have you ever felt that no matter how hard you try you just can't progress with your goals you feel stuck trying your hardest to make it happen but you just can't seem to get the results you want well the answer could be a lot simpler than you think in fact the answer could even be the reverse of what you imagined let's talk about the law of reversed effort the concept of the law of reversed effort was defined by writer and philosopher aldus Huxley having written over 50 books in his lifetime Huxley was no stranger to
hard work he could take an idea from its first stages to completion with what looked like relative ease however it was while working on his many books and projects throughout his lifetime that Huxley found a pattern emerging the more he would want to work on a project the more difficult the work was to complete Huxley explained the harder we try with the conscious will to do something the less we shall succeed effort becomes a paradox and only when we can combine activity with relaxation we can strike a balance that helps us reach the goals set
by ourselves and by others this Paradox or effort is like swimming against the the current in a river we can swim upstream trying to reach a place to rest with all our might using all our efforts to fight the Rushing Water and still not get close to where we need to be or we can let the current take us Downstream and find a different spot to get out of the water we've not had to fight our way against the current but instead let the flow take us somewhere else but with a similar outcome the law
of reversed effort uses principles from the ancient Chinese philosophy of wooe which emphasizes non-doing or effortless action WOAY is about surrendering to what is meant for you like a stick writing the current surrendering to what is and giving it time patience and space to just be if you want to learn more about the concept of WOAY we have a whole other video on this for you to enjoy let's look at another example insomnia you can lay awake for hours trying to get some rest but sleep doesn't come to you it's only when you put your
attention on something else like counting sheep or reading that you can finally enjoy a good night's rest this is a near-perfect example of reversed effort and surrender we can't force our way to falling asleep trying to control this just doesn't work it's the mounting pressure of a situation that often causes this inability to act or work on the outcome this pressure stops us from doing things with ease and it's only when we find ways to reduce this pressure that things will begin to become easier for us the pressure from a task or situation creates a
counter pressure that we feel we need to perform in order to meet the demands of that pressure however this only increases the initial pressure in a vicious cycle and causes a freeze response that's where paradoxical intention comes in paradoxical intention is a form of reverse psychology where you do the opposite of the thing that you set out to do traditionally this concept is used in tackling fears and exposing a person to the fear in order to overcome it we can also see how this paradoxical intention is involved in the law of reverse effort in deciding
to care less and give ourselves mental space from our goal or task we make it easier to achieve let's look at how this applies to learning how to ride a bike as a child we have the pressure to think about all the different things we need to do in order to ride a bike successfully like paddling balancing steering and not falling off our parents might hold us steady while we pedal and the pressure is lifted while we trust they are helping when they let go without us knowing we're able to successfully ride the bike on
our own due to the reduction of pressure and no longer overthinking the situation we can also apply the law of reverse effort to high- performing athletes in high pressure moments too it's no secet that high pressure moments like shooting the winning hoop of a basketball game can cause athletes to choke under pressure and unless the athlete learns to control their nerves these moments can be their downfall using the law of reversed effort through affirmation and grounding techniques to take the pressure off of high stakes moments can turn a game or competition around in fact in
one study researchers studied what goes through a handball athlete's head in these moments the players were asked what they were thinking during crucial moments in a game as well as why they made decisions the players answer they didn't know the athletes had gotten in a flow State moving and playing the game and as a result they had less pressure to perform this gives us valuable insight into how the law of reversed efforts can get us into a flow State just by simply letting go of the pressure that overthinking a situation can cause so how can
we incorporate the law of reversed effort into our daily routines we'll delve into this right after a brief introduction to today's sponsor straighter line straighter line provides online courses that are adaptable cost effective and readily transferable to over 3,000 colleges and universities across the us as a leading provider of online college credit courses they assist students in accelerating their Journey towards a bachelor's degree in a faster and more affordable way it's all about taking a smarter line to your future tailor to your pace and schedule you can see on their site they have over 70
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description box below now back on to how we can apply the law of reversed effort into our day-to-day life the one main rule of the effort is that we can't force it you can only achieve this mental Rest by letting go the most obvious way of helping it along is by taking breaks often to mentally get some distance from what you're doing you could go on a walk see a friend take a trip away or change your environment another way we can Kickstart the law of reversed effort is through grounding techniques in fact Sports psychologists
give grounding techniques to athletes who deal with highly pressurized situations this could be breath work meditation exercise mindfulness or any other grounding technique you can think of that brings us onto the importance of mindfulness and how this practice can change the game for us in fact in a study published in 2018 American researchers found that mindfulness training helped boost productivity levels in workers the skills they learned in mindfulness were allowing them to let go and be in the present moment caring less about their tasks and in return feeling more motivated and productive than ever before
the law of revers effort is a powerful concept if we can use it to our advantage tell us about a time in the comments you felt the work for you and I'll catch you in the next one
