No stress and achieving more
Are you interested in reducing stress? Would you like to achieve more by doing less? Did you know that by consistently applying one basic principle, you can turn a life filled with stress and tension into one that is relatively stress-free and balanced? You will be much more productive and find more satisfaction.
If you think it’s a contradiction to say you can achieve more by doing less, think again. Have you ever noticed how your performance often improves when you stop trying so hard? For example, you are in an important business meeting and for some reason you know that things are going to work out. You stop trying to get your point across and trust. Surprisingly, her colleagues start to ask and listen to her opinion, and things go well. Or, you are at a tennis match or on the golf course, you play exceptionally well, and as you recall the experience, you realize that during that experience you stopped thinking and started flowing. It all seemed so easy!
In these two examples, more is achieved by doing less. And indeed, the peak experiences of our lives, the moments where we really shine, are often experiences where we feel like we’re doing very little or nothing at all. Instead, life is happening through us. The quality of effortlessness is what makes peak experiences special: there is a lot going on, but we are the instrument, not the doer.
Peak experiences are moments of flow or being in the zone. The effortless flow of quality peak experiences is always accompanied by a feeling of deep pleasure and utter clarity.
For most of us, peak experiences are the exception rather than the norm. We’d like to feel effortless more often, and we’re fascinated by people who seem to be masters of flow, who have learned to manifest that flow in what they do. Think Tiger Woods. Despite the enormous challenges inherent in his situation, he almost always seems composed and his body is a picture of fluid grace. He knows that even in the face of intense demands, deep relaxation is the key to his success. For example, in an interview several years ago, Tiger Woods described how he worked for years to achieve an ever lighter touch with his golf club, because that finesse of touch was the key to his extraordinary control. He focused his attention on relaxing his fingers and arms to feel more deeply and focus more effectively to reach higher levels.
Most of the best ones focus on maintaining a certain inner state, a state of effortless or deep physical relaxation, as the key to their success. Effortlessness is a physical sensation that combines deep physical relaxation with a calm mind and concentrated focus. The best performers know that they cannot reach high levels without this feeling. They make cultivating this physical feeling their number one priority, letting everything else take second place. They achieve more because they refuse to sacrifice their inner calm to achieve any goal.
The reason most people don’t perform at their best is that they focus too much on what they have to accomplish and too little on how they feel inside while they accomplish things. Because they pay so little attention to their inner state, they end up feeling overwhelmed by everything they have to do, from the time they get up in the morning until they get home. They assume that this is the price they have to pay for what they have to achieve. But the truth is quite the opposite!
The more stressed we feel, the more we achieve at a level well below our true potential. We live by rules that create the opposite of an effortless and successful lifestyle. If you dare to stop making achievement at all costs your god and instead commit to an effortless lifestyle as the foundation from which you approach achievement, then you will achieve greater success. You will be following in the footsteps of teachers who know that high levels of achievement depend on high levels of inner serenity, and that the secret to success is learning to make physical, mental, and emotional relaxation the foundation of achievement.