Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsHodge Podge
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2023
I am not trying to bash this book. I think there are good ideas to chew on, it is enjoyable and easy to read, and there are people who likely could find a lot useful from it. I was personally disappointed by this book though. Essentialism was a helpful book to me, but when I read it years ago I also had not read a lot of self-help/productivity books yet. Now I have "been around the block" and so I found this book to be a hodge-podge of good ideas (I'm not saying that the ideas contained are not good) that I have heard iterations of before. The stories and references were very familiar (Jim Collins, How Will You Measure Your Life, Elon Musk, the list goes on.). I wish this book had felt more like a clear path or system. A curation of the top highest leverage ideas to "achieve effortlessness" - instead of MANY good ideas. I left it feeling like - where would I begin? I wish this book had references that I hadn't already heard (take Malcom Gladwell's books for example. He uses stories you've NEVER heard of before). OR that the author had somehow proven that these systems are working with in his life, or the lives of others. Take people like Dave Ramsey or Marie Kondo (whether you like them or not). They created systems and a path that people can easily follow and see certain results. That is not what this book is. This is like a compilation of a bunch of podcasts. A hodge podge of suggestions that may leave you feeling more down and confused than before you picked it up. I felt this book was a bit ironic in nature.
