The Wu-Wei Paradox – Strive for Less to Generate More Success

Although it may seem counterintuitive at first, a non-striving mindset (also called wu–wei) increases an athletes chances of getting “in to the zone”, performing effortlessly and winning. The paradox of wuwei is that striving less and not trying harder at all costs often leads to more success.

The wu-wei mentality is about letting go, not overthinking. This mental state (also called Mushin), facilitates flow state experiences and a feeling of effortlessness that opens the doors to peak performance.

A recent Kee and colleagues (2021), conceptual overview of “wu-wei” in the Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology explores the power of a nonstriving mindset within the context of “flow.

There have been many discussions about similarities between flow and wu-wei in the literature. In a January 2022 news, Ying Hwa Kee stated that the acceptance of mindfulness has increased in sport psychology. “We would like to convince our colleagues in the field about the wu-wei option.” We look at many aspects of improving athletes’ performance. Understanding wu-wei, non-striving and other aspects of sport could help us to see success in sport from a new perspective.

Frictionless flow: A wu-wei mentality allows for superfluidity

I used a term I borrowed from physics to describe the rare, episodic moments when I felt so “in the zone”, that there was no friction or viscosity while I was running, biking or swimming in a triathlon. My athletic career culminated in the early 2000s with the win of the Triple Ironman (7.2-mile swim and 336-mile bike) Triathlon. This was my third consecutive year.

My 2001 record-breaking time, 38 hours and 46 mins. felt like an experience. It felt like my feet were not touching the ground when I ran the triple-ironman marathons in 2001. The ultra-endurance race felt effortless. There was no effort. My body covered hundreds of miles in an effortless state of inexertion. (See: ” Superfluidity & the Synergy between Your Four Brain Hemispheres”.

After reading about the “wu-wei” alternative paper (2021) this week, I realized that my triathlete experience of superfluidity was directly related to a “nonstriving mindset” even though it didn’t have a name at the time.

Since 1990, when I read Mihaly Cikszentmihalyi’s seminal book Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Experiment, I have been looking for ways to improve one’s chances of experiencing flow in other pursuits.

My life experiences over the past 40 years support the hypothesis that cultivating the wu-wei mindset encourages flow state experiences. As Kee et al. According to Kee et al., “Letting yourself go with the flow seems synonymous with non-striving” and “wu-wei”.

The automaticity of implicit-learning learning is beneficial for non-striving mental state.

In the wuwei alternative, implicit motor learning and autonomy play an important role. Kee et al. Kee et al. The authors conclude that non-striving mental state relies on implicit muscle memory.