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What would you do if you saw a young child drowning? Consider this story: You and a friend are having a picnic by the side of a river. Suddenly you hear a shout from the direction of the water—a child is drowning. Without thinking, you both dive in, grab the child, and swim to shore. Before you can recover, you hear another child cry for help. You and your friend jump back in the river to rescue her as well. Then another struggling child drifts into sight…and another…and another. The two of you can barely keep up. Suddenly, you see your friend wading out of the water, seeming to leave you alone. “Where are you going?” you demand. Your friend answers, “I’m going upstream to tackle the guy who’s throwing all these kids into the water.” That story is a public health parable (adapted from the original, which is commonly attributed to Irving Zola), and provides the starting point for Dan Heath’s book, Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen. We’ve all been there, right? The daily fires and emergencies demand attention. They’re all we see. But sometimes these problems are just blinding distractions that keep us from seeing

Not too long ago, I became intrigued by a book mentioned by one of my favorite influencers, Michael Hyatt. The book Michael was referring to was Greg Mckeown’s Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. Just inside the jacket cover was this profound statement: Essentialism isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only the right things done. If life has you running around in five different directions at the same time right now, stop and let that sink in. The Layers of Life Personally, when reading this, I find myself thinking back to an earlier time in my life: no kids, no wife, and working at my “starter” job. Anything I wanted to do, I could do it! I had total freedom, and everything was within my reach! Then the layers of life started to show up: A beautiful wife, great kids, and a fulfilling career. One day you wake up and realize that there just isn’t enough time in the day to do everything you want. All of a sudden there’s a choice to make—either spread yourself too thin, or give something up. I believe that we all reach a point in our lives, perhaps without even realizing it, where the time that’s required to fulfill all of our desires and