Cover of Essentialism

Book · 2014 · Business & Economics

Essentialism

The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

by Greg McKeown · Recommended by 15 people on 7 podcasts

#150 of 15,605 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts

mentions
44
people
15
podcasts
7
episodes
33
critical mentions
0

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The core thesis of Essentialism: to do less but better, to focus on the vital few and not the trivial many, is probably the most impactful advice that I've had over the last year.
Chris Williamson · Modern Wisdom · Mar 2021 Listen at 53:26

What they say about it

Grouped from 44 mentions
  • Do less but better“do less but better”
    4
  • Focus on vital few“focus on the vital few”
    3
  • Read it repeatedly“yearly read for me”
    3
  • Top reading list choice“one of the top five books”
    3

The best things said about it

6 of 44 · every mention
Recommended
Essentialism is one of my top five books of all time and it's for this precise reason that it's an antidote to the type A fallout.
Alex Hormozi Modern Wisdom · Apr 2023
Recommended
Being an essentialist, focusing on the vital few, not the trivial many, doing less but better is easy when you have fewer things available for you to do than time to do them in.
Chris Williamson Modern Wisdom · Dec 2023
Discussed
I love Essentialism by Greg McKeown. It's like a yearly read for me.
JT Alstead ChooseFI · Oct 2023
Discussed
Jared loves the book Essentialism, and we talk about it all the time because, for him, simplicity is king.
Ivanka Trump David Senra · May 2026
Recommended
Well first of all you I'll recommend both books to everybody essentially m is one of my most highlighted Kindle books that I have.
Tim Ferriss The Tim Ferriss Show · Jan 2025
Recommended
When people say where should I start with personal development? Essentialism by Greg McKeown.
Eric Jorgenson Modern Wisdom · Apr 2026

Where and when it comes up

Mentions per year

Counted mentions by episode date. Our archive is deeper for recent years; 2026 so far.

How it comes up

Recommended means the speaker tells listeners to read it.

Most mentions, by podcast

7 shows

15 people who brought it up

Most recommendations first

Also: David Senra · Ivanka Trump · Ollie Marchon

Why people recommend it

Essentialism by Greg McKeown is a self-improvement guide that advocates for focusing on the vital few things instead of getting overwhelmed by the trivial many. On The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday recommended the work alongside other influential texts. Eric Jorgenson mentioned on Modern Wisdom that he frequently suggests it to individuals seeking a starting point in personal development. Charlie Houpert discussed on The Tim Ferriss Show how deeply the book impacted him, noting that he had read it multiple times and needed to revisit it again. Tim Ferriss also strongly endorsed the text on his podcast, revealing it was one of his most heavily highlighted Kindle books. Additionally, Alex Hormozi spoke about the title on Modern Wisdom, praising its focus on intentionality and naming it among his favorite reads. Podcast host Chris Williamson frequently features the volume in his top reading lists, championing its philosophy of doing less but better. Across multiple episodes and platforms, these speakers consistently highlighted the book as an essential resource for reducing distractions, prioritizing meaningful tasks, and managing time and energy more effectively in both personal and professional lives.

Every mention

44 counted mentions · 16 passing or ad reads below
Chris Williamson everyone that's listening should have listened to the episode they did with greg mcewen on essentialism foc… 16
Discussed
“Essentialism by Greg Mchuan was a huge influence on me. Doing less but better.”
Discussed
“you know what I mean you know you [ __ ] this book came out 10 years ago this book came out 10 years ago”
Recommended
“if you've downloaded my reading list you'll see that one of the top five books is essentialism by Greg McKuen”
Recommended
“And you know, if you've downloaded my reading list, you'll see that one of the top five books is 'Essentialism' by Greg McKeown, and being an essentialist, focusing on the vital few, not the trivial many, doing less but better is easy when you have fewer things available for you to do than time to do them in because you”
Discussed
“essentialism by Greg mchu and I must have read at least twice or three times the almanac of Nal rant”
Recommended
“essentialism by Greg McEwen way of the superior man by uh David data Atomic Habits by James Clear”
Discussed
“john my first one is a quote from john maxwell which summarizes greg mcewen's essentialism perfectly”
Discussed
“i know that we're mutual friends with greg mcewen and you know there's uh echoes of essentialism i think in the gap in the game”
Recommended
“greg mcewan talking about essentialism saying that to do less but better is one of the answers to a common malady of the 21st century i think is is a pretty good one”
Recommended
“so yeah i would say the core thesis of essentialism to do less but better to focus on the vital few and not the trivial many is probably the most impactful advice that i've had over the last year”
Discussed
“and this has been part of a longer journey of essentialism by greg mcewan do less but better”
Recommended
“everyone that's listening should have listened to the episode they did with greg mcewen on essentialism focus on the vital few not the trivial many”
Recommended
“if you are a young father or mother who is thinking how can I make more time for my family first off is my conversation with Greg McHugh and the author of essentialism he has his family is the most important thing in his life by a factor of 10 to everything else and this guy's in New York Times”
Discussed
“I was talking to Greg McKeown, guy that wrote Essentialism, and he said he was working with some huge tech execs from Silicon Valley, and this guy who'd made it to the top of the corporate ladder was very successful, basically said, that his relationship with his son was breaking down.”
Discussed
“I recently had Greg McKeown author of essentialism on and he says something very similar that success breeds options and opportunities”
Discussed
“now this is this is like the problem that essentialism is seeking to address or solve Gregg McEwan”
Tim Ferriss well first of all you I'll recommend both books to everybody essentially m is one of my most highlighted Ki… 5
Recommended
“well first of all you I'll recommend both books to everybody essentially m is one of my most highlighted Kindle books that I have”
Recommended
“Essentialism by Greg McKeown, read that. Highlight it. Highlight it on a Kindle so you can export your highlights and then review your highlights.”
Recommended
“neo also has perhaps the most calming voice of all time in 3rd Gregg McEwan's essentialism subtitle the disciplined pursuit of less”
Recommended
“so this is a single decision that makes as Greg McEwan of essentialism which is a great book I recommend we'd say not do any more”
Discussed
“so I've been looking for and I know you're a fan of the book essentialism and Greg McEwan yeah was on the podcast not that long ago”
Alex Hormozi one of the concepts that the book will be focused on intentionalism mhm and essentialism by Greg mccuan is… 2
Recommended
“one of the concepts that the book will be focused on intentionalism mhm and essentialism by Greg mccuan is one of my favorite a buck”
Recommended
“Greg McKeown's Essentialism is one of my top five books of all time and it's for this precise reason that it's an antidote to the type A fallout, right?”
Charlie Houpert The first ones, this was I'd read Essentialism, and it was like, just do the thing. Great book. Amazing. Gr… 2
Recommended
“The first ones, this was I'd read Essentialism, and it was like, just do the thing. Great book. Amazing. Greg Mchuan, so good. Read it. Read it four times. Need to read it again.”
Recommended
“And essentialism. Yeah, let's let's not drown people.”
Greg McKeown i'm a huge fan of essentialism it's one of the foundational books that i give to people when they ask what… 3
Discussed
“so you know there are these you know so so Steve Harvey gets a copy of it it's his favorite book and so we end up doing a bunch of interesting things together”
Recommended
“i'm a huge fan of essentialism it's one of the foundational books that i give to people when they ask what i want to get into personal development what what should i read and essentialism's there”
Discussed
“so I am trying to encourage you to it is is really my probably my biggest insight since writing essentialism is that is that is that people people there what there's a piece of feedback people often get”
JT Alstead yeah absolutely so I I love essentialism by Greg MCU it's like a yearly read for me right 2
Recommended
“yeah absolutely so I I love essentialism by Greg MCU it's like a yearly read for me right”
Discussed
“I love Essentialism by Greg McKeown. It's like a yearly read for me, right?”
Ryan Holiday McAllen's essentialism, also really good. 2
Recommended
“McAllen's essentialism, also really good.”
Discussed
“And he, he sort of went out of his way to—I forget which book it was—but you did a similar thing where it was a story about you.”
Eric Jorgenson When people say where should I start with personal development? Essentialism by Greg McKeown or the Naval R… 1
Recommended
“When people say where should I start with personal development? Essentialism by Greg McKeown or the Naval Ravikant.”
Jonathan Watson Essentialism. I re-listened to. So this was my test. So just I wanted to see if I could get the sort of the… 1
Recommended
“Essentialism. I re-listened to. So this was my test. So just I wanted to see if I could get the sort of the gist of Essentialism from the from the blinks.”
Nathan Latka like you've had some other people on essentialism gary with the one thing the books will sell for decades t… 1
Recommended
“like you've had some other people on essentialism gary with the one thing the books will sell for decades this won't”
Cal Newport and so the big sellers are like essentialism my book deep work 1
Discussed
“and so the big sellers are like essentialism my book deep work”
Chris Burkard i had read in the process of training greg mckeown's book essentialism. have you had a chance to read it 1
Discussed
“i had read in the process of training greg mckeown's book essentialism. have you had a chance to read it”
David Senra Jared keeps hounding me to do an episode of Founders on the book "Essentialism." - Yeah. - And the more I t… 1
Discussed
“Jared keeps hounding me to do an episode of Founders on the book "Essentialism." - Yeah. - And the more I talk to him about it, the more I think it's related to why he's so good at doing deals”
Ivanka Trump Jared loves the book "Essentialism," and we talk about it all the time because, for him, simplicity is king. 1
Discussed
“Jared loves the book "Essentialism," and we talk about it all the time because, for him, simplicity is king.”
Ollie Marchon Greg McEwen right essentialism listen to the podcast I actually bought the book off the back of it to give… 1
Discussed
“Greg McEwen right essentialism listen to the podcast I actually bought the book off the back of it to give to it gives one of my friends and there was something really wrong true”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker4
Recommended
“I love the book essentialism I think that as we're going towards you know this financial Independence and growing our Financial Freedom being more essential in all of the areas of our life just it makes it faster and it makes it better”
Recommended
“I read a lot of books and kind of tying into this conversation I love the book essentialism I think that as we're going towards you know this financial Independence and growing our Financial Freedom being more essential in all of the areas of our life just it makes it faster and it makes it better and we know what”
Recommended
“but um you know the the book recommendation from last year chris essentialism um is a book that i think i'm going to need to read a few times and it covers johnny's lesson there called the negative pilot where you take something that you're doing and you say right i'm going to actively not do that and see what”
Discussed
“so but called essentialism but called the one thing basically all attack the same thing Which is that like a focus procrastination being ineffective etc come from just trying to do too many things and being diffusely focused”

Also mentioned in the same episodes

Other mentions (16: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“which was sent to me by Greg Mchuan who wrote essentialism. Wow. And ended up listening to it and Oh, man.”
Passing
“Greg McKeown is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most.”
Plugged
“One thing that I find interesting about this is the concept of essentialism itself, which includes an idea known as the paradox of success.”
Plugged
“However, assuming that the individuals who invest in personal development and read books like yours have a goal of achieving a certain level of success, it’s essential to future-proof yourself.”
Plugged
“Some of these moments are a bit strange, but humbling, too, because I can feel that every year, essentialism connects with more people than the year before.”
Plugged
“In the last ten years since I published essentialism, the lead characteristic of the information age was distraction, but the lead characteristic of this new era is disorientation.”
Plugged
“um look essentialism 10 year anniversary that's uh that's updated of course the essentialism planner”
Ad read
“they're also including other books in that collection that are about doing a few things but very well like the book essentialism which is from friend of the show Brad gerstner that is one of his favorite books”
Passing
“Greg McKeown, guy that wrote Essentialism, he has a story where he always uses this example and it really hit it home to me.”
Passing
“there is a book that I've been revisiting my Kindle highlights of which is effortless by Greg mchan which is the second book following essentialism also by Greg McKuen but it's a very nice reminder along the lines of of what you're describing”
Passing
“first one was greg mcewen author of essentialism on this show he told us a story about an executive he worked with”
Passing
“greg mcewen from essentialism was on talking about this all the different things that you can do”
Plugged
“and that is my probably my biggest insight since writing essentialism is that is that is that people”
Plugged
“I have found least so saddest too since writing essentialism is how many people will write to me or make a comment online saying I wish I'd read essentialism 20 years ago”
Plugged
“there's a key story in the book but get into it now but the key story in the book as to what to sensualism that relates to my wife”
Ad read
“And third, Greg McKeown's Essentialism. Subtitle, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. This is one of my favorite books of the past few years.”

Portraits from Wikimedia Commons: Chris Williamson, CiaPeterson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0); Ivanka Trump, Andrea Hanks/Official White House Photo / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain); Tim Ferriss, Mukhatir at English Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); Ryan Holiday, Luiz Berengue / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).