How To Focus On What Matters Most - Greg McKeown - #880

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello friends, welcome back to the show. My guest today is Greg McKeown. He's an author, public speaker and a leadership consultant. Success requires you to focus on what truly matters, but in the modern world, there are more distractions than ever before. So, how should you best choose what to prioritize and what are the pitfalls to avoid? Expect to learn how essentialism has evolved over the past decade, why saying no is so hard and how to get better at saying it, how to counteract your desire for novelty, why it's so difficult to cut your losses, how to use boundaries in your life, the challenges you'll face as you become more successful, and much more. Greg is a legend. Essentialism was superbly formative for me. If you've downloaded the Modern Wisdom reading list, you will know it's in the top five. It's stayed there for as long as I can remember. It's a wonderful redress to a lot of the problems that those of us that like to try and achieve things face, which is namely putting more on our plate than our work capacity can handle. And it's just so great. And it's become more useful over the last 10 years since he released it. So yeah, so much to take away from this one. This episode is brought to you by the RP hypertrophy app. This app has made a huge impact on my gains and my enjoyment in the gym over the last year. It's designed by Dr. Mike Isretel, one of my smartest, most science backed, evidence based friends and probably the number one fitness content creator in the world right now. And it comes with over 45 pre-made training programs and more than 250 technique videos. It takes all of the guesswork out of crafting your ideal lifting routine by literally spoon feeding you a step by step plan designed by Mike and his team and based in science for every workout. Best of all, they offer a 30 day money back guarantee, so you can try it for 29 days. If you do not like it, they'll give you your money back. Right now you can get up to $50 off the RP hypertrophy app by going to the link in the description below or heading to rpstrength.com/modernwisdom and using the code modern wisdom. A checkout that's rpstrength.com/modernwisdom and modern wisdom. A checkout. I've won Whoop for over four years now since way before they were a partner on the show and it is the only wearable I've ever stuck with because it's the best. It's so innocuous. You don't remember that you've got it on and yet it tracks absolutely everything 24 seven via your wrist. It tracks your heart rate, your sleep, your recovery, all of your workouts, your resting heart rate, heart rate variability, how much you're even breathing throughout the night, but all of this into an app and spits out very simple, easy to understand and fantastically usable data. It's phenomenal. I'm a massive, massive fan of Whoop and that is why it's the only wearable that I've ever stuck with. And best of all, you can join for free, pay nothing for the brand new Whoop 4 strap. Plus you get your first month for free and there's a 30 day money back guarantee so you can buy it for free, try it for free and if you don't like it after 29 days, they'll give you your money back. Right now you can get all of that by heading to join.whoop.com/modernwisdom. That's join.whoop.com/modernwisdom. This episode is brought to you by Manscaped. If you're still using an old face shaver from three Christmases ago, please join us in the modern world. Manscaped brand new Chairman Pro brings a professional shave directly to your home. It comes with two interchangeable skin safe blade heads, whether you want to go completely clean or leave some stubble. Plus, both heads are designed to help reduce razor burn and irritation, so your skin feels smooth and comfortable after every shave. Best of all, it can run for up to 75 minutes on a single charge, and it's waterproof so you can use it in the shower or if you've got a particularly hairy face. Right now you can get 20% off and free shipping worldwide by going to the link in the description below or heading to manscaped.com/modernwisdom and using the code ModernWisdom20 at checkout. That's manscaped.com/modernwisdom and ModernWisdom20 at checkout. But now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Greg McKeown.
When we first spoke, nearly five years ago now, I said that I might be your arch nemesis. And in some ways, I've become worse, but in other ways, I've become much better since then. So I can give you up top, I can give you a thank you for at least adjusting my trajectory over the last five years in a positive direction.