A Podcast on "The Disciplined Pursuit of Less"

If you've been reading the Daily Dose for a while, you know that I like to spend my long hours in the car (longer every day, thanks to Houston traffic) listening to audiobooks and podcasts.  The other day I was listening to This Is Your Life, a podcast by Michael Hyatt, and he was interviewing Greg McKeown, the author of Essentialism.  We have talked about this book on this blog before, but the interview on the podcast really got my attention.

Basically, McKeown advocates for chosing the one or two things in life that matter most.  The idea that we can "have it all" is false.  People who are highly driven and success oriented often have a hard time chosing the most important avenues to pursue.  McKowen calls this the "undisciplined pursuit of more."  In trying to do everything, they fail to do the most important things well.

The antidote, in McKeown's words, is the "disciplined pursuit of less."  What a concept!  The key words are disciplined and pursuit.  Discipline indicates that this is something that one must act on in a conscious way.  Pursuit tells us that we will never be finished - we are always a work in progress.  (Hmmmm. . . . sounds like a theme here at the Daily Dose!)

From a health point of view (our words, not McKeown's) trying to have it all can make you sick.  Stress is the number one factor in weight gain, poor health, and reduced productivity.  We talk to people every day that "don't have time to exercise or eat healthy."  We usually see them after their bodies have broken down and they have gotten a wake up call to begin a program of self-care.  Once they understand that a healthy lifestyle is one of the "essentials" they can't believe that they waited so long.

I hope you take some time to listen to this fabulous podcast.  It's the best one I've heard in quite a while.

Here's to chosing the things that really matter!

Question of the day:  How does a healthy lifestyle rank on your "essentials" list, and why?  I'll give you my answer first - read below.