Greg McKeown Quotes

Do not do more today than you can completely recover from today. Do not do more this week than you can completely recover from this week.

The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing. It stayed singular for the next five hundred years.

What if society encouraged us to reject what has been accurately described as doing things we detest, to buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like?11

There should be no shame in admitting to a mistake; after all, we really are only admitting that we are now wiser than we once were.

The reality is, saying yes to any opportunity by definition requires saying no to several others.

What do I feel deeply inspired by?” and “What am I particularly talented at?” and “What meets a significant need in the world?

LIFE IS AVAILABLE ONLY IN THE PRESENT MOMENT. IF YOU ABANDON THE PRESENT MOMENT YOU CANNOT LIVE THE MOMENTS OF YOUR DAILY LIFE DEEPLY. — Thich Nhat Hanh

When we are unclear about our real purpose in life — in other words, when we don’t have a clear sense of our goals, our aspirations, and our values — we make up our own social games. We waste time and energies on trying to look good in comparison to other people. We overvalue nonessentials like a nicer car or house, or even intangibles like the number of our followers on Twitter or the way we look in our Facebook photos. As a result, we neglect activities that are truly essential, like spending time with our loved ones, or nurturing our spirit, or taking care of our health.

essential work can be enjoyable once we put aside the Puritan notion that anything worth doing must entail backbreaking effort.

Often we try to bring about change through sheer effort and we put all of our energy into a new initiative. But you can’t beat stress using the same techniques that created the stress in the first place.

An Essentialist has the courage and confidence to admit his or her mistakes and uncommit, no matter the sunk costs.

If you don't prioritize your life, someone else will.

Making hard trade-offs is where leadership is tested.

In a reverse pilot you test whether removing an initiative or activity will have any negative consequences.

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