Life is complicated. Life is full of responsibilities and opportunities, planned duties and serendipitous possibilities. There is so much we could do, but so little we can do. Many of us battle our whole lives to focus on those few, significant items that we should do must do, and yet so few of us ever feel like we are even nearly succeeding.
Help is here in the form of Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism. While it is not a perfect book, and while it benefits tremendously from adding a good dose of Christian thinking, it is one of the most helpful I’ve read on that constant battle to focus my time and energy on the right things.
McKeown believes in what he calls Essentialism and describes the basic value proposition in this way: “only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.” The Essentialist pursues fewer but better opportunities and is rigidly disciplined in rejecting the many to devote himself to the few. It is “not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.”
The way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default. Instead of making choices reactively, the Essentialist deliberately distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many, eliminates the nonessentials, and then removes obstacles so the essential things have clear, smooth passage. In other words, Essentialism is a disciplined, systematic approach for determining where our highest point of contribution lies, then making execution of those things almost effortless.
Now that sounds good! That sounds like what we all want—a clear design to our lives that simplifies decision-making and amplifies each of the opportunities we pursue.
McKeown leads the reader to Essentialism in four parts:
Essence. He begins by looking to the essence of Essentialism and the realities that make Essentialism a necessary but difficult practice today.
Explore. Here he describes the way an Essentialist needs to think so he can pursue the highest possible contribution toward the best goals.
Eliminate. Having determined the best goals, the Essentialist now needs to begin eliminating anything that will compete with the pursuit of those goals. “It’s not enough to simply determine which activities and efforts don’t make the highest possible contribution; you still have to actively eliminate those that do not.”
Execute. And then comes the heart of it all—living in such a way that you now execute on those few goals, and continuing to follow the discipline of it.
McKeown promises his book “will teach you a method for being more efficient, productive, and effective in both personal and professional realms. It will teach you a systematic way to discern what is important, eliminate what is not, and make doing the essential as effortless as possible. In short, it will teach you how to apply the disciplined pursuit of less to every area of your life.”
And I think it can do that. It is chock-full of excellent insights and quoteable phrases. It is the kind of book you can use to implement systems in your life, or the kind of book you can plunder for its big and important ideas.
Yet the Christian reader will want to read it with some discernment. This is a book that benefits from an infusion of the biblical ethos. As the book reaches its end, McKeown expands Essentialism to all of life and here he stops quoting business gurus and begins quoting religious gurus; the last chapter is easily the weakest and one that can be skipped without any great loss.
Reading the book through a Christian lens improves it significantly. McKeown writes about people who always say “yes” and are afraid to say “no.” That sounds like a classic diagnosis of fear of man, a person so motivated by the praise of man that he takes on too much and says no to too little so he can win the praise of other people.
Not only that, but God has a way of diverting us from what we believe are our most important tasks. He diverts us to tasks he determines are even more important, and a too-rigid adherence to Essentialism may keep a Christian from allowing and embracing those divine interruptions. Read the gospels and the book of Acts and you will see how Jesus and the Apostles were extremely focused, but also very willing to depart from their plans. Implementing Essentialism too rigidly may just lead to a self-centered life rather than a life of service to others.
Reading through that Christian lens also allows us to see that Essentialism can be a means through which we honor and glorify God. It propels us to consider where God has specially gifted and equipped us to serve him and his people. Again, “Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential.” The principles of Essentialism, read and applied through the Bible, will help us understand how we are uniquely created and burdened by God to meet specific needs. And, equally helpfully, it will steer us away from those areas where we cannot contribute nearly as well.
I heartily recommend the book, provided you read with Essentialism in one hand, and the Bible in the other.
Let me close with a few of my favorite quotes:
In many cases we can learn to make one-time decisions that make a thousand future decisions so we don’t exhaust ourselves asking the same questions again and again.
If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.
We can either make our choices deliberately or allow other people’s agendas to control our lives.
There are three deeply entrenched assumptions we must conquer to live the way of the Essentialist: “I have to,” “It’s all important,” and “I can do both.”
If … people are too busy to think, then they’re too busy, period.
Making our criteria both selective and explicit affords us a systematic tool for discerning what is essential and filtering out the things that are not.
Motivation and cooperation deteriorate when there is a lack of purpose.
Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.
“We need to learn the slow ‘yes’ and the quick ‘no.’ ”
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Customers find this book easy to read and understand, with a straightforward writing style that makes complex ideas accessible. Moreover, they appreciate its highly researched insights and practical advice that helps with both professional and personal growth. The book encourages readers to re-examine their priorities and provides actionable strategies for choosing what's important. Additionally, customers find it thought-provoking, with one noting how it helped articulate their life philosophy.
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444 customers mention readability, 431 positive, 13 negative
Great read. The strategies presented in this book can be applied to all professionals. My husband who isn't a bug reader, read this book twice.Read more
It's a good read with some very good ideas, but it's more for business leadership and development than being applied to personal life.Read more
...light conversational style and honest personal examples make this an easy read but happily one that sticks in the mind and I've taken a lot from a...Read more
...Essential reading. Buy it now. [Trying to model Essentialism in this review, too!] -- David Newman,...Read more
310 customers mention insight, 294 positive, 16 negative
Insightful and applicable to personal and professional pursuits! I greatly enjoyed the book and I recommend it to others often.Read more
Very insightful! Makes the forgotten and the intuitive DELIBERATE. Breaks down self imposed barriers and boundaries. The challenge is in the living!Read more
...I love this book because it was written concisely and to the point, and also gave a lot of practical tips on how to live more efficiently.Read more
...Greg Mckeown gives so many great tips for looking at everything in life as an essentialist. It has change the way I approach situations.Read more
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Enlightening ! Very useful and pleasant to read if you feel tangled in the tentacles of a corporation..Read more
195 customers mention practicalness, 189 positive, 6 negative
Thoughtful, practical, and empowering. Combines both reflection and insight. Recommend for everyone; especially those caught in a world of busyness.Read more
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Helpful discussion of principles and application. I found it thought provoking and helpful in developing new attitudes and approaches....Read more
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This book really helps you focus on what is essential. Lots to think about. Make sure you have time to really read and think about what is being said.Read more
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Essentialism: an essential read
Rarely does a book so fully alter how I look at the world, but Essentialism did. Greg McKeown has a brilliant mastery of the English language and beautifully weaves research and narrative. I chose to read this in 21 days (okay, truth be told it took me 28) as a part of a two-person book group. It was a gamechanger for me to focus on what's the most important step for me to take right now. Give yourself a gift...read and act upon this book NOW...so you are ready for Effortless which is due out in April 2021. I cannot wait to dive in again on another McKeown book.
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- Indranil ChakrabortyReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 25, 2025
A thought provoking book
- TopteckReviewed in Canada on August 19, 2025
A Book That Helped Me Focus on What Really Matters
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adriana da silva barbosaReviewed in Brazil on January 28, 2021
Menos é melhor
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