The Science of Success Podcast

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Essentialism - Get the Mental Clarity to Pursue What Actually Matters with Greg McKeown

Lace Gilger
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In this episode we look at the real strategy for producing breakthrough results, high contribution and personally satisfying work .The last time someone asked you how you were doing - did you answer “Busy?” Then this episode is for you. We explore why smart, capable people end up plateauing and failing. We examine the culture of busyness that has overtaken us and examine how to avoid the traps of getting overwhelmed and focusing on the wrong things. We share strategies for determining what’s important, eliminating the non-essential, and making execution effortless with our guest Greg McKeown. 

Greg McKeown is an international keynote speaker and the bestselling author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. Greg has spoek at events around the world including SXSW and interviewing Al Gore at the World Economic Forum, where he serves as a Young Global Leader. Greg has worked with some of the largest and well known companies in the world and his work has been featured on Fox, NPR, NBC, and praised by many more.

  • How do smart, capable people end up plateauing and failing?

  • Success breeds options and opportunities, which can eventually undermine success

  • Success can actually be a catalyst for failure via "the undisciplined pursuit of more"

  • You have to become “successful at success,” success itself must be managed if we are to get to the next level

  • Essentialism is a continually process and a disciplined pursuit of less

  • The three key strategies of essentialism are:

  • Explore what’s essential

    1. Eliminate the non-essential

    2. Make Execution as effortless as possible

  • The forces of success are such that they tend to naturally push us away from that process of focusing on the essential

  • Our old responses are necessary but not sufficient to the challenge of focusing on the essential

  • Do you ever feel busy but not productive?

  • Do you ever feel like your life is being hijacked by other people’s agendas?

  • You have to act upon your life in a deliberate way —> schedule it, put time on the calendar for that

  • It’s not just about eliminating the time wasters, but also eliminating the good opportunities too

  • How do we combat the social pressure to say yes that constantly makes us over-commit ourselves

  • The expansion of choices has not been incremental - its not a 10% increase, its not a 100% increase, its a 1000x increase or more in the last 100 years - the human condition has fundamentally changed - and we have to adjust our strategy

  • We have to shift more deliberately than we have, more deliberately than we think we need to. 

  • We must become FAR more selective in what we go after

  • You cannot possibly execute on everything - even the good opportunities - you must focus only on the most important opportunities

  • Is this the VERY BEST use of me? Is this HIGHLY IMPORTANT? Is this the MOST IMPORTANT thing that I can be doing right now?

  • “Non-essentialism” is the default setting in our lives right now

  • The problem is that our default setting / default decision is to take on more and more until we’ve diluted our efforts and shifted our focus away from what’s truly important 

  • Because everyone is running around in a reactive mode, in a busyness bubble, it seems and feels normal to be like that 

  • Non-essentialism is a “fact free” position that has no support in the research

  • Is “non-essentialism” producing breakthrough results, high contribution, and personally satisfying, and highly meaningful for you?

  • Does this sound familiar: How are you? “Busy"

  • Busyness has become a value. 

  • What does the science say about being productive?

  • The second most highly correlated item that distinguishes TOP PERFORMERS from good performers - is the number of hours of sleep

  • It’s not about doing more thing's its doing more of the RIGHT THINGS

  • The first thing to do is build your essentialist muscle around things that you CAN control

  • Reaching for your phone first thing in the morning is giving up a lot of power in your life and other people end up setting your priorities and dictating how you spend your time and energy

  • “First less, then obsess"

  • The essentialist mindset can help both your personal and your professional life

  • If you want to go from being an overwhelmed order-taker to a trusted advisor- you have to pause and understand your priorities - and bring the reality of trade-offs to your boss/supervisor

  • The idea is not called “no-ism”  - the key is to figure out what IS essential - what’s the most important thing we could be doing - and then DO THAT

  • The most graceful no is actually saying YES to something that’s more important. Yes to a bigger and more important opportunity.  

  • How do you say no gracefully? How do you overcome the discomfort of telling people (especially your boss) NO?

  • It’s important to understand that the goal is NOT to be selfish - but to make the biggest possible commitment - and in order to do that - you must focus on the essential.

  • Highly mature relationships can sustain a no

  • Are you falling prey to "Bertolt-Becht Thinking”? (and why that might be dangerous)

  • What will matter when I’m no longer in the picture?

  • This is what we need to do in order to not waste our lives 

  • Self actualization is not the same as self transcendence - and why that distinction is essential (no pun intended) to understand 

  • "Reducing oneself to zero"

  • The lesson from Ghandhi showcase the true power of essentialism

  • "Humility and simple truth is more powerful than empire"

  • How to cultivate a self-transcendent perspective

  • The most important thing to do is to figure out the most important thing to do is and to do it

  • Small wins are the only way to truly get started

  • The 21 Day Essentialism Challenge

  • Homework - begin a daily reflection a journal - even just one sentence a day

  • Reflection (via journal) will “open up a whole world of value” and is Greg’s “favorite tool and technology"

Thank you so much for listening!

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