#68 - Three Minute Thursday: Hard Work, Overwork, and Letting Go

Welcome to our new segment, "Three Minute Thursday"  (#3MinThursday) where I highlight a piece of wisdom I’ve come across from my own readings over the past week, or share with you an inspirational anecdote that can help you lead a more calm, free and full life. 

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In a recent conversation with a budding entrepreneur, it hit me that overachievers who embrace the idea that the harder you work, the more you increase your chances for success, tend to struggle nearly all their lives with placing limits on that hard work itself.

Driven individuals tend to believe that the more effort they put in, the more they can guarantee their future success. And because these individuals are so incredibly determined and ambitious, they’re willing to overwork the competition and sacrifice everything, even their own happiness, so they can toil, grind, and push even harder.

But here’s the rub: The finish line can’t be guaranteed, no matter how hard you try. 

Work can take you only so far. There is a very profound verse from the seminal ancient Indian scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, which states that you have the right to your actions, but not the right to the fruits of your actions. 

What this means is that no matter how much you do, the fruits of your actions are not entirely in your hands. Imagine planting an apple seed in the ground. It may not grow into a tree. But if it does, it’s not entirely due to your planting of the seed. There are other factors involved – rain and sun to help it grow, temperature, and how it withstands threats from animals or inclement weather. 

In other words, it’s not just your hard work that determines your success.

The same verse also states that as much as you don’t have the full rights to the fruit of your action, you must also, after you’ve put the hard work in, detach from the action itself. Do the best you can, give it your 100% then…let go. Put forth your best effort, then surrender. Don’t overdo it. Don’t push yourself to burnout because…well, it’s futile. Letting go isn’t about giving up. It’s about the wise acceptance of this very principle.

And this is what overachievers have trouble swallowing – because it doesn’t make sense logically speaking. Surrender? You mean leave my potential success in the hands of an invisible high power? That’s not what they taught me in business school.

So, they all too often find themselves getting closer and closer to their breaking point – miserably overworking, rather than joyfully working hard and then letting go. What’s more, they often can’t comprehend why others aren’t quick to sympathize with them. This same entrepreneur expressed to me several times “People don’t realize how hard I’m working”. The thing is, no one is asking or expecting you to work this hard – except, of course, you.

I must confess, I used to be this exact type of overachiever over-worker myself. Never satisfied with the effort I put in. Always ready to put in more and more fight, and use more and more of my grit, willpower, and drive.

But looking back, yes, my innate tendencies may have gotten me somewhere, helped me check off a few boxes and pushed me up the ranks a bit, but I recognize now, that I likely could have gone a lot farther and been happier along the way, if I just learned to…well…Let Go.

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For more from Host Pooja Mottl:  www.PoojaMottl.com

Podcast Producer: www.Go-ToProductions.com

Twitter: @PoojaMottl

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LinkedIn: @PoojaMottl

Special Thanks : 

Kris Kosach of the TPR Podcast for lending her VO for our Podcast Intro.

Jessica Panian for her help with our graphic design. 

Sufi Kaur for managing and designing our social graphics.