Essentialism, a book written by Greg McKeown
“The Way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default. Instead of making choices reactively, the Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many, eliminates the nonessentials, and then removes obstacles so the essential things have clear, smooth passage.”
In his recently released book, Greg McKeown reflects on the importance of “Less but Better”. I am so excited about the message the Greg delivers and how it directly applies to real estate sales. I hear from hundreds of agents across the country and the lion’s share of them feel overwhelmed. They are very busy but not necessarily productive. They have a million irons in the fire but not enough deals. They are spinning their wheels, burning out and often close to giving up. Essentialism is the key to real estate success. I learned this out of necessity (see Dear Zuess article) early on in my real estate career and I am committed to helping others see this valuable perspective.
The essentials of real estate are simple:
- Find people that need to sell or buy real estate
- Build trust and rapport
- Get an appointment
- Get a listing or buyer contract signed
- Fulfill the terms of the contract
Everything else in non-essential and making you busy and non-productive.
In this picture from the book, Greg shows us the difference between the Essentialist (right) and the non-essentialist (left). The same amount of energy is exerted but the non-essentialist makes a miniscule amount of progress in many directions while the essentialist invests in fewer activities and makes significant progress in the things that matter most.
Are you ready to commit to the way of the Essentialist?