Want to Win? Try Relaxing

My previous boss told me I was among the best consultants he’d ever worked with.

This came as a bit of a surprise to me. I wasn’t the smartest person he worked with, nor was I the hardest working, nor was I the most efficient.

But I had one competitive advantage in the most unlikely of places: I knew how to relax. I was calm and consequently more enjoyable to work with. Who would you want to work with: someone annoying but the best or someone fun who is “only” second-best?

There are other ways to win besides being the best. I’m tired of overachievers telling people to hack their sleep, time management, and emails. There are other things we can do with our time.

Relaxing works, and there are a few simple steps you can take to improve the quality of your life–while improving your odds of winning at the same time.

Not relaxing isn’t enjoyable

Pursuing productivity is typically counter-productive. The phenomenon is well-known in sports–it’s called “choking.” Players that try too hard to win get tense and can’t perform. Forcefully pursuing success leads to more errors and ultimately failure. As a Tao proverb goes, keep sharpening your knife, and it will surely blunt.

Relaxing works

You can succeed by knowing how to relax. What can relaxation do for you?

Provide a competitive advantage

Although the ancient swamis and mystics might cringe to hear this, practicing yoga on a regular basis gives you a competitive advantage, whether your arena is in the business world or on the playing field.

–Dr. Dean Ornish (from Program for Reversing Heart Disease)

Improve efficiency and work quality

It’s our universal experience here that much more can be accomplished in the practice of law if we are doing it in a thoughtful and quiet manner rather than in a frantic manner.

–David Pfalzgraf, a partner at the firm (from ABC News)

Improve concentration

We found that meditation was the only intervention that immediately led to superior performance, even though none of the volunteers were experienced at meditation. Every single student who meditated showed improvement.

–Bruce O’Hara, Associate Professor at University of Kentucky (from recent research)

Improve athletic performance

The presence of the mind in coordinated activity with the body can allow the mind to be calm instead of racing. Instinct and reflex become natural parts of the action. Often you can get in your own way when you are trying to play well. When you are in this meditative space you naturally play at your highest potential.

–Phil Jackson, basketball coaching legend (from Conscious Choice)

How to relax

There are advanced relaxation techniques like deep breathing, stretching, meditation, and massage. I’m learning a lot about these methods, and I’ll discuss them in upcoming articles.

But you don’t need them to get started. There are many basic ways to improve. Here are some methods I used while consulting:

• Getting a full night’s rest (8 hours for me)
• Exercising 30 minutes a day
• Taking 5 minute breaks every hour
• Reading a book
• Playing chess
• Eating an apple
• Going outside for fresh air

These tips will not only help you produce better work, but you’ll also experience a higher quality of life.

If I suspected I would be interrupted, I would often go outside the building without my cell phone. I don’t think my employer initially approved, but I knew it was the only way that I could achieve high quality work. Once I convinced superiors of this, they never bothered me.

No one should make you feel guilty for taking care of your body and mind.

A caution about some relaxing tips

In researching this article, I came across Tim Ferriss’s article “Relax like a Pro: 5 Steps to Hacking Your Sleep.” While I agree with the premise to improve sleep, I do not agree with his approach and recommendations. You judge for yourself.

His first tip involves creating a bed-time snack that “tastes like a mixture of cat urine and asparagus.” His second tip is using ice-baths to provoke sleep and feels like “getting hit with an elephant tranquilizer.”

Ferriss is essentially proposing a “no pain, no gain” attitude for relaxing. Why should relaxing be painful? I suspect there are alternative methods to the same benefits, and I’ve never felt the need to do these things to enjoy sleep. I can’t imagine my ancestors thousands of years ago needing it either.

Don’t get caught up in strange, unnatural relaxing tips. There are relaxing ways to relax.

You can relax by doing something as simple as lying in the grass on a nice sunny day. And it will make you better at work.

(Yes, I practice what I preach)