“A flight is off track 90 percent of the time. An airplane literally only gets to where it’s supposed to get to at the time it’s supposed to get there because it readjusts constantly along the way. And I feel like that myself.”

— Greg McKeown

Greg McKeown (@GregoryMcKeown) 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. Together they have sold more than two million copies in 37 languages. He is also a speaker, host of The Greg McKeown Podcast, and founder of The Essentialism Academy, with students from 96 countries. More than 175,000 people have signed up for his 1-Minute Wednesday newsletter.

He is currently doing a doctorate at the University of Cambridge, and he is easily one of my favorite thinkers on all things related to effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of life. 

Greg is originally from London, England, and he and his wife Anna are parents to four children.

Please enjoy!

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Want to hear the last time Greg McKeown was on this show? Listen to our conversation here, in which we discussed how Gandhi would sum up Essentialism, how life experiences can unwittingly write scripts that hurt us more than they serve us, questions we can ask ourselves to cope with pet peeves, actionable gratitude, the difference between effortless action and effortless results, and much more.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

• Connect with Greg McKeown:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

SHOW NOTES

• [10:02] How 2023 informed 2024’s highest priorities.
• [16:09] Greg’s system for effortless execution of daily tasks.
• [27:42] Directional documents, shameless repentance, and shifting success.
• [36:53] Poetic mysticism and matchmaking introspection.
• [41:51] What compass guides you toward purpose?
• [45:10] The truth as a path to your best possible future.
• [50:34] Maslow’s forgotten pinnacle of self-transcendence.
• [54:28] Why self-actualization is an insufficient foundation for meaningful relationships.
• [1:03:09] Recommended reading for relationship cultivation.
• [1:07:43] A true, bittersweet tale of progressively deepening love.
• [1:13:28] The benefits of treating social media as an option rather than an obligation.
• [1:16:12] AI: good servant, poor master.
• [1:17:23] Blocking time for a top priority.
• [1:27:55] “It’s the tools, stupid.”
• [1:30:56] Embracing the constraints that stack the decks in your favor.
• [1:35:41] How to sign up for Greg’s free “Less, But Better” 30-day email program.
• [1:37:09] Employing the George Costanza opposite life hack.
• [1:40:53] Parting thoughts.

MORE GREG MCKEOWN QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“I don’t want to trust my weaknesses. I want to build a system that means my weaknesses become irrelevant.”
— Greg McKeown

“A flight is off track 90 percent of the time. An airplane literally only gets to where it’s supposed to get to at the time it’s supposed to get there because it readjusts constantly along the way. And I feel like that myself.”
— Greg McKeown

“There’s only two kinds of people in the world: there are people who are lost and there are people who know they are lost. I know how easy it is for me to get lost.”
— Greg McKeown

“There’s a big difference between 20 years of experience and the same year lived 20 times [in which] you don’t learn the lessons because you’re just going in circles and you’re just rushing, rushing and actually not getting closer to what the purpose of your life really is.”
— Greg McKeown

“AI perhaps makes a good servant, but it certainly makes a poor master. And if I’m not conscious that it is either already my master, or is trying to be, then it’s already over.”
— Greg McKeown

PEOPLE MENTIONED

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