Congratulations, you are largely living the life of an Essentialist. Keep it up! Essentialism is a discipline that you apply consistently, diligently, each and every time you are faced with a decision about where to spend your time and energy. The more you practice discerning what it truly Essential- and eliminating what is not – the higher contribution you will be able to make towards those things that are truly vital. With practice, doing less, but better, will become even more natural and effortless. Think where you may have had a B or C and strategize where you might need to put more effort.

You are well on your way to living and leading as an Essentialist. Continue to practice the disciplined pursuit of less in 3 ways.

1. Apply a more selective criteria to what you commit to. Ask yourself “is this the most important thing I could be doing right now”? If the answer is not a clear yes, then it should be a clear no.
2. Exercise your indivisible right to Uncommit. Remember that choice is at the very core of what it means to be an Essentialist.
3. When trying to discern what is and is not essential, remember to listen carefully, edit brutally and never underestimate the power of sleep, play, and making the time and space to escape. In time you will not only find yourself closer to becoming an Essentialist, but also experiencing greater joy in the journey.

You are still mired in the trap of Nonessentialist. To begin to practice the disciplined pursuit of less, you must first adopt the core logic of the Essentialist by embracing the following three realities:

1. We ALL have the invincible right to choose how we spend our energy and time. The second we forfeit the right to choose, we give others the implicit permission to choose for us.
2. Almost everything is unimportant and only a few things are truly vital. By the same logic, there are many good (or even very good opportunities) but only a few truly great opportunities.
3. Everything in life is a trade-off. No matter who we are or how much we try, we cannot do it all. Rather than asking “how can I make it all work” we can instead ask “which problem do I want to solve.”