We all know that if we want to make progress on things that are important to us, we need to put in the time and energy. But it doesn’t stop there, because there are ways to optimize that thought so you can do more with your time and more with your energy. Greg McKeown answers the question about how we should be spending our time in his first book “Essentialism”, and now he’s answering the second question about how we should spend our energy in his new book “Effortless”. As for the latter, this is what he had to say.

Greg asks you to evaluate the ROE, the "Return On Effort". He proposes that the same amount of effort can produce different outcomes, and it’s important to identify the ways you’re putting in effort that yield the greatest results.

‍

I wanted to feature some incredible song lyrics. One of the songs on my morning dance playlist is “You Get What You Give” by New Radicals, which is a song about some kids trying to find their way in life. The song alternates between telling a story and sharing lessons they should keep in mind along the way. You probably recognize the chorus:

You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget
We only get what we give

I love the practical contrast this song provides. It talks about delinquency, amazing times, crippling doubt, and depression. That’s life, plain and simple, but the ultimate advice it gives through all of those emotions is the song title - “You only get what you give.” That which you share with the world will return to you in unexpected and magnified ways.

Be the brightness that lights up other people’s lives, and you’ll find that your life is much much brighter.

‍

I have been exploring a new and extremely profound philosophy lately. For the last 6+ months (as of this writing), the core affirmation that I’ve been writing down and meditating on is “I am attracting the right possibilities into my life at the right time.” It's kind of a unique affirmation, but there’s one word in it that continues to fascinate me - Possibilities.

After learning more about the Law of Attraction, and the way that the 4th dimensional metaphysical world works, I’ve started to see the value of possibilities. A possibility is something that can happen, and it’s the metaphysical world’s way of communicating with you about the potential of your path. When you become aware that something is a possibility for your life, that’s the 4th dimension tugging you to pursue the possibility you have in mind. Some people say that's your intuition calling you to what is right for you.

But the law of attraction is not enough to get what you want. It’s not only about being aware of the possibilities around you, it’s about igniting them! That’s where the Law of Attraction, that we all know and love must be paired with it’s complimentary force, the law of action. You must exercise that possibility in order for it to be represented in the 3-dimensional world we exist in.

There are no exceptions to this thought, and there are many incredible examples of its work in action. In fact, Ryan Mannion (who is becoming a good friend) just wrote a book called “Reignite Possibilities” touches on people with incredible success stories through the actions they've taken. The best part, not only is it free to download, but it’s tied to a social impact project. When you download your free copy you will contribute one brick toward the building of a school in Cambodia. Grab a copy now at: https://www.amazon.com/Ignite-Possibilities-JB-Owen-ebook/dp/B095J38KNS/ref=nodl_

‍

I'm not proud of this, but lately I’ve been feeling really sorry for myself. Things changed up at work where I haven’t been entirely happy. I’ve had random technical issues and misunderstandings in conversation that have led to poor outcomes. Out of protection for myself, I started pointing the finger. I started allowing my circumstances to dictate my state of being, going through the motions by not emotionally investing in my work, and soaking in all the things I had to complain about.

Then I started asking myself questions that I ask you every single day. How might my energy be attracting this? How is my perspective affecting the way I’m seeing things? How am I responsible for the way things are going? I realized that I’m choosing to feel sorry for myself, I’m letting situations run my life instead of controlling the situations I have in front of me. And that’s when things started to flip. If I’m in control, what can I do about it? And most importantly, what do I want?

I decided that I don’t want to feel sorry for myself. I don’t want to feel drained, unmotivated, and hopeless. I want to find ways to make the most of this opportunity and extract as much value as I can from it. Upon admitting to all of that, I was able to get more creative about how I relate with my work. I started seeing how I can develop in the ways I want to, and even more powerfully, I realized how great of an opportunity I actually had to accomplish those things.

I chose to shift my perspective. I gained an awareness around how I was thinking and feeling, wanted to make a change, and connected that change to my daily effort. Things aren’t great, but they’re getting better and I’m finding a lot more meaning in what I’m doing. It’s working for me, and if you’re feeling upset or disinterested in something, I encourage you to get real with yourself and figure out what you can do about it to make things better.

This one was more of a diary entry but I thank you for reading it anyway!

I wanted to honor the heart of the Holiday we’re celebrating today, which is Memorial Day. Memorial Day is dedicated to remembering those who died in service of protecting our Freedom in the United States. It’s a time to reflect and see your path and circumstance, and acknowledge the sacrifices made by others to give you the privileges you have today.

Memorial Day recognizes people who made the ultimate sacrifice. There are many empty seats at dinner tables because of the heroism displayed by members of our military. The sad truth is there’s nothing we can do to change their fate, but there is a lot we can do to honor them and what they stood for. I believe the best expression of that is to make the absolute most of the incredible gifts you’ve received because of their sacrifices.

In the spirit of that, I think It’s appropriate to broaden the lens. There are people in your life today who have invested, sacrificed, and struggled for you and your well-being. Parents, teachers, siblings, friends - People have selflessly made decisions at their own expense to support you, and you wouldn’t be who you are today without them.

So my ask of you today, is to acknowledge how others have sacrificed for you, and be grateful for their contribution. Send a text, make a phone call, or do whatever feels right to you to recognize others who have made you a priority. It will mean the world to them.

I’m sure you’ve had times where you’re in the zone. You’re engrossed in an activity and doing really well with it, performing better than you ever have before. You’re so focused on what you’re doing that you have little concept of time. The sensation I’m describing is actually a brain state called “flow” and it’s known for providing heightened productivity and accelerated progress on a task through extreme concentration.

As it relates to personal development, this is important to learn about because it gives you an ideal to attain in how you feel while working on a task. In order to produce more flow states in your life, there are a few conditions that will help you to enter this state more frequently and successfully that I want to share with you.

First, the activity itself needs to have the right tension between difficulty and attainability. If something is too easy it doesn’t require the same level of focus, and if it’s too hard then it’s not rewarding enough. So the solution there is to set goals that have that proper tension.

Second is to eliminate distractions. Flow is a fragile state that is difficult to enter, and if you’re interrupted, then you will lose it. So when you’re engaging in focused working sessions make sure you silence devices and eliminate distractions.

Then finally, you need to enjoy what you’re doing. Your brain will not concentrate so strictly on something that you don’t find inherently interesting. So take note of when you feel really focused on a task because that’s indicative of the things you like to do, and you can do those things more often to improve your productivity.

There are many great resources available about flow, primarily from Steven Kotler and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi that are well worth checking out if this interests you.

This fun little rhyme is a lot to digest, but I’ll do my best to break it down for you. “What you think about and what you thank about is what you will bring about.” Big picture, this quote encapsulates the essence of having a positive mindset, and shows us how we are actively creating our lives by way of the things we attract through our mentality and actions. More specifically, a positive life is created by what we think and what we thank.

As for what we think, we all know that our thoughts are extremely influential and truly mold the way that we see the world. When we control our thoughts to perceive things a certain way, they become a certain way. Wayne Dyer put it best - “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”. This is centered around having the choice to pick our thoughts.

Then for what we thank, gratitude is an incredibly powerful force. By putting your attention into things that you are grateful for, and seeing the best of every situation, you attract more good things into your life. This reminds me of the quote “What you appreciate appreciates”, meaning that what you are grateful for becomes more abundant and accessible.

So let’s tie it all back together and see if it makes more sense now - “What you think about and what you thank about is what you will bring about.” If you want anything to change in your life it needs to start with you. Your choices, your actions, and your ways of being. The same goes for living a more positive and enriching life. Be the epicenter of your own positivity and it will return tremendously.

I'm just making a comment, take it or leave it. The reason being is I feel like it’s so easy for us to make excuses in our life and justify why we don’t go for what we want. Some of it is worthiness, that’s another topic, but I think there’s a huge element of lacking self-belief that holds us back. As a culture we’ve been trained to be so averse to making mistakes that we wait until we feel ready and completely capable. Well I have some news for you… No one has it figured out, and people who are "succeeding" feel the same way, they’re just taking action anyway.

Remember when you were a kid and you met a 25 year old who was an adult with a job and had their life together? Then when you turned 25 you realize how unsure of a time that really is? Who you used to look up to as the “adult” is truly a work in progress, and that’s a trend that will carry much further into adulthood.

In the instances when you feel like you don’t have it figured out, do you know what’s the best way to learning it? Go out and do it. Experience it, taste it, better familiarize yourself with it. Because then the next time around you’ll have it a little more figured out, you’ll feel a little more confident, and you’ll slowly start attaining that original standard you wanted to meet to get started.

Myself included, I feel like we’re so comfortable waiting for things to be easy before doing them. But things don’t just become easy, they require specific experience so that you can use the lessons you’ve earned to inform how to think, act, and behave. And don’t overthink it - Everyone was confused, unsure, and taking a chance on themselves at some point in their journey. But they decided to go for it anyway, and the sooner you take that scary step forward, no matter the result, you’ll advance in your journey too.