Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less Paperback – 29 December 2020
by
Greg McKeown
(Author)
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Product details
- Language : English
- Paperback : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0804137404
- ISBN-13 : 978-0804137409
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Best Sellers Rank:
53,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 67 in Business Time Management Skills
- 721 in Practical & Motivational Self Help
- 897 in Business Management
- Customer reviews:
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"Essentialism will give you richer, sweeter results and put you in real control, giving greater precision to the pursuit of what truly matters."--Forbes "In this likeable and astute treatise on the art of doing less in order to do better...McKeown makes the content fresh and the solutions easy to implement. Following his lucid and smart directions will help readers find 'the way of the essentialist.'"--Success
"Do you feel it, too? That relentless pressure to sample all the good things in life? To do all the 'right' things? The reality is, you don't make progress that way. Instead, you're in danger of spreading your efforts so thin that you make no impact at all. Greg McKeown believes the answer lies in paring life down to its essentials. He can't tell you what's essential to every life, but he can help you find the meaning in yours."--Daniel H. Pink, author of To Sell is Human and Drive "Entrepreneurs succeed when they say 'yes' to the right project, at the right time, in the right way. To accomplish this, they have to be good at saying 'no' to all their other ideas. Essentialism offers concise and eloquent advice on how to determine what you care about most, and how to apply your energies in ways that ultimately bring you the greatest rewards."--Reid Hoffman, co-founder/chairman of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Start-up of You "As a self-proclaimed 'maximalist' who always wants to do it all, this book challenged me and improved my life. If you want to work better, not just less, you should read it too."--Chris Guillebeau, New York Times bestselling author of The $100 Startup
"Great design takes us beyond the complex, the unnecessary and confusing, to the simple, clear and meaningful. This is as true for the design of a life as it is for the design of a product. With Essentialism, Greg McKeown gives us the invaluable guidebook for just such a project."--Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO "In Essentialism, Greg McKeown makes a compelling case for achieving more by doing less. He reminds us that clarity of focus and the ability to say 'no' are both critical and undervalued in business today."--Jeff Weiner, CEO, LinkedIn "Essentialism is a powerful antidote to the current craziness that plagues our organizations and our lives. Read Greg McKeown's words slowly, stop and think about how to apply them to your life--you will do less, do it better, and begin to feel the insanity start to slip away."--Robert I. Sutton, Professor at Stanford University and author of Good Boss, Bad Boss and Scaling Up Excellence
"Essentialism is a rare gem that will change lives. Greg offers deep insights, rich context and actionable steps to living life at its fullest. I've started on the path to an Essentialist way of life, and the impact on my productivity and well-being is profound."--Bill Rielly, Senior Vice President, Intel Security
"Do you feel it, too? That relentless pressure to sample all the good things in life? To do all the 'right' things? The reality is, you don't make progress that way. Instead, you're in danger of spreading your efforts so thin that you make no impact at all. Greg McKeown believes the answer lies in paring life down to its essentials. He can't tell you what's essential to every life, but he can help you find the meaning in yours."--Daniel H. Pink, author of To Sell is Human and Drive "Entrepreneurs succeed when they say 'yes' to the right project, at the right time, in the right way. To accomplish this, they have to be good at saying 'no' to all their other ideas. Essentialism offers concise and eloquent advice on how to determine what you care about most, and how to apply your energies in ways that ultimately bring you the greatest rewards."--Reid Hoffman, co-founder/chairman of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Start-up of You "As a self-proclaimed 'maximalist' who always wants to do it all, this book challenged me and improved my life. If you want to work better, not just less, you should read it too."--Chris Guillebeau, New York Times bestselling author of The $100 Startup
"Great design takes us beyond the complex, the unnecessary and confusing, to the simple, clear and meaningful. This is as true for the design of a life as it is for the design of a product. With Essentialism, Greg McKeown gives us the invaluable guidebook for just such a project."--Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO "In Essentialism, Greg McKeown makes a compelling case for achieving more by doing less. He reminds us that clarity of focus and the ability to say 'no' are both critical and undervalued in business today."--Jeff Weiner, CEO, LinkedIn "Essentialism is a powerful antidote to the current craziness that plagues our organizations and our lives. Read Greg McKeown's words slowly, stop and think about how to apply them to your life--you will do less, do it better, and begin to feel the insanity start to slip away."--Robert I. Sutton, Professor at Stanford University and author of Good Boss, Bad Boss and Scaling Up Excellence
"Essentialism is a rare gem that will change lives. Greg offers deep insights, rich context and actionable steps to living life at its fullest. I've started on the path to an Essentialist way of life, and the impact on my productivity and well-being is profound."--Bill Rielly, Senior Vice President, Intel Security
About the Author
Greg McKeown writes, teaches, and speaks around the world on the importance of living and leading as an Essentialist. He has spoken at companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Salesforce, Symantec, and Twitter and is among the most popular bloggers for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn Influencer's group. He co-created the course, Designing Life, Essentially at Stanford University, was a collaborator of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Multipliers and serves as a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum. He holds an MBA from Stanford University.
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Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon.com
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars
1,630 reviews

Dualsportvet
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great for the CEOs, CFOs, and people that don't have to answer to others.
24 September 2017 -
Published on Amazon.comVerified Purchase
Just another self-help book written by an exec that has the ability to say "no I'm not going to do that." Try doing that as a low level manager, or better yet an employee. As a manager, I had to read this. It was painful. As a manager, if you can't multi task you're out of a job. Instead of trying to tell people how to focus on the one thing, it should be how to focus on the most important while giving time to the rest. At the end of the book he even says most essentialists aren't and non-essentialists are essentialists. Making the point that it's all BS anyways. Living as a "essentialist" is fairy tail. It can't happen, well not unless you own your own company or you're a stay at home mom/dad and the other adult doesn't care what you do. (edited for phones auto-correct)
403 people found this helpful

Destiny Yarbro
5.0 out of 5 stars
I read this 1-2 times every year to keep my balance.
14 November 2017 -
Published on Amazon.comVerified Purchase
My title sounds like I'm lying - who would read a book that many times? But honestly, this has become my go-to book whenever I feel overwhelmed with life. It helps me simplify - but so much more than just that. It helps me analyze my current projects and focus on the 2-3 that will 1) help the most people, 2) have the greatest impact, and 3) be the kind of work I want to be known for. I just published my own book tonight and then I decided to pay it forward by reviewing the books that have helped me focus and get this book done after 3.5 years. Two weeks ago I went to read Essentialism again (I was feeling overwhelmed with publishing stress) and then realized I have already read it twice this year. :) What can I say, it's become a staple book in my reading diet.
181 people found this helpful

Ahmad Moshrif
5.0 out of 5 stars
You need it, trust me!
14 August 2014 -
Published on Amazon.comVerified Purchase
For sure, this is one of the best books i've read recently. And it deserve the 5 starts, here is some key takeaways:
"If you have a big presentation coming up over the next few weeks or months, open a file right now and spend four minutes starting to put down any ideas. Then close the file. No more than four minutes. Just start it."
" MIX UP YOUR ROUTINES It’s true that doing the same things at the same time, day after day, can get boring. To avoid this kind of routine fatigue, there’s no reason why you can’t have different routines for different days of the week. Jack Dorsey, the cofounder of Twitter and founder of Square, has an interesting approach to his weekly routine. He has divided up his week into themes. Monday is for management meetings and “running the company” work. Tuesday is for product development. Wednesday is for marketing, communications, and growth. Thursday is for developers and partnerships. Friday is for the company and its culture.9 This routine helps to provide calmness amid the chaos of a high-growth start-up. It enables him to focus his energy on a single theme each day instead of feeling pulled into everything. He adheres to this routine each week, no exceptions, and over time people learn this about him and can organize meetings and requests around it."
“In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.”
“Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.”
"The Prophet Muhammad lived an essential life that included mending his own shoes and clothes and milking his own goat and taught his followers in Islam to do the same."
Henry David Thoreau (who wrote, “I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad, how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day; … so simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real”).
"While other people are padding their résumés and building out their LinkedIn profiles, you will be building a career of meaning."
"The life of an Essentialist is a life lived without regret. If you have correctly identified what really matters, if you invest your time and energy in it, then it is difficult to regret the choices you make. You become proud of the life you have chosen to live."
"If you take one thing away from this book, I hope you will remember this: whatever decision or challenge or crossroads you face in your life, simply ask yourself, “What is essential?” Eliminate everything else."
"If you have a big presentation coming up over the next few weeks or months, open a file right now and spend four minutes starting to put down any ideas. Then close the file. No more than four minutes. Just start it."
" MIX UP YOUR ROUTINES It’s true that doing the same things at the same time, day after day, can get boring. To avoid this kind of routine fatigue, there’s no reason why you can’t have different routines for different days of the week. Jack Dorsey, the cofounder of Twitter and founder of Square, has an interesting approach to his weekly routine. He has divided up his week into themes. Monday is for management meetings and “running the company” work. Tuesday is for product development. Wednesday is for marketing, communications, and growth. Thursday is for developers and partnerships. Friday is for the company and its culture.9 This routine helps to provide calmness amid the chaos of a high-growth start-up. It enables him to focus his energy on a single theme each day instead of feeling pulled into everything. He adheres to this routine each week, no exceptions, and over time people learn this about him and can organize meetings and requests around it."
“In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.”
“Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.”
"The Prophet Muhammad lived an essential life that included mending his own shoes and clothes and milking his own goat and taught his followers in Islam to do the same."
Henry David Thoreau (who wrote, “I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad, how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day; … so simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real”).
"While other people are padding their résumés and building out their LinkedIn profiles, you will be building a career of meaning."
"The life of an Essentialist is a life lived without regret. If you have correctly identified what really matters, if you invest your time and energy in it, then it is difficult to regret the choices you make. You become proud of the life you have chosen to live."
"If you take one thing away from this book, I hope you will remember this: whatever decision or challenge or crossroads you face in your life, simply ask yourself, “What is essential?” Eliminate everything else."
303 people found this helpful

MoseyOn
4.0 out of 5 stars
Less Is More. It's Also Less. That's the Point.
1 September 2018 -
Published on Amazon.comVerified Purchase
I enjoyed this book and found some very useful insights in McKeown’s argument, which boiled down to its essence is this: Rather than trying to cram more and more into our lives, and thinking that by doing so we are achieving something, we would be better off doing less, but doing it better. For this to work, there are two crucial words that need to be defined. The first is success, or perhaps achievement. While McKeown does not precisely define this slippery and highly subjective term, it is clear that it doesn’t mean making a lot of money. It has more to do with life satisfaction, meaning, and value. Of course, pursuing these objectives does not preclude making a lot of money, but success should be measured in other ways. The second word needing careful definition is less. By this, McKeown does not mean simply doing fewer things in order to free up calendar space, but doing only the right things. The whole point of Essentialism, both the book and what McKeown calls the “movement” (whether or not that term is really accurate), is to identify the very most important things, i.e., those activities that are essential. Focus on them, and eliminate everything else. Easier said than done, yes, but you’ll never do it if you don’t first decide that it is desirable. Or essential.
What this really involves, then, is defining values as you set priorities, because as we all know, if you don’t decide what is the most important use of your time, someone else will. You will end up spending your time—your least renewable resource—pursuing someone else’s agenda rather than your own. Whose success, happiness, fulfillment, and goals are you then working toward? Probably not your own. A lot of McKeown’s advice is simply logical common sense. The fact that in the course of reading the book you so often say “yeah, that makes sense, I should do that,” is probably not an indication that this is all new so much as a reminder that it’s not necessarily easy to take real control of your life. McKeown advises that everyone regularly ask this question: “What is the most important thing for me to do right now?” How often can any of us honestly answer, “Exactly what I’m doing”?
What this really involves, then, is defining values as you set priorities, because as we all know, if you don’t decide what is the most important use of your time, someone else will. You will end up spending your time—your least renewable resource—pursuing someone else’s agenda rather than your own. Whose success, happiness, fulfillment, and goals are you then working toward? Probably not your own. A lot of McKeown’s advice is simply logical common sense. The fact that in the course of reading the book you so often say “yeah, that makes sense, I should do that,” is probably not an indication that this is all new so much as a reminder that it’s not necessarily easy to take real control of your life. McKeown advises that everyone regularly ask this question: “What is the most important thing for me to do right now?” How often can any of us honestly answer, “Exactly what I’m doing”?
48 people found this helpful