Essentialism | Greg McKeown | Talks at Google

Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin? Do you sometimes feel overworked and underutilized? Does your day sometimes get hijacked by someone else's agenda?Have you ever said "yes" simply to please and then resented it? If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the Way of the Essentialist.
The Way of the Essentialist involves doing less, but better, so you can make the highest possible contribution.
The Way of the Essentialist isn't about getting more done in less time. It's not about getting less done. It's about getting only the right things done. It's about challenging the core assumption of 'we can have it all' and 'I have to do everything' and replacing it with the pursuit of 'the right thing, in the right way, at the right time'. It's about regaining control of our own choices about where to spend our time and energies instead of giving others implicit permission to choose for us.
In Essentialism, Greg McKeown draws on experience and insight from working with the leaders of the most innovative companies in the world to show how to achieve the disciplined pursuit of less.
By applying a more selective criteria for what is essential, the pursuit of less allows us to regain control of our own choices so we can channel our time, energy and effort into making the highest possible contribution toward the goals and activities that matter.
Essentialism isn't one more thing; it is a different way of doing everything. It is a discipline you apply constantly, effortlessly. Essentialism is a mindset; a way of life. It is an idea whose time has come.
Greg previously spoke at Google about "Multipliers".

[@mjalals]

Loved this speech. Greg was full of clarity. “Eliminate the Non-Essentials and do only the Essentials”, he proclaimed. It has gone deep into my mind. He narrated the story of Gandhi. As one, who came from India, I loved Greg’s confirmation of the Gandhian principles. “No” means “No”. I will go by Greg’s advice from now on: “Less, but Better.” Keep going, Greg.

[@julietboateng3978]

THE VOICE INSIDE OR THE NOISE OUTSIDE 👏

[@KarlheinzNiebuhr]

Minimalism: Your life might be better with less Essentialism: Less but better I see the pattern there

[@magnolialan]

KarlBookLover i think there is something differrence between minimalism and essentialism. It is separate

[@danielmendez9433]

Minimalism is about having less stuff so you can do more because you're not busy chasing objects or managing those objects, and essentialism is about doing less so you can make better choices and execute better on those choices

[@exotiknuella]

I enjoyed this lecture. Learning to let go of "the undisciplined pursuit of more". We can distill and focus on the vital few from the trivial many.

[@MayaFullPower]

Wonderful talk! Thank you for sharing your wisdom! Blessings

[@taehyunjung8344]

What makes us capable or driven to break through next level? As we see higher, our time is consumed vaulessly without corresponding effort. Given limit of time own set the plan with holistic view as well as streamline myself under assumption of cost and benefit we try to contemplate how i live till now. Especially routine is one of my obstacles to preclude me step further and create disruptive improvement. On the other hand, To keep us familiar to tackle difficulties it should be routine. To set a rule or discipline is one of standardization and reducing unnecessary activities. As we are aware spontaneously to be entitled with more empowerment at the organization, you could intervene in any struggles or troubles and say no to others. If you want to bring yourself to the higher position, you should regard yourself good listener to others.

[@AnwarKhan-zk9yv]

FOCUS: Follow One Course Until Successful ; Success creates options which distract counteracting to the very thing that created the success in the first place, intense focus & commitment on a singular item. If you don't make your life about fulfilling your purpose, you'll end up fulfilling someone else's

[@OMAR-vq3yb]

Q. What is it that gives capable and driven people from breaking through to that next level? A. Success Revelatory!

[@devinoneill3854]

nobody answered "money / resources" to the opening question and i am flabbergasted by this. talk about living in a bubble. (i think the talk is phenomenal, btw. truly great, and his ability to build the talk interactively is astonishing. i just think ^that's an important observation to make.)

[@samitura6720]

Its a profound to learn or get the key on how to focus the limitless energy we all have just towards on particular essential! ''Less, but better'' Thank You Greg!

[@migueldecarvalho8012]

If we had limitless energy we wouldn't have to become essentialist.

[@RockstahRolln]

This was TERRIFIC!! Thank you for sharing!!

[@ahmedwurie3551]

Very insightful book, I was amazed on how much "clutter" i have going down and how much i could do less with. Knowing is one thing, letting go is another.

[@konmari7511]

could you give examples?

[@NuritPetri]

Letting go in next to impossible if left with that decision to make. I was forced to let go and I’m better off. (2008 happened). Too much stuff! You get emotionally tied to “stuff”. I have become more humble and learned to live with less stuff. The best way to transition is to put all you stuff that you’re not using into a storage and start selling it one by one. If it doesn’t sell then donate it. That’s the only way. It’s uncomfortable and hard to do :)

[@quangdiep4553]

T

[@김은숙-j3s]

4444447777ㅍ74ㄱ4ㄱ44ㄱ4ㄲ4ㄱ44ㄱ4ㅂㄱㄱㅂㅍㄱㅂㅂ44ㅋㅂ.ㄱㅂ44

[@thisisbob1001]

P24

[@felixnebrat8473]

Very illuminating

[@where9810]

I had read this book and I got very insightful I saw. and last one mins summarized around whole season. -> : if you don't prioritize your life, someone else will. this is not a neutral game. people have their own life and their own opinion,and even agenda they have, Do vital thing and execute "essential" .

[@mikezandsarahc]

Definitely a lesson to begin incorporating. Thank you.

[@theyetti90]

My sparketype is essentialism. This guy sounds like he's speaking my language.

[@FatimaMohRamzi]

Great talk. Great thoughts.

[@legacyimpactcoaching591]

Great concept, however saying no at a job can be difficult based upon your position. I'm not sure lower level positions have that type of autonomy as an executive.

[@robin212212]

It can if you can prove to your manager that by prioritizing your tasks you can help advance him and the group more.

[@wegettodothis3702]

Good stuff. Thank you, Greg.

[@endgamefond]

1.5x speed helps me a lot.

[@Professorsavingsposts]

it's hard to be simple + less = more

[@Diana-gt1rv]

I totally agree with this good talk and have already been living according to the principle of "eliminating non-essentials" for a couple of years. I can only reommend it! "Simplify your life" and "less is more" is my life philosophy. Do you know the story of the fisherman? This is so true: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mX7LgqyLh7Ctqq8

[@martincortes702]

The book is great but his talk is boring

[@georgetuckey]

'The non-essentials are negotiable' - Greg McKeown

[@1kennylo]

26:50

[@TheWorldsStage]

Essences is stupid. I can say for sure that i would be heading in the same direction no matter what junk i had or how i identified. I could live as any plan, and i would not care and as far as masculinity and femininity goes i orient more in the direction of what culture defines as masculinity but i prefer to call it instrumentality. I reject the concept of identity and i have no identities and instead see them all as directions. I dont think these directions need to be linked to sex, so i reject the terms masculinity and femininity in favour of instrumentality and expressiveness as these terms link these traits to male and female. I dispute the idea a certain set of traits has to go with a certain body and i think identities like man or woman are socially constructed. I do think though that something deeper in the brain that somehow links up the physicality is the basis for the cause of gender dysphoria in some, a certain part of the brain develops to function under male endocrine conditions and with body parts in a certain layout. As a result some have an orientation towards physical maleness or femaleness (or other directions) and may not be born already in that direction. I dont think though this has to mean one has a certain set of personality traits or like a set of things culture has linked to that biological direction. So when i say i could live as any plan, only if the hardware was linked up, otherwise i would need to be a different plan, but i dont think that would have to make me different as a person in terms of personality or interests. But i can say growing up in a different box would influence things.

[@DanSeipel]

Ok, hold on. I don't mean to protest, but isn't this just a little bit over simplifying how to work? Not everyone has the freedom to say no.

[@bebetheexplorer624]

Big words, poor people who have limited vocabulary😂

[@JavierBonillaC]

He can tell 1000 stories of people who did one thing and did it right. Well duh... Is that not the norm? Do many many many many things and you will not be good at any. Alright..... Thanks for coming to Google.

[@FatimaMohRamzi]

Great talk. Great thoughts.

[@indygo19]

This is so brilliant, I'm surprised it doesn't have millions of views!

[@mayaandress5977]

Call me an Essentialist. download mp3 version @ tinyurl . com \ pdllabk . remove spaces.

[@arinalisikova7236]

Means you just watched something that not many are thinking about. Puts you at an advantage. If you read what everyone reads you become like everybody :)

[@jaypayleitner1]

Essentialism has its roots in the obscure scripture passage found in Proverbs 30:8-9. It's the Prayer of Agur and contains the secret for finding balance and purpose. In many ways, the opposite of The Prayer of Jabez.

[@NicholasDunbar]

"Do a few things really well" is also the definition of a tool.

[@Lily_Anne]

Talk about having too much to do! The poor fellow in the audience, back row left, was eating his lunch as he listened to the talk.

[@Eeriekid]

Interesting how nobody mentioned lack of resources/money as the thing that keeps us from getting to the next level. Let's just blame the individual

[@richardadjeikyeremateng608]

What is trivial?

[@000Gua000]

7:30 I wouldn't not be able to "vote", cause I can't snap.

[@kokyoongee1294]

Does anyone see his idea very much related to Steve Jobs' idea of focus? As Jony Ive pointed out, "What focus means is saying no to something that with every bone in your body think is a phenomenal idea, and you wake up thinking about it, but you end up saying no to it because you're focusing on something else."

[@cuongho0110]

11:46 thanks

[@omarmiz]

The audience at these google talks always looks so stressed and uptight

[@batool4386]

I would say, lack of determination

[@charondolls]

this helps my ambivalence in deciding not to have kids

[@TobyGoTv]

He looks like Chandler from Friends”

[@MegaBpop]

WOW, thank you for sharing. I took notes all the way.

[@adolfocastelo2752]

Thank you Greg. Just thank you.

[@KyChristensen]

I enjoyed the book.

[@samarthpandey8483]

best talk i ever heard

[@DrinkWine365]

Totally agree on doing "Less, but Better"!

[@DanSeipel]

Re: 6:05, no one gets a project done by the end of the week, that's a task not a project.

[@akshayangra8646]

just brilliant..he is a special gift to humanity..

[@indviduation]

*Question:* what is it that keeps otherwise capable and driven people from breaking through to the next level? What does that mean "next level?" Why not move laterally rather vertically?

[@jakoblochner4784]

Unfortunately there was just nothing new in his book. After having read it I was actually a bit angry for wasting so much time on a message that could have easily fit into 10-20 pages.

[@itzaroseylife]

definitely a great book and great talk. picked up a lot of things! thanks so much