. Worse, others presented opportunities that overlapped with what I declared as important, but I still wasn't excited about doing. Either way, I had to let go of the expectations others had of me and prioritize the ones I made for myself. Everyone can have an opinion about my life, but few actually matter. Figuring out which ones ultimately comes down to my decision.

I've listened to this book multiple times to retain its concepts. Often I felt like I had to be the hero every time someone needed help. Therefore, others didn't have to come off the sideline because they got used to my rescuing the situation each time. Realizing that I didn't have to solve every problem I encountered was not a measure of passivity. Instead, letting go gave them the opportunity to step up and allowed me to focus on my biggest, most important challenges.