Welcome to the blog post #122! Click here to read more from previous posts.
Have you ever sat at your desk for hours trying to write a proposal, only to feel completely stuck? The harder you push, the more your thoughts drip out in small, fragmented drops.
Or maybe you’ve seen someone in a negotiation who’s so desperate to close a deal that they end up weakening their own position.
Or you’ve wondered why world-class footballers sometimes miss penalty kicks in high-pressure matches, even though they can normally score from far more difficult angles.
Or perhaps you’ve had nights where, no matter how much you try to sleep, you just lie there staring at the ceiling.
So what’s the pattern here?
The results don’t match the effort.
This observation brings me to the Law of Reversed Effort, coined by author Aldous Huxley.
The Law of Reversed Effort
Author Aldous Huxley put it plainly:
“The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed.”
This concept highlights a paradox that, past a certain point, trying harder actually works against you. The more intensely you force something, the more you block the very result you’re chasing.
It’s not that effort is bad. Without it, nothing meaningful happens. But misapplied effort — forcing, controlling, pushing with tension — creates resistance instead of progress.
So the question is: How do you align your effort so it works with you, not against you?
Why Reversed Effort Happens
Conscious vs. Subconscious Interference
The conscious mind is logical and analytical — great for setting goals, making plans, and solving problems.
The subconscious mind handles intuition, creativity, and automatic skills — great for defining how to achieve your goals in the most efficient way. It works best when relaxed and unforced.
When we “try too hard,” the conscious mind barges in, disrupting the subconscious. Instead of helping, it clogs the flow of the subconscious and hinders its ability to function effectively.
The “White Bear” Experiment
In a famous psychology study, participants were told not to think of a white bear and ring a bell whenever it crossed their mind.
The result was surprising. Those, who first suppressed the thought and were then asked to think about the bear, did so more often than those, who had simply been told to think about it from the start.
Why? Trying to suppress a thought forces the mind to keep checking for it, ironically making it even more present. This is the mind’s version of reversed effort.
The Hidden Trap — Effort in the Wrong Direction
You can’t make people trust you by asking them to trust you. Trust is earned quietly, through consistent action.
You can’t force creativity by ordering your brain to “be creative now.” You can only set the stage — read, walk, observe, talk, and let the mind connect ideas on its own.
The Law of Reversed Effort doesn’t mean “do nothing.” It’s a warning against trying in ways that create strain instead of flow.
Wu Wei — The Positive Counter-Move
The Taoist concept of Wu Wei is often translated as “non-action,” but it’s better understood as effortless action — acting in harmony with the natural order.
Wu Wei isn’t passivity. It’s alignment. Instead of fighting the current, you move with it. Instead of adding strain, you remove friction. You act with timing, ease, and presence, allowing preparation and skill to express themselves naturally.
Elite athletes show Wu Wei when they perform at their best. It’s not because they’re forcing perfection, but because they’ve internalized their craft so deeply that performance flows without conscious struggle.
I saw this in my son when he learned to ride a bike without training wheels three years ago. At first, he was afraid of falling, so he focused too hard on balancing. The more he tried, the more he fell. Only when he relaxed and went with the flow, he started riding smoothly. He didn’t even realize that he no longer needed my support.
Wu Wei is also a kind of active patience: accumulating energy, observing the moment, and moving decisively when the time is right. As Lao Tzu wrote over 2,000 years ago:
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
Last week, I wrote about Roger Federer’s advice “You can work harder than you thought possible... and still lose.”
If you’ve done everything you can and still haven’t succeeded, accept that it may simply not be the right time. Trust the process, and the results will follow.
Understanding Wu Wei has helped me feel lighter when outcomes don’t meet my expectations. I let go of frustration, focus my energy on finding the right next step, and remember: life keeps flowing, whether I resist or not.
Bringing Wu Wei to Life
To bring this concept to life, here are a few examples:
To gain trust, instead of over-promising or over-selling yourself, deliver consistently and let your actions build your reputation.
To spark creativity, instead of forcing ideas at your desk, take a walk, read, or talk with others. Give your mind space.
To strengthen leadership, instead of jumping into every task, set clear goals, remove obstacles, and let your team take ownership.
A Shift in Focus
Wu Wei reframes success from something you seize to something you invite.
You stop obsessing over the outcome and start creating the right conditions: reliability for trust, surrender for calm, and space for creativity.
When the soil is right, the seed doesn’t need pushing. It grows.
As Lao Tzu said:
“By doing nothing, nothing is left undone.”
So next time, instead of asking, “How do I make this happen?”, try asking, “What environment or mindset will let this happen naturally?”
That’s all for today. Till next week!
Cheers,
Do Thi Dieu Thuong