It Doesn’t Have To Be So Hard — The Way To Effortless Achievements
Learn to simplify and still achieve
A good friend of mine told me a few days ago that he had tacitly agreed — with some seemingly invisible mind — to suffer for a few years if it meant the reward of success. My friend is living under the impression, like many of us, that anything good is earned solely through extremely hard work and a fair share of torment.
And who could blame us? The invisible mind — our culture — has us glorifying burnout and exhaustion. It is telling us that five hour nights, packed schedules, and powering through are the visa to achievement. It is telling us that if it feels good or if it feels easy, we must be doing it wrong. But is there a way to move towards your goals in a more balanced fashion?
Today’s article is not debating the relative importance of the present moment versus a potentially non-existent future (please refer to this). It is about something more practical: new thought patterns and habits to live more effortlessly while still achieving your goals. Bouddha would have called this “the middle way”. Why not take this road instead?
Let’s start with the practical tips — heavily inspired by Greg McKeown’s book, Effortless — that you could apply to any small task to the most ambitious goal you are going after.
Tip #1 — always start with this one simple question “how can this be made easy ?”. There’s arguably an infinite number of roads one can take to achieve a goal but the smartest one to go for — in spite of the invisible mind’s talk — is the easy one. Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s co-founder, said that “part of doing strategy is to solve the easiest problem”. Just start there.
Tip#2 — slow down to move faster. However counter-intuitive this might sound, slowing down will ultimately deliver higher results. Peak performance is achieved through regular breaks in the workflow. Powering through mental or physical fatigue will increase the likelihood of mistakes and slow down your process in the long run. And that’s only if you are lucky to avoid burnout. So make sure to install two habits: one is to take regular breaks during your workdays and two is to pace your overall progress — never too much, never too little. As read in The Four Toltec Agreements: “just do your best, not more, not less”.
Tip#3 — forget perfection. Yes, leave it out the room, the door, the planet. My stickler personality had me delay or put off some projects that I would have started a long time ago if I was not scared of imperfection. But Rome did not get built in one day, and Aux Merveilleux started with a horribly small shop before the great ones we know. Progress always starts with ugly, or weird, and then slowly moves its way up.
Beneath these habits, there’s a more important transformation that has to take place for you to reach the effortless living. That of your thought patterns. It is very likely that the need to constantly power through is motivated by some mind lies that are running your show. Tune into your thoughts and listen to what you are hearing. Is it guilt? It is a sense of unworthiness? Is it a need for validation, maybe?
Intercept these thoughts, look at them gently and watch them move their way. Do it again when they come back. There’s no need to overcomplicate the already challenging experience we are all part of.
