Effortless (1 of 4)
In 2014 Greg McKeown published an instant best-seller called Essentialism. Seven years later he has published Effortless.
'Essentialism' is about doing the right things; 'Effortless' is about doing them in the right way.
Essentialism is the 'disciplined pursuit of less' in order to make sure that your limited resources are not wasted on things that don't matter. Many have bought into essentialism but have found putting it into practice impossibly hard.
"What if the pointless things became harder to do and the essential things easier?"
Greg considered a professional basketball player taking a free throw and observed 3 steps:
- Getting into effortless state – being present, at peace and focussed
- Taking effortless action – executing a well-practised move with precision and fluidity
- Reaping effortless results – the desired results following naturally time after time
Since as humans we are wired to eschew what is hard and embrace what is easy, this kind of effortlessness is itself essential.
Effortless is not about down-playing hardships but rather about lightening your burdens (letting the light shine on them and making them less weighty) in order to enable you to go further with the resources you have.
In the next 3 articles, I'll summarise what I take from the book about the getting into the Effortless State, taking Effortless Action and reaping Effortless Results.
Next article: Effortless State (2 of 4)