Anthony is author of the "The Hyperfocused Entrepreneur". He also has a Youtube channel with 15k+ subscribers, built and exited two 7-figure companies, and manages a $80M real estate portfolio.
Guest Author: Anthony Vicino
I’m always searching for ways to get more focused and productive, but…
I wasted years because I didn’t understand what it actually meant to be productive.
And then I stumbled onto a book that made me realize I’d been chasing the wrong thing entirely.
See, I’d always equated productivity with “getting more done”.
But that’s not productivity… that’s just throughput.
Productivity isn’t about getting more done.
It’s about getting more done per unit of input.
Interestingly, the book that lifted the wool from my eyes was written over 2,000 years ago and had nothing to do with productivity.
It was simply one man’s attempt to figure out what it meant to live a good life.
And there’s one line from this book that I think about every single day:
“If you seek tranquility, do less. Or, more accurately, do what’s essential.
Which brings a double satisfaction:
To do less, better. Because most of what we say and do is NOT essential.”
– Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)
My life transformed the day I stopped chasing productivity…
And instead, pursued Essentialism.
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Here’s 6 lessons from Essentialism that have served me well:
1. Success isn’t about HOW MUCH you get done…
It’s about WHAT you get done.
“There is no greater waste than to do with excellence that which shouldn’t be done at all.”
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2. Saying “Yes” to this is just another way of saying “No” to that.
Every yes comes at the expense of something else.
Be incredibly careful what you say yes to.
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3. If you don’t set your priorities, someone else will.
Listen, either you own your calendar…
Or your calendar owns you.
There is no third option here.
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There’s 3 more concepts from essentialism that’ve had a profound effect on my life.
I can’t do them justice here with only a few words.
If you want to go even deeper, check out this video:
