Don't Try Too Hard

At times we try too hard to achieve something.

We may not achieve what we want but may end up damaging our physical and mental well-being and happiness, sometimes permanently.

Stretching and reaching out is fine but only till a certain extent.

Why do people try too hard? Here are some reasons:

Enormous Size of Human Ego

Human ego is too big to be satisfied easily.

Everyone thinks that he/she is the 'best' God ever sent to earth. Nothing can be as dangerous an assumption as this one.

We are really nothing, and that includes all of us, ever the rich and the powerful.

Nature doesn't care whether we exist or don't. Rivers won't stop flowing, Sun won't stop its movement if you or I or someone else dies. So stop the ego drive.

Needless Competition Among Fellow Humans

Everyone wants to be better than his neighbor or office colleague or family friend or relatives. We all want bigger compensation, rewards and recognition.

And this drives us to go beyond our limitations and compete with everyone else needlessly.

Pushing the envelope is surely needed but to the extent the envelope doesn't get torn apart.

If you are second to others or even come last, don't worry - try next time but don't try too hard so that you break. Compete but with care.

Compete with yourself and improve your capabilities before competing with others.

Ignoring Inherent Limitation of Human Capabilities

Know yourself, your limitations and capabilities. Try as hard as your limitations and capabilities allow you. Of course, try to improve your capabilities always.

Also know that certain limitations are inherent to who you are, they are in your DNA and can't be changed.

It is not only difficult but impossible for us to become good at everything we do.

We must try to find out early in our lives about the following - what's our true calling, what is it we are extremely good at, what is it that we enjoy doing.

And once we know that, we should go full steam on the chosen path for creating a name for ourselves.

However, we must also be positive about accepting the fact that we will not necessarily end up successful. Try hard but don't assume guaranteed success.

Forgetting to Enjoy Life, One Day at a Time

Many times we forget to enjoy life. We assume happiness lies in the results not in the efforts. Nothing can be away from truth.

We try too hard to make sure that we get excellent results. Since excellent results are not always possible, we assume we need to try harder next time.

This is a self-feeding cycle and eventually leads to disaster.

We must try hard, as much as is possible until the point of breakdown, but we must never stop enjoying the process of trying.

Remember achieving the desired results depends on many factors, and there are many on which we have absolutely no control.

We must do what we have control on (our efforts) and not fret about what we have limited or partial control on (the results).

No comments:

Post a Comment