Essentialism and Input: Bat-Signal to Greg McKeown
One of my top strengths is input.
This means I love information. The more the better. Interests are wide and varied and my natural urge is to gather, categorize, and file as much information as I can. I’m a data pack-rat, holing up books and bits and bobs in my head, my hard drive, and my bookshelves.
More bookshelves, please.
The problem with strengths is that they can be weaknesses. Like optimism.
Hoarding information leads to better connections with people. I can find common ground with just about anybody. I’ve traveled to over 30 countries and want to see more. My interests are wide and varied. I know a little bit about a lot.
While this seems like a good thing, it can also be problematic.
FOMO is real.
I want to be an essentialist, but I find this often goes against the very things that make me who I am. Is it counter-intuitive? Does essentialism run against my wiring?
The keyword is discipline. The disciplined pursuit of less.
And yet my current reading list includes books about AI and future technologies, mountain climbing, theology, and team building — along with fiction that spreads from fantasy to sci-fi to medieval murder mysteries.
Discovering how to be an essentialist when your superpower is information gathering is difficult indeed.