Greg McKeown Quotes

author (born 1977)

Greg McKeown, (born in London, England, in 1977) is a public speaker, business thought leader, consultant, and a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author. He is also the founder and CEO of THIS, Inc., a leadership and strategy design agency in Silicon Valley. McKeown is a popular blogger for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn’s Influencers group, and his writing has appeared in, or been covered by, Fast Company, Fortune, HuffPost, Politico, and Inc. Magazine.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

There is a difference between losing and being beaten. Being beaten means they are better than you. They are faster, stronger, and more talented.

"Life doesn't have to be as hard and complicated as we make it. Each of us has — as Robert Frost wrote — "Promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep." No matter what challenges, obstacles or hardships we encounter along the way, we can always look for the easier, simpler path."

Becoming an Essentialist means making cutting, condensing, and correcting a natural part of our daily routine – making editing a natural cadence in our lives.

For too long, we have overemphasised the external aspect of choices (our options) and underemphasised our internal ability to choose (our actions). This is more than semantics. Think about it this way. Options (things) can be taken away, while our core ability to choose (free will) cannot be. The ability to choose cannot be taken away or even given away – it can only be forgotten.

Essentialists are powerful observers and listeners. Knowing that the reality of trade-offs means they can’t possibly pay attention to everything, they listen deliberately for what is not being explicitly stated. They read between the lines.

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

Getting more sleep may be the single greatest gift we can give our bodies, our minds, and even, it turns out, our bottom lines.

If you want to make something hard, indeed truly impossible, to complete, all you have to do is make the end goal as vague as possible.

What if, rather than fighting our preprogrammed instinct to seek the easiest path, we could embrace it, even use it to our advantage? What if, instead of asking, “How can I tackle this really hard but essential project?,” we simply inverted the question and asked, “What if this essential project could be made easy?

Clarity equals success.

Producing a great result is good. Producing a great result with ease is better. Producing a great result with ease again and again is best.

Gaining unique knowledge takes time, dedication, and effort. But invest in it once, and you’ll attract opportunities for the rest of your life.

Essentialism was about doing the right things; Effortless is about doing them in the right way.

When we play, we are engaged in the purest expression of our humanity, the truest expression of our individuality.

Why would we simply endure essential activities when we can enjoy them instead?