BOOK REVIEW: How to achieve at what matters …

The business world worships at the alter of multi-tasking, and it’s leaders are heralded when they can figure out how to do more with the same or less amount of time.

Individuals think they don’t have a choice but to become proficient at multi-tasking because there’s always so much to do!

And therein lies the problem … the thought that we have to do all that stuff that could possibly be done.

Greg McKeown wants to rock your world by teaching you there’s another way to think, live, and work. That other way revolves around doing “less but better,” based on the concept he’s an evangelist for called “Essentialism.”

McKeown does an effective job teaching this concept in his book, “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less,” published by Crown Business. The book is more than an explanation of “Essentialism” followed by filler. The author does an intelligent yet understandable job of explaining and making an argument for Essentialism, and then walks the reader through the essential core-mindset of an essentialist, and how to go about developing a lifestyle that pursues doing “less but better” by focusing on what is essential.

Many readers may initially be tripped up by the very concept. Life is stuffed with so many things to do and so many choices to make; aren’t we supposed to see how many of them we can take on and get done?

No.

But that’s not what we’ve always been taught, and it’s certainly not what has been modeled for us or expected from us.

What would your life look like if you purposely, thoughtfully started saying no to options and choices that were not essential to how you have decided to live your life, both personally and professionally? Chances are, your life would be very different, but the result would likely be your doing “less but better.”

We’ve developed as the norm the idea of life being about doing a lot, and only some of those things being done very well. But life could be about doing less — just the essential things — extremely well and saying no to the rest. Building such a lifestyle requires changing one’s thinking and being disciplined in the application of this new mindset. McKeown lays out the essential elements of essentialism with a smooth writing style, easy-to-understand terms, and relevant stories to illuminate his teaching.

Applying what McKeown teaches could result in a more unencumbered, more fulling, and even more productive life.

For that reason, I recommend you read this book and let it challenge you to assess whether you’re really spending your time and resources on the essential things in life, or if you’re packing your life full of every option made available to you, no matter how unimportant it might be. The contrast might just motivate you to make some changes.

Scotty

I received this book free from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”