BBC Capital article “Out with the old, in with the new”

BBC Capital

Greg was featured on the BBC Capital article “Out with the old, in with the new”. You can read the full article by going here: http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20131128-new-year-fresh-perspective

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

The holiday season forces many of us to take stock of the past year. For some, that means rushing to wrap up unfinished tasks or obligations. For others, the holidays are a time to give thanks for the many things that went well over the past year. And for the rest of us, well, the holidays bring arduous trips to see family or meet last-minute work obligations.
Slowing down, easier holiday travel and giving thanks (to a surprising recipient) are topics that LinkedIn Influencers addressed over the past week. Here is what some of them had to say.

Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

McKeown was dreading another round of meetings at a conference in Mexico when he decided to sneak away for a relaxing few hours by the pool. To his surprise, he found a dozen fellow rebels lounging poolside. This relaxed, unstructured time with the other conference attendees led to something “amazing”, he wrote in his post The Joy of Missing Out (This Holiday Season).

“Deep relationships were formed, spontaneous ideas flowed and I saw one important initiative was launched,” he wrote.

It was an important reminder to slow down and avoid over committing, he wrote. “As we head into the holiday season there will be many invitations to attend this event or that party. Not only can the number of these events feel overwhelming [but] the fear of missing out can lead us to be unsatisfied with the choices we make.”

McKeown offers several suggestions to help us overcome our own fears of missing out. For one, “just because you committed doesn’t mean you can’t uncommit,” he wrote. “Look at each holiday commitment on your calendar for the next few weeks. Ask, ‘If I wasn’t already involved how hard would I work to attend?’ If the answer is ‘not hard at all’ then ask to be released from your commitment [using a phrase such as]: ‘I know I said I would be at this but I think I spoke too soon.’”

Establish a new rule for the new year, he suggested. “If you want to add a new commitment , get rid of an existing one,” he wrote. “If you want to add a new activity you need to edit out two existing activities. This simple rule ensures that you don’t add an activity that is less valuable than something you are already doing.”