On choosing what is essential

It's officially Thanksgiving week! And Black Friday sales (starting ... yesterday?)! And days off from school! Oofta, it's going to be a busy one.

And I bet every conversation will be about one of these three things.

1. DEALS DEALS DEALS

2. Food. All the food.

3. Being thankful

So I'll start.

1. I'm hoping to pick up some good deals for presents this year. Shortlist includes Legos, Switch games, board games, and some festival tickets here and here.

2. We head to my parents on Thursday. And I'm going to make some pecan pie bars. Yum!

3. I'm thankful for opportunities to start something new, learn, and discover what's important in my life. Like you 🥰

I couldn't go on without mentioning how grateful I am to have read some amazing books this year. I'll do a round-up in a few weeks. But when here's one that changed the way I work.

In his book Essentialism, Greg McKeown dives into what it takes to go from someone that puts all energy into all things (a nonessentialist) to directing energy (an essentialist). While reading this book, I gained clarity on my continued pursuit of having to be all the things to all the people (and how to recommit to myself).

That was me in a nutshell. I would have rather done everything just enough than focus my energy on any one thing.

And as marketers and business owners, we’re raised up that way. There is the constant grind to have to suddenly have all the answers, perfectly post on every social platform, and do it with time to spare so we can reply to one more customer request.

We’re pressured to live up to the Joneses of today. And since they do it all, we should to. But who here is doing this thing all alone or on a small team? 🙋‍♀️

I started living by the mantra, “when everything is important, nothing is important.” McKeown taught me how to get into the mindset of an essentialist by looking for what is valuable.

Here’s what happened:

• I broke apart our social posting strategy and started asking the questions. Why are we posting every day? Who is this really targeted to? Is our audience even on this platform? If we spent more time making one post, with well thought out copy, could it make a bigger impact to real potential customers?

• I tore apart our email automations. I took out the content that was fluff and not providing value. I made them easier to scan. Because I wanted to deliver value.

• Meetings became more focused. We stopped discussing every little aspect of the business and focused on what was moving the business forward.

• Company-wide focus was switched from easy, short-term hits to long-term strategies for growth. We built lead gens that actually grew our mailing list and then revamped the homepage. Then cut down on social postings and time-sucking do-overs.

I started getting the right things done, grew my skills, and learned from the audience.

What could you be cutting down on so that your essential items get done with more ease, grace, and purpose?

The book goes deep. I highly recommend that you pick it up! The author reads the audiobook, and for this one, I listened to the book and then bought it to mark up.

I often grab this off the shelf when I start going all nonessentialist. This book is gold.

🎧 What I’m listening to

I always have at least one fiction book going. I am HOOKED on Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I'm constantly thinking about Sam and Sadie, wishing I could hang out with them for a day. At 52% of the way through, I don't know where it will go next.

📸 Who I'm obsessing over

Donovan Alexander Beck. Watch this.

I wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving. Eat well, love lots, and enjoy every minute of it.

Lyndee