“Do as little as needed, not as much as possible.”
— Henk Kraaijenhof, athletic coach
It’s a Monday as I write this. A whole weekend has gone by and being back in the office means getting things done.
Ticking things off my list, taking care of responsibilities and jobs … you know it. There’s a pile up and so I’m getting my head down and doing it.
It’s wonderful. I love clearing things up. I love creating, connecting, building and helping.
So thank you for being a part of my day!
Oh –
Before I get into this week, I did a podcast recently with a world champion kayaker …
I’m showing because he’s a big hero of mine, but it was so much fun. We talk about balancing the two worlds of outer adventure and ambition and inner contentment and mindfulness.
I think you’ll really enjoy it. Head down to the PS to get the link.
Back to talking of Doing things …
I’m finishing off my new book which is very exciting.
It’s about finding the balance between Doing and Being. A big part of it is about how we work so incredibly hard. We push and struggle and control: we think it’s the only way to get things done.
I’m saying in the book the complete opposite – I’m saying that easy does it best.
It’s so counter intuitive, isn’t it?
We believe that anything worth achieving has to come through blood, sweat and tears. That anything worth doing is worth over-doing and obsessing over. That stress is the currency of making things happen.
Easy isn’t so glamorous as putting in the hard yards is it?
Yet every time I hear an athlete or a writer, actually anyone – mechanic, accountant, parent – talk about the greatest moments of their lives …
Anything from an outrageous showing of skill on the football pitch, a book that comes in a flash, fully formed, flowing out of the finger tips onto the page, a solution of any kind that is so elegantly simple yet so mind-blowingly perfect …
These moments of Quality are all characterised by an overwhelming sense of ease.
As Steven Pressfield, the great author (check out his self-help books such as The War of Art) says about his books:
_________
“It seems the hard ones don’t work and the easy ones do.
It’s almost like if it’s hard, maybe it’s a reason why it’s hard.”
_________
Do you know what I’m talking about?
You still need time at the coal face, of course – but what if everything in life could be this easy? Everything?
I have a friend who walks away from his business when it feels like hard work. He refuses to push, he just gets up and goes, only coming back when he knows he won’t control and react and struggle.
Quality never shows up through Force. It only comes from Flow. You can not control Quality into happening.
Instead, you have to align and connect deeply with Being, with your Presence, and allow Quality to come out.
You don’t do magic … you are the conduit of it, it comes through you, effortlessly.
Want more magic, more Quality?
Get out of your own way. End the struggle, and prioritise your Being.
That’s why one of the greatest things you can do when you’re stressed, when you’re under pressure, when you have so much to do is to make more time to close your eyes and nurture your relationship with the source of rightness and all that is Good.
Keep it easy. Don’t Do; Be.
That’s all from me. As always:
Go well!
Arjuna
PS.
The podcast with world champion kayaker Nick Troutman … who is, by the way, such an awesome guy in all respects.
It was such an enjoyable chat. We talked ambition and gratitude, gold medals and inner satisfaction, drive and mindfulness.
Check it out, you won’t regret it:
Apple:
Google: