Dear Introverts, Hard Work is a Scam

Here's why...

Nooooooooooo.

THAT. IS. IMPOSSIBLE.

How can it be a scam?????

Are you kidding me?

No, dear introvert, I am not.

And by the end of this letter, you'll know why.

But before we get into it, let me ask you a question.

Remember when you were a kid?

Did you ever feel like you were putting in effort while playing your favourite game?

Baseball.

Football.

Cards.

Videogames.

You could do it all day. No?

Without getting tired. Without getting bored. 

What happened?

You have the same body. You have the same soul.

What changed?

What if I told you you could feel like that again?

Let’s dive right in.

I’m a big fan of Charles Bukowski. That guy’s writing was raw and real.

Here’s a picture of his gravestone.

Did you see it?

"DON’T TRY."

That guy must be crazy. Who writes that on his gravestone?

No loving memory. No husband. No father. No son. No fluff.

Just two words: Don’t try.

When I read his books, I got really interested in his life. And that’s when I came across this quote.

But, I didn’t get it.

Maybe he meant, don’t try, just do it. I wasn’t really sure.

It was only after years of pain and failures that I understood what he was talking about.

And boy, that man was a genius.

He left the world with the greatest insight, right on his gravestone.

And that too in just two words.

These two words contain unimaginable power. A law the whole universe follows.

But only a few will ever get it.

And trust me, those who do, become a different breed.

The Day Bukowski came to my rescue…

As a kid, I used to write for fun.

I could write whatever the heck I wanted, and it felt soooo good.

As a kid, I was way more creative.

When I was in school, I had this obsession to write a phrase in a way that had never been written before. Arrange the words and create a sentence that the reader has never read before.

To deliver what I wanted to say in the most creative way possible.

But when I took up writing as a profession, I lost touch with that part of me.

I got lost in the cobwebs of rules and structure and grammar and style. I got too focused on doing everything by the book.

I was too concerned about what the "correct way was" instead of how I wanted to say it.

I forgot the little kid who used to love writing. Who used to do it for fun.

I was forcing it to be perfect. Over-polished it. And it stinked.

Actions have consequences. My screenplays and articles or whatever I wrote got rejected one after the other.

And as an introvert, I naturally wanted to know the ‘WHY’.

What was I doing wrong?

I was working very hard. I was doing everything by the book. I was following every rule.

But still my work got rejected. It was a mystery I couldn't solve.

One weekend, a friend of mine invited me to a poetry event.

I had never been to a poetry event. I was feeling low. So I thought maybe this would cheer me up.

It was a couple of hours long. After an hour and a half of poetry, I was done. I couldn’t take it anymore.

I was about to leave when my friend asked me to sit for just one more. And he’d also leave.

It was a poem by Bukowski.

I don’t remember the title or any lines of that poem, but those two words got imprinted on my soul.

"DON’T TRY."

It is hard to articulate what happened at that moment.

But after that, I’ve never worked hard a single day of my life.

The Art of Not Trying

It took me years to process and make sense of what Bukowski really meant.

Experiments, trials, and iterations.

Failures and pain.

But it was worth it.

Because it finally helped me discover the essence of effortless action.

The following requires an open mind to grasp the concepts I’m about to reveal.

We’ve been conditioned by society to think in a certain way. The way of the crowd. The way of the majority. The way it had always been done.

I was brainwashed too.

You may find what I’m about to say now very conflicting to your own beliefs. But when you contemplate it for a few days, trust me, you will get it.

It's a scientific fact that the whole universe follows the law of least effort.

Planets take the shortest path to revolve around the sun.
A lion goes for the weakest member in the herd.
Ants take the shortest path between two points.

All systems in nature have an ingrained tendency to take the path of least effort.

Marketing experts and copywriters have been manipulating this for decades.

They know about our ancient brain pathway that would make us buy anything that removed effort.

Instant relief
Quick hack
Cheat code
Easy way to make $100/day online working only for 2 hours.

Ring a bell?

Now, think about this for a moment.

If the whole universe follows the law of least effort.
If given a choice between easy and hard, 99% of people will choose easy.

Then don’t you think that by working hard, you are going against the law of nature?

Daniel Kahneman, in his Nobel Prize-winning masterpiece, Thinking Fast and Slow, talks about a concept called cognitive ease.

He gave a simple principle for writing a persuasive message:

"A general principle is that anything you can do to reduce cognitive strain will help. Just stay away from anything that reminds the reader of effort".

He even goes on to say that brands with simple names are more memorable and will do better business than brands with complex names. (Hint: Apple, Amazon, X)

It’s everywhere. It’s ingrained in everything.

Everyone wants things to be effortless.

Have you ever been in a mental state where you lost complete track of time?

The famous Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes this as a state of optimal experience called FLOW.

We all experience it.

Athletes while running.
Painters while painting.
Gardeners while gardening.
Designers while designing.
Developers while coding.
Writers while writing.
Actors while acting.

Any activity where you forget everything and are absolutely immersed in it.

In that state, hard work doesn’t exist. You’re not even aware that you’re working. You are not there.

Because it’s not forced, it’s done out of an urge. A need. Just like the urge to drink cool water on a hot summer day.

You don’t "try" to drink water when you’re thirsty; you just drink water.

It feels natural. Effortless. Just like breathing.

I believe I'm not the writer of this newsletter; I’m just a vessel. A vessel for the message that comes from a place far beyond my understanding. I call it the Ether. 

I have no idea how I do it. I just sit with a pen, and I stop thinking. I just sit.

Because if you’re thinking, you’re trying.

It’s when you stop trying that the unconscious awakens.

And then... the words just come to me. Without any effort.

My sister is an artist. And she makes some of the most abstract paintings I’ve ever seen in my life.

I once asked her, where do you get these ideas from?

Here’s what she said:

"I have no f*cking idea. I just hold the brush, and shit just happens. I’m not there anymore. I become the brush. The colors. And the canvas."

Don’t try.

It will happen.

Don’t let yourself be guided by the rules, theories, and opinions of other people.

The universe loves you. And it wants you to have everything without effort. Because that’s how everything works.

That’s the law.

If you hate the gym but enjoy walking, then just walk.
If you hate meat but enjoy plants, then just eat veggies.
If you hate going out but love hanging out with one person at home, then just do that.

Don’t force it.

The law of least effort is subjective. It’s different for every individual.

It’s not about what’s good; it’s about what works for you.

Here is a list of things I do that may surprise you, but I follow what works for me:

- I never write outlines for my newsletter, tweets, or books; I just write whatever comes to mind.
- I have never seen the inside of a gym. For me, long walks and light exercise are enough.
- I never eat more than 2 meals in a day. And I’ve never followed a diet plan. And I don’t even remember the last time I got sick.
- I’ve never made goals, to-do lists, or used any productivity tools. I set the intention and flow with whatever comes.

I tried. I forced it. But it never happened.

Because I tried.

Don't try, dear friend.

Don't trust me, do it for a week. Just flow. 

Don't follow any rules, routines, or methods. Just follow your intuition. 

Listen to that inner voice. It will change your life. 

And I’ll leave with one of my deepest observations:

The stress and pain you experience when you try too hard is a CLEAR SIGN that you’re flowing against the stream. It’s a clear sign that it’s not for you.

Let go. Surrender. All rivers, at the end, flow into the ocean. No matter what path they took.

And when you stop trying, trust me, everything will fall into place.

Without any effort.

Stay blessed,

- Master

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3 Ways I can I help you:

1. Mastery Mentorship Program: If you’re an introvert and feel lost in life, join the ‘Mastery Mentorship Program’ where I guide you how you get over your limiting beliefs, discover your zone of genius, and become the best at what you do.

2. Awakening: A 30 day Self-transformation Program: Learn how to unlock your hidden potential, find your life’s purpose and reach the heights of success.

3. 1:1 Consultation: If you have any questions, doubts, or confusions that is giving you sleepless nights, I can help you overcome it through a friendly 1:1 session. Let’s talk.