Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. And today I am so excited to share with you a conversation that I had with Greg McCune. He's the author of Essentialism, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, and of Effortless, make it easier to do what matters most. And he's the host of the What's Essential podcast. Greg has dedicated his

career to discovering why some people break through to the next level and others don't. He's an

author, a speaker, and an active social innovator, having worked with clients such as Adobe,

Apple, Google, Facebook, Pixar, and more. In this conversation, he shared his wisdom around why we tend to get in

our own way and how we can better focus on identifying what's essential and making it effortless.

We tackle some big questions and we get tactical, so you'll be sure to walk away with something

practical and useful you can put to work immediately. I hope you enjoy.

Well, Greg, welcome to the Modern Mentor Podcast. It is an honor and a pleasure to have you with us today. So technically,

we are here today to talk about your new book, which is called Effortless, Make It Easier to Do

What Matters Most. I read it. I loved it.

I can't wait to talk about it.

But in fairness to this book, I feel like we can't do effortless justice without

spending a little bit of time on your first book, which was all about essentialism.

And so I would love it if you would talk a little bit about this concept and just quick background.

So I run a business called Lead Above Noise, which is all about leadership and organization development.

My business is so named, I think, in the same spirit as your book, which is to say being a leader, it is not about adding more, more tools, more strategies. It's really about

being so ruthlessly intentional with your time. It's about filtering. It's about curating.

So I think we come from a similar space, but you coined the term essentialism, and I would love to

hear, where does that come from? Why is that so important for you?

Okay, let's just put the two books in context. I think you could read either book separately,

maybe cousins in that sense, but I think of them a little bit like Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

You know, like they both made music separately, but together there's something magical, right?

...