How To Achieve Your Goals Effortlessly – Using The Dao To Succeed In Life

Here's a counterintuitive suggestion for how you can achieve your goals much more effortlessly.

Don’t Force Any Action

If there's something that you want to do in life or that you feel called to do, don't force it. 

What do I mean by that? I mean don't insist on taking the action now.

This goes against the advice of almost everyone.  They say you have to push and force yourself through the fear.  Maybe there are instances where that makes sense, but I like this suggested approach better.  It embraces the Dao. You recognize that what you are planning to do is inevitable.  It lets something deeper operate on its own time-frame.  I call this Dao Time.  I know your goals are coming.  You just don’t try to force them on your egoic, superficial timetable.

Achieve Your Goals, By Sleeping In?

Here’s an example of Dao Time in action.

I have always haunted by the notion that I should get up early and be super productive right off the bat.  I should have conquered the world by 730 am or something.

But, honestly, this has never worked that well for me.

So in the last few weeks have been trying something completely counterintuitive.  As a professional investor and entrepreneur, I set my own schedule and wake up whenever I want.

So now I intentionally sleep as long as I possibly can.  I never get up because I think I should get up.  I loll.  I intentionally wait.  The amazing thing?  I never decide to get out of bed.  Eventually, something inside just gets me out of bed. It's hilarious.  I notice all of a sudden that I'm out of bed and on the way to the bathroom and I never even decided to do it.  That’s the Dao taking over from the ego.  It flows.  It has a different energy.

The actual time difference between forcing myself out of bed and this inevitable natural action is at most 45 minutes to an hour.  But when I do get up, I am incredibly rested and jazzed for each moment that is coming.

This Website Writes Itself.

It's the same with writing blog posts.  I used to think: “I must write five blog posts per week.  I have to be super, duper productive etc, etc, etc.”  Now, I just know that I'm going to write. I intentionally wait.  I intentionally hold back.  Eventually, something inside just clicks, and I start writing a post.

That is what happened with this exact post.  An idea occurred.  I started writing.  And then, I thought of something that I needed to do (separate from this website); I wandered off and did that.  It was just a little chore.  Then, I intentionally didn't get right back to this post.  I notched off a couple of other minor chores.  I paid a bill online.

And then you know what?  Maybe 10 minutes later, here I am finishing this piece.  It almost writes itself.  There is so much less effort and expended energy involved.

That’s Dao Time.  It just sort of happens.  Instead of pushing, pushing, pushing with surface-level mind and ego, you let something deeper pull you along when the time is right.

Achieve Your Goals Effortlessly - A Final Example And Summary

Let me restate this one more time for you.  Just for good measure ;).  Intentionally don't do the thing that you want to accomplish.  

Say you are called to write a book.  You feel the pull.  Instead of immediately trying to “force” the action of writing, just watch and feel the pull of it.  Hold back.

Eventually, the call, the need, the want will ripen.  Then it just happens.  The writing (or anything else you care deeply about) comes out.  Effortless action.

So.  Hold Off.  Don’t Do It.  Just Wait.  See What Happens.