"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." - Lao Tzu
Nature, seen here practicing what some have called “Advanced Hanging Out.”
We’re often told that if we’re not getting the results we want, it’s because we haven’t tried hard enough. We are constantly exhorting ourselves to give it 100% or even 110%. We imagine that success will come if we only wake up early enough, and exert ourselves until we sweat blood. We ignore the fact that people that actually live their lives this way are at greater risk of heart attacks, or are more susceptible to health conditions that force them to slow down. Look no further than Elon Musk. His intense work schedule and lack of sleep have caused him to become greatly imbalanced, and the word on the street is that he’s using drugs to deal with the stress and exhaustion this intense work schedule has caused. It’s obviously not going that well for him.
Fortunately there is an alternative to this unsustainable frame of mind. I study Tai Chi, and my teachers drill into us what they call “the 70% rule”. Because of our culture, most students tend to extend their limbs in their movements until the joints lock and the physical alignments are thrown off. The practice, which is designed to cultivate a flow of energy throughout our system, is then ineffective, because locked joints and poor alignments stop the flow of chi. We learn we need to back off to about 70% of our range of motion. This allows the joints to remain open, and for the alignments that support health and vitality to be maintained. It is a constant lesson in humility to accept where the body is, and not to go beyond 70%. It is a good thing I have a sense of humor about myself, because after years of study, every day I find myself overextending and need to remind myself to pull back.
I think my teachers may be employing some cunning in encouraging us to go to 70%. Because we are so used to over exerting ourselves, when we aim for 70%, we probably only pull back to 80% or 90%. When we’re operating out of one extreme, by aiming towards the other extreme we’ll end up in the sweet spot right in the middle.
In China, this principle is taught to children through the use of the popular children’s toy the Chinese Finger Trap. The more we exert ourselves to pull our fingers out of the trap, the more tightly we are bound. It is when we relax and bring the fingers closer together that space opens up. In that space, we can free ourselves.
Obviously this is a principle that can inform our efforts in all other areas as well. We learn we can focus on balance and alignment, on obeying our natural limits, and in attending more to what helps us cultivate the energy and vitality that will sustain us than on trying and trying until we are drained and burned out. In this era of burnout and overexertion, I am looking for a few subversives who will join me in giving it their 70% this year. Will you be one of them?