Essentialism

Amid today’s infinity of choices, you may forget which choices really matter. 

McKeown recognizes that amid modern life’s endless choice, forces from outside of yourself have an impact on shaping your decisions. Today’s interconnectedness means that everyone you know – and many people you don’t – may claim the right to have an opinion about how you live, work and behave. 

Buying into the myth that you can “have it all,” McKeown believes, can be destructive. It makes you take on “even more activities,” many of them unrewarding. Doing more, less-meaningful work or even more, less-meaningful play intensifies stress and makes you less satisfied with your accomplishments.  The author suggests paring your life down to the essentials. Think “less but better.”