[My review of the 12min summary]

According to McKeown, we're spending most of our lives going in too many directions. We're unfocused. We're trying to do it all and end up doing very little. We're "busy but not productive".

McKeown advocates that we determine the few things that really matter and focus on those. That is what Essentialism is. Essentialism has three core expressions that reflect the three core realities.

The three expressions: 1. I choose to 2. Only a few things really matter 3. I can do anything but not everything

The three realities: 1. Individual choice 2. The prevalence of noise 3. The reality of trade-offs

Since McKeown loves things that come in threes, he has three steps for becoming an Essentialist: 1. Explore: discern the trivial many from the vital few 2. Eliminate: cut out the trivial many 3. Execute: do the vital few things effortlessly

FINAL NOTES (quoted from 12min) "In many ways, George McKeown's 'Essentialism' seems like Minimalism 2.0 in that it not only embraces the necessary and indispensable but it also refuses to be austere and unsmiling. In the words of LinkedIn's CEO Jeff Weiner, McKeown 'makes a compelling case for achieving more by doing less' and 'reminds us that clarity of focus and the ability to say "no" are both critical and undervalued in business today.'

"Much more importantly, 'Essentialism' also reminds us that these two skills are critical and undervalued in life today and that it's essential that you master them sooner——lest you want to risk wasting your life on other people's priorities."