Top 20 Quotes & Sayings by Greg McKeown

Discern the vital few from the trivial Many.

We often think of choice as a thing. But a choice is not a thing. Our options may be things, but a choice—a choice is an action. It is not just something we have but something we do.

Done right, a strategic intent is really one decision that makes 1,000 decisions.

Remember that if you don’t prioritize your life someone else will.

If it isn't a clear yes, then it's a clear no.

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.

If I didn’t already own this, how much would I spend to buy it?

One of the best ways to seed an opportunity is to allow someone to discover the opportunity for him- or herself.

Play stimulates the parts of the brain involved in both careful, logical reasoning and carefree, unbound exploration.

The word priority was singular for 500 years—what does priorities mean—'many many first things.'

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.

I'd rather be honest and lose than be dishonest and win

The ability to choose cannot be taken away or even given away-it can only be forgotten.

Essentialism is not about how to get more things done, it's about how to the 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 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. Only in the 1900s did we pluralize the term and start talking about priorities. Illogically, we reasoned that by changing the word we could bend reality. Somehow we would now be able to have multiple “first” things.

I think we’ve been oversold the value of more and undersold the value of less.

Essentialism: 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.

Take a deep breath. Get present in the moment and ask yourself what is important this very second.

I think we are in a non-essentialist bubble—everything seems important—so of course nothing is.

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 non-essentials, 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.