The feeling of being overwhelmed has pervaded my work recently. Personally, I’ve felt overwhelmed when looking at my finances, or thinking about how to spend more quality time with my daughter, or trying to understand the new political paradigm in which we live and how to respond to it effectively. I have also seen other leaders face off with being overwhelmed, trying to decide which route might be the best choice. And I've seen organizations drastically overwhelmed by wanting to head several directions when they really only have the capacity to head one.

My work focuses on coaching individuals, leaders and organizations to realize their most inspirational visions by implementing a strategy that is truly essential, without being fraught with things that become overwhelming. I want leaders to feel like they are not always restlessly being pulled in a hundred directions, but that they instead have clarity of purpose and vision. Now, that’s easy to say or sprawl across my website. The question is how we really make it happen.

Essentialism, a philosophy and way of life conceived by Greg McKeown, has become a seminal approach to my work. It is not just a book and theory. It is a process to be applied, assessed, adapted and re-applied. Essentialism demands that we look at our life critically, and make careful decisions about where we put our energy.

In the same way Natalie sees money as an expression of ourselves in the world, how we choose to spend our time is also an expression of ourselves in the world. Applying the principles of Essentialism to our work with both of these powerful resources can bring clarity, focus and direction as we move toward the visions we have for our lives, our organizations and the world.