To become an Essentialist requires a heightened awareness of our ability to choose. We need to recognize it as an invincible power within us, existing separate and distinct from any other thing, person, or force. William James once wrote, “My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.” That is why the first most crucial skill you will learn on this journey is to develop your ability to choose choice, in every area of your life.
Nonessentialist
- “I have to.”
- Forfeits the right to choose
Essentialist
- “I choose to.”
- Exercises the power of choice
When we forget our ability to choose, we learn to be helpless. Drip by drip we allow our power to be taken away until we end up becoming a function of other people’s choices–or even a function of our own past choices. In turn, we surrender our power to choose. That is the path of the Nonessentialist.
The Essentialist doesn’t just recognize the power of choice, he celebrates it. The Essentialist knows that when we surrender our right to choose, we give others not just the power but also the explicit permission to choose for us.
* Source: Essentialism by Greg McKeown