Success Without Stress

Author: Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Two things are very easy. First is to not do anything at all, and so you don’t get stressed either. Second is to do a lot of work and keep getting stressed all day. Both of these things are easy to fall into. What is ideal is making progress and being responsible without stress.

Stress is present everywhere, in our homes, workplaces, and schools. We see people running with packed schedules, wanting to accomplish more, yet carrying a heavy load of worry. We often assume that worrying and stress is necessary to achieve results. But I ask you, can we be stress-free and still get more done?

What is stress?

Stress is having too much to do, too little time, and no energy. A little bit of stress occasionally can push us to do more. But I don’t see stress as the main motivating factor for people to do more or do any creative work.

The idea that necessity is the mother of invention is an outdated one! If stress were really a motivating factor for inventions and innovations, places under huge tension would be the most creative places today. That does not seem to be the case. High levels of tension drain our capacity to do something useful and cloud our minds. To get more done, we cannot increase hours in a day. We cannot always reduce our responsibilities or workload; it doesn’t seem to be possible these days. The only real option is to increase our energy level.

Success points to our limitations. When we say that we are successful, it means we don’t recognize our own strength, our potential.

Now, we don’t say that we have successfully picked up a glass of water because we know that is within our potential. We claim success only when we find something difficult. And we find it difficult only when we do not know our own strength. But you should know you have immense potential!

When we know that we have infinite power within us, we do not boast about small achievements. Then success is nothing to us; it is not worth even a penny. And happiness is abundant in life. If we run after success, misery follows. When we are established in ourselves, our mind, our nature, neither do we get influenced by anyone nor feel a lack. So there is no misery in our life.

When we recognize our inner strength, our relationship with work changes. We stop approaching responsibility as a struggle. We can give our full attention to the action itself.

The quality of our work depends on the quality of our state of mind.

The fruit of an action does not come about only by our skills. It does not depend only on the instruments, apparatus, or means that we have. It does not depend on the means. It depends on us, the doer. The same tools produce very different results in different hands. What matters most is the state of the person using them.

If our mind is clear and we are energized, we get results faster. If our mind is sluggish and tired, everything keeps dragging and gets delayed. An ancient principle says that action succeeds through clarity of the doer, not by external means.

How do we increase this inner clarity and energy? Take care of our food. Get proper rest. Wake up at the right time. Meditate, and have faith. These five things make life simpler. See, things will start rolling faster.

Proper food is a balanced diet in the right quantity; proper sleep means six to eight hours of rest. Breathing exercises and a few moments of meditation can bring conscious deep relaxation. In the morning and evening, a few minutes of meditation can relieve all types of stress.

When people meditate, it increases the sattva in a person, and things become much easier. They need less effort and get more results. Business people, among others, often tell me that when they sit in silence and meditate, their work improves. Their output doubles or triples. Clarity of mind makes things happen faster.

However, that does not mean we sit and say, “I will do nothing.” We have to take action, and do so intelligently. Action and inner clarity must go together. That is the secret.

Acting intelligently also entails that we understand how timing affects our results.

Time is a very important factor in success. The right time comes, and things start happening. We have to wait for that as well. A farmer cannot sow a mango seed today and demand mangoes to grow tomorrow. He cannot say, “I ploughed the soil, sowed the seed, and the sapling has come. But it has not borne fruit.”

Both our inner state and right timing matter in getting the result. For that, we need to have patience.

Impatience does not make the crop grow faster. It only adds stress to our mind. A farmer cares for the field while waiting for the season to change. In the same way, keep working, act intelligently, and allow time to bring fruit.

Then comes another crucial question about success. What is the value of success if you cannot enjoy it?

It is like having a comfortable bed but not being able to sleep. The food is there, but we don’t feel hungry or have an upset stomach. We want to visit beautiful places. But our body feels too tired to enjoy anything. All external arrangements are present, but the actual experience is missing.

What is the point of earning more if we are too exhausted to live happily? Experience should be strong. Whatever we achieve, we should have health, enthusiasm, and peace to experience it. That is why it is very important to live life in a balanced way.

So, I return to the two things that seem so easy. We can do nothing and remain stress-free. Or we can do a lot of work and get overwhelmed by stress. The real art of living is taking responsibility, making progress, and accomplishing more without losing our inner balance.

Success is not an ultimate something we achieve in a single day. Success is owned throughout life. For me, every day we spend happily is a successful day. On days when we have an undying smile on our faces, we can declare it a successful day. When we have total confidence and are not scared of anything, then we are successful.

When we work with this inner strength, we do not just get more done. We live with complete clarity, enthusiasm, and peace.