Let Go of Control: 7 Taoist Strategies to Transform Your Life
How Taoist Wisdom Can Change Your Life
These 7 Taoist strategies came from the Tao Te Ching by Laozi.
The Tao Te Ching is the foundational text of Taoism and helps you live in harmony with the natural way of life.
I hope these strategies can help you embrace simplicity and cultivate inner wisdom as you live life.
1. Stop trying so hard
You don’t need to force things to happen. Show up, play your part, and what happens happens.
A good athlete can enter a state of body-awareness, in which the right stroke or the right movement happens by itself, effortlessly, without any interference of the conscious will.
Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place.
What are you working hard on to make happen?
How can you relax and let things go?
2. Accept reality
We create so much stress in life by trying to control things outside of our control.
Practice being in perfect harmony with the way things are.
The master observes the world but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. His heart is open as the sky.
Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
The Master gives himself up to whatever the moment brings. He knows that he is going to die, and he has nothing left to hold on to; no illusions in his mind, no resistances in his body. He doesn’t think about his actions; they flow from the core of his being. He holds nothing back from life; therefore he is ready for death, as a man is ready for sleep after a good day’s work.
What are you having a hard time accepting?
What would life look like if you were able to accept it?
3. Be yourself
The only way to be in harmony with life is to accept yourself and embrace who you are.
When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.
Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.
What can you accept about yourself?
What would the real version of you be doing that you aren’t currently doing?
4. Prioritize yourself first
You can’t help other people until you help yourself.
Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.
The journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath your feet.
What is your body telling yourself you need right now?
What have you been wanting to do that you haven’t done?
5. Pause and make space
You need to slow down so you can understand what really needs to be done.
Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?
Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe.
When was the last time you did nothing?
Take time to sit and silence and see what arises.
6. Stop talking so much
No one cares what you have to say. Show them.
The master doesn’t talk, he acts.
Let your workings remain a mystery. Just show people the results.
Those who know don’t talk. Those who talk don’t know.
What have you wanted to tell people?
What can you do to show them instead of tell them?
7. Let go of control
Things change so much, even if you have control, you’ll soon lose it, so stop trying.
Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself.
Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting with no expectations, leading and not trying to control: this is the supreme virtue.
If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. If you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them.
What are you currently trying to control?
What would it look like to give up control and just act out of love?
Thank you for reading.
I hope these strategies can help bring you peace and you move through life.
If you haven’t read the Tao Te Ching, I highly recommend it.
I hope you’ll give the questions above some thought and see how your life and relationships change.
If you’d like to read all of my notes on the Tao Te Ching, you can below:
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