“Essentialism: the disciplined pursuit of less”

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin? 
Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized? 
Are you often busy but not productive? 
Do you feel like your time is constantly being hijacked by other people’s agendas? 

If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the “Way of the Essentialist.” 

The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting “only the right things” done.

It is not a time management strategy, or a productivity technique. It is a “systematic discipline” for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter. 

By forcing us to apply a more selective criteria for what is Essential, the disciplined pursuit of less empowers us to reclaim control of our own choices about where to spend our precious time and energy – instead of giving others the implicit permission to choose for us. 

Essentialism is not one more thing – it’s a whole new way of doing everything. It’s about doing less, but better, in every area of our lives. 

Essentialism is a movement whose time has come.”

Sounding familiar?
Following on from yesterdays post, doing “busywork” is not living the life of an “Essentialist”.

Is what you’re right now essential to the revenue generating aspects of your business?
If not, then stop and do that instead…

 

“stop the Busywork! seven ways you can DO more great work”

“Imagine everything you do could fall into one of three buckets:
Bad Work.
Good Work.
Great Work.

I’m not talking about the quality of the work you deliver – I’ve no doubt that’s fine.
I’m talking about the meaning the work has for you and the impact it makes.

Most of us have found that the goal of our current working lives is simply to get through the stuff
it has got to stop…

read on…

What appeals to me about this manifesto is that the logic works for a business owner equally as well.

thank you ChangeThis.com

Ziauddin Yousafzai: My daughter, Malala

Pakistani educator Ziauddin Yousafzai reminds the world of a simple truth that many don’t want to hear: Women and men deserve equal opportunities for education, autonomy, an independent identity. He tells stories from his own life and the life of his daughter, Malala, who was shot by the Taliban in 2012 simply for daring to go to school. “Why is my daughter so strong?” Yousafzai asks. “Because I didn’t clip her wings.”

A lesson for all entrepreneurial mothers too…

if you’re at a loss, you can always ask your clients what they want…

MileWide

Back to looking for is an “inch-wide, mile-deep” niche. That means it needs to be something very specific, that lots of people like your clients are looking for. Something they obsess about or would if they knew about them.

So, what do you know about your current clients that you can use to inspire you to come up with new products…

If you’re still at a loss, you can always ask them!
Why not survey them, make some calls, get a third party to interview a few to find out a thing or two.

Mind you that said, allegedly Steve Jobs was reported in saying, “the iPhone would never have been invented if we had listened to the focus groups”.

This is a great way to find out what your clients wants and what may also work in the greater market, even if you have no idea how to do anything about it what they’re telling you just yet. BUT – you can use it to come up with new ideas. And then do some strategising in how to convert what they’re telling you into something saleable for your clients.

Ideally adding beautifully to the profit. After all, that’s what buyers are looking for…

sell less stuff to more people…

MileWide

Really? I hear you cry…
Yes, really. Instead of selling more things to a few customers, concentrate on selling a few things to a lot of customers.

What you’re after is “an inch wide, mile deep” niche.
In other words, you’re after a very specific product/service that a defined group of people care deeply about, enough to put their hand in their pocket.

For example, the entrepreneurial mother specialises in getting Business Owners out, that’s all.

The problem is, it can be hard to find niches and/or new ways to keep the business growing.

You need to always be on the lookout for ideas and opportunities.
There are many ways of doing that, using Google Trends and Google Alerts for example.

Some other sources of inspiration include:
* hobbies, and those of family or friends
* work
* personal interests and problems
* magazines and newspapers
* TV shows, especially current affairs or niche channels

You can fall into the reverse i.e. “the inch deep, mile wide” trap innocently enough: you do great work and a customer wants more of you. But it’s a trap that will eventually choke off your growth. The way out is to focus on selling less stuff to more people.

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