My #1 business strategy

The most valuable business advice I learned wasn’t business advice.

It came from a book about philosophy: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.

Using the “essentialist” approach to my life and business has changed everything.

What is the essentialist approach? Don’t do more with your time and energy. Do less. Figure out what is essential to your life and reduce and eliminate everything else.

So, why was this the most valuable lesson I learned?

It seems simple, and rather obvious.

Well, if you’re like me, you constantly try to do more. Consume more business books. Write more content. Learn every skill possible.

But doing this actually makes you worse.

Most people try to balance out what they’re learning and take a generalist approach.

But if you look at the greats in anything (sports, business, etc.) they do the opposite. They are the best in the world at their craft because they:

Now, I’m not saying you have to devote your life to mastering paid ads or sales.

But, there are a few things you can do to become much better at what you do.

It starts with this image that shows the “less is more” mindset:

Everything takes up time and energy. Therefore, by default, everything is a distraction. So, it comes down to choosing the right distractions.

And you do that through ruthless prioritization.

Priority came from the Latin word prioritas. It means the state of being first.

Multiple things can’t take priority; there is only one priority.

One business. One skill. One task.

And all the distractions — eliminated.

Greatness gets to the point of obsession.

Focusing on one thing for days, weeks, and years of your life. And if you do that, I guarantee you’ll become a master.

While obsession breeds greatness, there is a lot of downsides too. For you and me it’s better if we cut down the non-essentials but keep what makes us happy.

My essentials:

Reduce the nice-to-haves and things that might be cool but not essential for my best life.

Less TV, less scrolling, and less learning about non-business-related topics. Yes, this part sucks.

But it allows you to do things that you truly love. And do them way better.

The rule of one and focusing on the essentials also applies to business.

What is the one thing you can do today that will bring you the greatest return?

Answer that every day and execute.

The result will be months and years of compounding improvement.

The rule of one uses the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule to your advantage.

This law states 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. And it seen everywhere:

By reducing and eliminating the non-essentials, you focus on the 20% of work that gives you the 80% of the results.

It simply comes down to prioritizing the essentials (the 20% of cause) and eliminating distractions. Then, you’ll consistently outperform everyone else.

The Rule of One is also a marketing technique. It means to advertise to one, not many.

Focus on one, and your results multiply.

The most successful people and businesses do one thing and do it exceptionally well.

And for the last few months, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about changing this newsletter to focus on one business strategy a week instead of multiple.

This will allow me to go more in-depth with the strategy and choose the most impactful one, not two or three, for you to use.

One idea you can use for your business and apply right away.

This way, you have a higher chance of retaining and using the information I tell you.

Hope you like this change.

- Warren

PS: If you read this email, take action. Try to find one non-essential you can reduce. Focusing your time and energy on less will give you greater returns.