Effortless - Greg McKeown

Partial Excerpts (antilibrary)

Copyright

2021

Introduction: Not Everything Has to Be So Hard

Let me tell you the story of Patrick McGinnis.

eighty hours per week, even on vacations and holidays

He traveled so much for work that he earned the highest frequent flier status on Delta, a level so high it didn’t even have a name

He had been taught that hard work is the key to everything you want in life

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

In the months after the financial crisis hit, McGinnis couldn’t get out of bed. He started having night sweats

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 also stopped treating sleep like a necessary evil. He started walking, running, and eating better. He lost twenty-five pounds

investing in start-ups—not a lot of money, just small checks here and there.

He has a twenty-five-fold return on his portfolio of investments

Even during tough economic times he’s felt sanguine about his finances because he isn’t dependent on a single source of income.