# take less do more Glen Van Peski talks about ultralight backpacking, life, and leadership. ## Метаданные - **Канал:** Leadership Freak - **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI - **Дата:** 26.04.2024 - **Длительность:** 27:10 - **Просмотры:** 395 ## Описание Glen wasn't thrilled with my use of obsession. We ended up calling it annoyingly interested in something. Glen's new book, "take less. do more," reflects his drive to make things better. We discuss annoying obsession, having enough, bacon, generosity, and more. ## Содержание ### [0:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI) Intro you seem like a guy normal guy but you I think you're obsessed and I'm curious about what your obsessions or your obsession actually is and I'm thinking about the book you know take uh take less and do more and you seem to be and when I say obsessed I mean you have a profound drive for something what is ### [0:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=35s) You seem normal that well uh first I have a funny story when you said you seem normal um I was uh doing an author event at a local bookstore and um was talking about the early gvp gear days and how we only offered the packs in one size because that's the only pattern I had was the one I made for myself so I have no idea how many of those early customers this actually fit them unless they happen to be 64 and skinny but um and then I said you know now we have packs that are obviously sized for normal people and the person who had asked the question said well I think you're normal and I said well I'm on the tall side of normal and we went on with the event and afterwards I'm signing books and a guy comes up he says I don't know what your next book is going to be about but you've already got the title and I go really he says yeah the tall side of normal he says that's just the perfect book title so um yeah I might be on the normal on the tall side of normal um yeah I think in terms of ### [1:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=100s) Drive Drive I don't know just always been driven I mean I know people who are more driven so I guess it's all relative um but yeah driven to make good use of my time I guess to accomplish things to get better um better at what I do you know better husband better father better engineer better Backpacker better bus you know somebody or you know people who are more obsessed with what they take and don't take on a hike than you are in that specific Arena yeah probably okay I could name one or two it's a small group for sure yeah I say I've probably thought more about this than most people is kind of how I it yeah you think you know so I don't know very many people who count the coffee beans that they take on a hike are you still counting the coffee beans that you take on a ### [3:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=180s) Counting coffee beans hike so I curently have my I currently have my food laid out because I am you know packing for a trip I leave tomorrow and I have three bags uh each with uh I think eight oh this one has some extra four five oh No 9 10 11 well there you go I thought I had eight clearly I'm getting a little sloppy in my old age ### [3:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=210s) Chocolate covered raisins well yeah I accidentally mixed like the chocolate covered raisins in with the chocolate covered espresso beans and so I might have got a little high because there's some raisins in there too so rather than take the raisins out I added a couple espresso beans yes I do still count the coffee beans all right ### [3:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=228s) Coffee beans so uh I don't know anyone who counts the coffee beans before they go on a hike or before they go camping um so in my world I'm looking at you and you you're freakishly interested in lightweight um and it felt to me like and we've talked before but in the book it felt to me like um that has been something ### [4:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=259s) Lighten your pack weight that when did this become important to you specifically like lightening my pack weight yes ### [4:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=270s) Glens first backpacking trip um it was that first backpacking trip in the Sierra with Brian when he got into Scouts and I was schlepping a pack that weighed over 70 pounds which I can't even wrap my head around that now I mean I have the pictures to prove it but it's like I can't even imagine that um so ### [4:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=293s) Better ways to do things yeah I thought I think as an engineer you're always thinking about better ways to do things which can be frankly annoying to people um you know I know it is to my wife I've learned after you know almost 42 years of marriage not to suggest to her better ways that she could do the things she's doing um because she's frankly based on my experience not interested um in optimizing some things um but yeah she's used to you know it's ### [5:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=323s) Engineering mindset in all areas of my life not just backpacking like the civil engineering you know be walking through a parking lot and I'll be going well you know this isn't really an elegant solution for the drainage in this parking lot I would have designed it differently um and she just kind of rolls her eyes and nods and yeah but so I think that's I think it's kind of the engineering mindset you're always looking to improve things yes ### [5:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=351s) Being obsessed okay so uh you uh died around this idea of being obsessed so I'm going to start using the word uh annoyingly interested in making things better so I unusually focused in on optimizing ### [6:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=366s) I like annoying I mean there's many ways you can phrase it yeah but obsessed I like annoying better annoyed yeah to people who aren't Engineers it's yeah it's an annoying trait for sure and I I just want to ### [6:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=383s) How important is having something think about this for a minute because well let me ask you this question how important is having something that you are unusually interested in to becoming ### [6:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=408s) The upper echelons excellent I don't I'm not sure I understood the question there so you um are at the uh in the upper echelons there's a small group of people who uh pack like you and Hike like you and others are attracted to that so I know you take groups it's a very interesting kind of thing you know that you stand out in this particular ### [7:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=444s) Becoming obsessed area I'm just curious about when it in order for someone to excel it seems to me like they have to become annoyingly interested in something obsessed they have to become so fascinated by something that other people look at them and they think what's going on with that guy he's you know he's really he's fanatical he's counting coffee beans ### [8:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=480s) When does it matter yeah and I would say so and it'd be interesting to look at that you know when does it matter about the field that you become annoyingly interested in you know um I didn't set out to be well known as a obsessive uh Ultra Backpacker but I was just trying to see how light I could get my own pack but I had the advantage of one when I was doing it that was a very small group so kind of big fish in a small pond syndrome um and two I was early in so you have kind of the first in um concept um and then you know I accidentally started a gear company along the way so that led to Greater notoriety and being known that internet was just starting so that was very kind of like on the early days of Twitter you know it was more like a club kind of and list serves and things like that so I think a lot of those things coales to give me some minor reputation in that area um you know if you were obsessively annoyingly interested in something that a lot of people were as probably harder to get a reputation I don't ### [9:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=574s) What makes you different know the thing that makes you different is the thing that um makes you uh potentially useful or allows you to stand out I think we try to fit in a lot but you perhaps there's something about a person that you know their perspective that makes them different that's your contribution I mean everybody else is doing 70 lb packs uh how heavy what will the weight of your pack be on this trip about well so the actually just have my ### [10:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=608s) How heavy will your pack be gear list because like I said I'm leaving tomorrow um you love your list yeah I you know I have a I have a trip I have a list for every trip I've ever done um and this one's a little on the heavy side because I'm kind of testing out some new water treatment system I want to explore so my base pack weight before food and water is 5. 63 PBS which a little on the heavy side for me and we need a rope because we're gonna have to lower packs over some stuff and um yeah so it's a little on the heavy side but oh and it's you know I'm leading a group so I've got a battery and things like that I wouldn't normally have emergency locators stuff like that so yes 5. 6 it's a a pretty big ### [10:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=659s) Competition with yourself drop one of the things that you said that um speaks to me to paraphrase it is you were in competition with yourself you just wanted to see how light the pack could get it wasn't like a philanthropic motivation you were just trying to figure it out for ### [11:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=679s) I wasnt trying to build a reputation yourself now did I understand that right yeah I mean I wasn't trying to build a reputation as an ultralight Backpacker or try and be the lightest guy around I have hiked with people that had lighter packs it doesn't happen very often but um it has happened so um you know and like the old west Gunslingers of course you know when you have a little bit of reputation of course everyone's trying to one up you um and I don't really care I mean I just I'm trying to optimize for me um and if other people can you know get some tips and tricks from that well that's great but everyone has different Comfort levels of things that are important to them and so they make different gear choices and end up with different pack weights yes where does generosity ### [12:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=732s) Where does generosity fit in fit into this because I know the personal Excellence competing with yourself just seeing how far you can take something and still have it be useful and enjoyable uh is an exciting sort of concept for you think and so that's a self-competition ### [12:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=753s) I started a company by accident where does generosity come in you said well I started a company by accident now you know what you know all of this and I think somebody hearing that's like well that's disappointing I mean I want the strategy I don't want the I started a company by accident anyway where does generosity come into ### [12:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=773s) You know a long way from civilization this you know I think um in when you're by yourself or with other people when you're in the wilderness you know a long way from civilization um I ### [13:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=787s) Share what resources there are think especially in cases say you're hiking a trail it just Fosters more of a generosity you need to depend on other people and you know if you share what resources there are if someone's short on food everyone like gives up a food bar so they can you know make it to the next resupply or if um ### [13:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=809s) If someones short on food everyone like someone you know needs has some broken gear and someone has a repair kit you see if you can fix it I mean I think it breeds that kind of generosity um because you really need each other um I think when we're you know in the front country we figure well that's someone else's job you know someone else will take care of that someone else will stop and help that person or um you know we have people for that it's not my job ### [13:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=835s) My mom taught us this um but I've tried to bring that from backpack experience into my life and there are a number of reasons I mean my mom taught us this um growing up just by what she did and so I you know gave put the plans to make the pack on the internet for free and um I've never taken a salary from the gear company I started um and I'm donating all the proceeds from the book um you know I've been blessed that I have a life where you know more money is not ### [14:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=864s) More money is not going to change going to change my lifestyle it's not going to make me happier uh and so I don't need more money so I'm already giving away a big chunk of my income now so more income is just another problem to solve so ### [14:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=882s) More income is not something Im seeking um that's not you know more income is not something I'm seeking right now um so I can be generous but for me it's you know generosity I talk about I was talking last night at an event about building margin in our lives of ### [15:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=900s) Time money and energy um you know uh of time money and energy um and money is an easy one for me um time is harder being generous with my time I'm getting better at that ### [15:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=915s) Money can always make more um because I don't know in my mind it's like money can always make more money it's like time yeah I mean you could argue otherwise but basically you know that day is gone um and if you gave it to someone you didn't get that day um and then energy is another thing that I struggle with you know if I'm focused on my annoyingly obsessive quest of something um that's energy I'm putting into that and maybe I'm not noticing someone that could use a visit or a phone call or something like that because I'm wound up in my thing so yeah if we can build in margin in time money and energy um that's my goal yes one of the things I took ### [15:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=958s) Know whats enough away from what you said is you know the importance of knowing what's enough and I think sometimes people don't haven't thought about this I me said it's just more is the drive instead of you know what's enough money what's enough free time uh you know what what's enough work what's enough people time what's enough that's a challenging uh question but I think an important one leaders should think about speaking of leaders what are the U Leadership Lessons the leadership takeaways in the book that you would love for people to reflect on and perhaps apply to their lives well it's funny you mention that because um kind of rattling around in my head um when I have more time is to put together um like a study guide you know Leadership Lessons from the book and then maybe a faith-based study guide could be used for um you know men's groups or something like that ### [17:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1028s) Business Lessons um you know I think the some of the Leadership Lessons I know I always tell people when I was working in business I was like everything you want to do depends on people doesn't matter how smart an engineer you are how many hours you work at some point get getting things done that you want to get done is going to involve other people and so you need to focus time and energy and attention on building relationships and getting better at relationship skills and relationships take time I mean there's no other way around it um and you need to invest that time because ultimately you're going to bump up against the limits of what you can do by yourself ### [17:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1079s) Learn to depend on others yes so you're saying one of the big takeaways is uh that you learn to depend on others in the book I was delighted and fascinated to see that after hikes uh people would get together and unpack their packs and share you know I took these things you know this process of give and take and feedback uh which makes us all better and I see you sort of smile and brighten up to that what's going on in your thinking as I say that well that doesn't happen on every hike but um you know it is a useful tool for everyone to in fact we're I'm going to do a going to do this with um a group women who explore coming up in June I think um we're going to go to a park and everyone's going to lay out their gear in a line and you get to see how different people solved that particular solution and it's you know it's great for backpacking I think in the rest of life too you ### [19:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1143s) Learn from others it's great in the rest of life too you know if you get that chance to talk to people I had this problem with an employee and you know ABC and if you can talk to other people that see how they solve that problem you know that's useful data you may solve it a little differently but knowing what other people tools that they've used uh is a great asset yes I'm I like to ask people uh ### [19:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1167s) Whats working what's working so many times we talk about what's not working in problems and issues and all of that and rightly so you can't ignore them but I think the thing that does get ignored is what's really working for you and I see that when you lay the pack up this is what works for me this is you know you solved the problems here are my you said it here are my Solutions this is my solution to the way I want to practice alter light so uh focusing on this is something I think all leaders would benefit from you know this what's working tell me how you're solving that issue tell me what you did to get the result you wanted tell me how that worked did you know how close were you to getting what you know all those kind of questions that I think get neglected in the day-to-day pressures of problem solving and issues and all of that well that's ### [20:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1226s) Leadership freak one of the things I love about leadership freak is even if it's not a problem that I'm facing right now it's kind of like you know it's in the back of my mind like so when I come up against that problems like wait there was something on leadership freak and um you know not just your posts your wisdom and the people that you know books or people you're interviewing but the comments I mean you have such a rabid following that there's a lot of good stuff diving into the comments in your posts too yeah y sometimes I want to say ### [21:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1261s) I wish I would have I wish I would have written that you know but it turns the conversation to me so I don't want to do that either I just want to basically affirm the other person but sometimes uh you know people come up with things and I think dang I wish I would have written it that way or I didn't think of that it happens every day really you know I've read Amazon reviews of my book and read him and going ### [21:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1290s) Just a review wow that person writes better than I do you know that was just a review yes it's great and humbling but it's great which leads me to say uh get the book and uh you know I have it here thanks for signing it and uh take less do more and leave a review on Amazon I did I went and left a review and um it's very helpful to the author if you do that so uh buy the book if you haven't already and then once you're done reading it leave a review I I'm confident you're going to love the book filled with great stories and uh you know just personal insights and uh like I didn't know you were in a plane crash you ### [22:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1340s) Plane crash know I have a a neighbor across the alley they came to my event last night and their son is has to be like three yeah he's three years old and he's fascinated by the plane crash uh you know the picture of the mangled plane he's and I'm not sure his Fascination if he's worried about getting on a plane now or he wants some information you know his his uh ### [22:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1366s) Book offer communication skills aren't quite there at three that I can like tease out what this Fascinations but he's yeah really fascinated by that mangled plane and I will make an offer for leadership freak followers and fans uh if they buy the book and email me at Glenn glenvan pesi. com with their mailing address I will send them out a signed a book plate that they could affix to their copy of the book all right thanks for ### [23:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1398s) Respect the author that I know uh people will enjoy that I like it when I rece I received a lot of books all the books behind me have been sent to me uh you know I open them up and the first thing I do is see if the author was Sig signing them and sometimes they come from a publicist and all of that and you don't you know you don't get that but I always appreciate it and respect it and sometimes when I loan books someone will say oh this book was signed by the author so like yeah it was you know so they say you know I was very careful let make sure not to you know damage it and bring it back all intact and everything I like to do something um where I can get in you know books that I read that I like are important to me and I you know I think of other people it's like ah they need to read this book if I can get a hold of the author and get them to sign the book specifically for that ### [24:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1452s) Glens new favorite book person um you know like I have um like my new favorite book francy's tired of hearing me talk about this is the Comfort crisis um and so I was able to get a hold of the author and you know David is ### [24:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1473s) Glens message to the author going to be very excited when he gets this book that I said he's going to enjoy and it's not just signed by the author it's specifically messaged to him ### [24:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1484s) Thank you yes so I love doing that yeah fantastic well I want to thank you for your time and thank you for the book and uh you know I think sometimes we don't appreciate that our story has value and we're just kind of living our life and we're doing our things and we don't realize that when we tell our story it can have an influence on someone else on someone else's journey and I think that's what's happening with the book and U I hope it continues so thank you so much for your time and for your book and I wish you the best with it thanks Dan it's always a ### [25:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5EoTtpuPI&t=1525s) Bacon pleasure to chat and the subject of bacon didn't even come up which amazes me speaking of obsession so you're the only one who sends me uh things like I have my uh you sent me the little towel I have it right here it's the bacon towel it's got something on it about bacon and uh other things so uh yeah it didn't even come up but we should be like bacon make stuff better yes exactly I think that's such genius that I'm surprised I'm the only one that's has an unhealthy annoying interest in that I mean it's just captures I mean who doesn't like bacon and you know you capture an idea in a couple of words and an image that's genius I think yeah I mean on their Tombstone I'm pretty sure that's gonna be there okay be like bacon so you know I'm gonna have to I'm gonna add that to my list I have a list of um tattoos which I will never get um right because divorce would be very expensive at my stage of life um but it's things that you know have meaning to me that I think are important and things that if I was going to get a tattoo I would consider and I'm gonna have to add be like bacon to my tattoo list yes okay well uh again I wish you the best with the book its title is uh take less do more it's about alra light it's about life and it's um it's wonderful so thank you so much Glenn for your time and I wish you the best with it thanks a lot Dan appreciate the time --- *Источник: https://ekstraktznaniy.ru/video/45603*