Copyright 2021 by Greg McKeown
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Currency, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
Currency and its colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McKeown, Greg, author.
Title: Effortless / Greg McKeown.
Description: First edition. | New York: Currency, [2021] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021004348 (print) | LCCN 2021004349 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593135648 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593135655 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Mental fatigue. | Burn out (Psychology) | Mindfulness (Psychology) | Quality of life.
Classification: LCC BF482 .M35 2021 (print) | LCC BF482 (ebook) | DDC 158.7dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021004348
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021004349
International edition ISBN9780593238769
Ebook ISBN9780593135655
crownpublishing.com
Book illustrations by Greg McKeown and Denisse Leon
Cover design: Terri Radstone
ep_prh_5.7.0_c0_r0
Contents
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matt. 11:30
Introduction
NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE SO HARD
Let me tell you the story of Patrick McGinnis.
He had done all the things he was supposed to do. He had checked all the boxes. Hed graduated from Georgetown University. Then from Harvard Business School. Hed joined the ranks of a top finance and insurance company.
He put in the long workdays he felt were expected of him: to the tune of eighty hours per week, even on vacations and holidays. He never left the office before his boss; sometimes it felt as though he never left the office at all.
He traveled so much for work that he earned the highest frequent flier status on Delta, a level so high it didnt even have a name. Meanwhile, he was on the boards of four companies on three continents. Once, when he refused to stay home sick, he had to leave a board meeting three times to throw up in the bathroom. When he returned, a colleague said he looked green. But, still, he powered through.
He had been taught that hard work is the key to everything you want in life. It was a part of the New England mindset: your work ethic was evidence of your character. And, ever the overachiever, hed taken this to the next level. He didnt just think that working endless hours would lead to success; he thought it was success. If you didnt stay late at work, you must not have a very important job.
He assumed that in the end, his long hours would pay off. Then one day he woke up to find himself working for a bankrupt company. That company was AIG and the year was 2008. His stock had fallen 97 percent. All the late nights at the office, all the countless red-eye flights to Europe, South America, and China, all the missed birthdays and celebrations, had been for naught.
In the months after the financial crisis hit, McGinnis couldnt get out of bed. He started having night sweats. His vision blurred, both literally and figuratively. He couldnt see clearly for months. He was floundering. Lost.
He was sick with stress. His doctor ran some tests. He felt like the tragic character Boxer the Horse in George Orwells Animal Farm, described as the farms most dedicated laborer whose answer to every problem, every setback, was I will work harderthat is, until he collapsed from overwork and was sent to the knackers yard.
So on the cab ride back from the doctors office McGinnis made what he called a bargain with God. He promised, If I survive this, then I will really make some changes.
Working longer and harder had been the solution to every problem, McGinnis said. But all of a sudden, he realized, The marginal return of working harder was, in fact, negative.
So what could he do? He had three options. He could carry on and likely work himself to death. He could aim lower and give up on his goals. Or he could find an easier way to achieve the success he wanted.
He chose the third option.
He stepped down from his role at AIG but stayed on as a consultant. He stopped working eighty hours a week. He started going home at five. He no longer emailed on the weekends.
He also stopped treating sleep like a necessary evil. He started walking, running, and eating better. He lost twenty-five pounds. He started enjoying his life, and his work, again.
Around this time, he was inspired by a friend who was investing in start-upsnot a lot of money, just small checks here and there. It piqued Patricks interest.
He invested in a couple of companies. He has a twenty-five-fold return on his portfolio of investments. Even during tough economic times hes felt sanguine about his finances because he isnt dependent on a single source of income.
He has made more money in half the hours he used to work. And the type of work he is doing is more rewarding, less intrusive. He said, It doesnt even feel like work anymore.
What he learned from this experience was this: When you simply cant try any harder, its time to find a different path.
What about you? Do you ever feel as though
youre running faster but not moving any closer to your goals?
you want to make a higher contribution but lack the energy?
youre teetering right on the edge of burnout?
things are so much harder than they ought to be?
If you answered yes to any or all of these, this book is for you.
These people are disciplined and focused. They are engaged and motivated. And yet, they are utterly exhausted.
The Effortless Way
There is an ebb and flow to life. Rhythms are in everything we do. There are times to push hard and times to rest and recuperate. But these days many of us are pushing harder and harder all the time. There is no cadence, only grinding effort.
We live in a time of great opportunity. But there is something about modern life thats like trying to hike at high altitude. Our brains are foggy. The ground beneath our feet seems unsteady. The air is thin and it can feel surprisingly exhausting to make even an inch of progress. Perhaps its the endless fear and uncertainty about the future. Perhaps its the loneliness and isolation. Perhaps its financial worries or hardships. Perhaps its all the responsibilities, all the pressures that can suffocate us on a daily basis. Whatever the cause, the result is that were often working twice as hard only to achieve half as much.
Life is hard, really hard, in all sorts of ways, ranging from the complicated to the weighty, the sad to the exhausting. Disappointments are hard. Paying the bills is hard. Strained relationships are hard. Raising children is hard. Losing a loved one is hard. There are periods in our lives when every day can be hard.
To try to pretend that a book can eliminate these hardships would be fanciful. I didnt write this book to downplay these burdens; I wrote it to help you lighten them. This book may not make every hard thing easy to approach and carry, but I believe it can make many hard things easier.
