What are health consequences of rendering your strenuous work effortless?

?“Make Your Accomplishments Seem Effortless,” is Law 30?of Robert Greene’s book:?The 48 Laws of Power. The book consists of lessons [from the lives of strong historical personalities] which, as contended by Greene, constitute laws that you can follow and then equip you with power in your life.

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This law recommends us to ensure that our achievements appear effortless. We actually concur on it. Yet, we harbor these questions:

1.????? How to make these achievements seem effortless?

2.???? If we managed to render these attainments effortless to ourselves, what would happen to our health?

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While the law highlights that our achievements should appear effortless, it clearly states these accomplishments are to seem effortless to other people who will be informed of the attainments. In other words, people who hear about our gigantic feats should not discover that we have labored for us to realize the feats.

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The law states “Make your accomplishments seem effortless: Make difficult feats seem effortless and you’ll inspire awe in others and seem powerful. By contrast, when you make too much of your efforts, your achievement will seem less impressive and you’ll lose respect.”

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Shortform is a website said to carry the world's best summaries of books. Amana Penn has published an article on it. She says “Natural phenomena such as volcanoes and tornadoes, which are demonstrations of power, seem effortless and leave people awestruck. According to Law 30 of the?48 Laws of Power, if you make your accomplishments seem effortless, you can generate awe in others and seem powerful.?People admire those who perform seemingly impossible feats, especially when they make it look easy.”

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1.????? How to make success seem effortless?

Penn advises us “Conceal the work behind your accomplishments — if you brag about it, you’ll ruin the effect. The?best courtiers?prided themselves in their ability to make the difficult seem easy. Great Renaissance artists kept their studios closed and their works in progress under wraps, revealing only the final masterpiece.

No one knew the effort that went into it, which would have ruined the magical effect. By contrast,?performers who try too hard make us uncomfortable; graceful performers create a pleasing illusion by making their labor look natural.”

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Based on the 30th law of the book, Penn says that your public performances should be fascinating, amusing, and awe-inspiring. “They can’t be, if you reveal the work behind them; people will tell themselves they could have done just as well or better. For the same reason,?don’t try to show how clever you are by revealing your tricks.

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Most people tend to brag about their hard work and cleverness in an effort to win admiration, or?sympathy for their sacrifices for the sake of art. But they generate contempt instead. Remember, the more mysterious your actions seem the more powerful you are. And when they seem effortless, you appear to have untapped ability and power.”

The French minister,?Talleyrand,?is one of ?examples furnished by Penn. She says that this minister created an aura of power by never appearing to work very hard. She specifies that he judiciously formulated each public comment, but that he produced the impression that he didn’t dwell on this.

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The escape artist, Harry Houdini, is another example. In the 16th century, she states, Japanese tea ceremonies constituted elaborate and sometimes costly affairs which were thought to attain effortless perfection. “The country’s most famous practitioner was known for leaving a ceremony if it looked like the host was trying too hard. The escape artist Harry Houdini made his escapes seem effortless.

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But he succeeded because of endless research, study, practice, and physical training. He learned sleight-of-hand tricks, studied the mechanics of many types of locks, and learned to make his body flexible and control his muscles and breathing. He learned how to swallow things, hold them in his throat, and bring them back up.”

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The?Japanese Tea Ceremony?(chanoyu?or?chado) constitutes a cultural tradition including particular places, procedures, and equipment to drink green tea. It originated as a practice of Chinese?Buddhist?monks to assist in their meditation. Tea-drinking in?Japan?and other regions of East Asia morphed into such a refined activity that aristocrats adopted it as a means to display one's?culture ?from the 13th century CE.

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A specifically designed room, landscaped garden, and fine porcelain all formed essential components of the ceremony, tea drinking. Chanoyu?represents a ritualized, secular practice where tea is consumed in a specialized space with codified procedures. In the tea room, the emphasis is placed upon interaction among the host, guests, and tea utensils. The host will pick a collection of objects being specific to that gathering and employ those utensils to conduct the preparation of the tea in front of the guests.

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Penn says “Be like Houdini. Research and practice diligently before appearing in public, but never reveal the labor behind your efforts. Make your accomplishments seem effortless.”

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2.???? If we managed to render these attainments effortless to ourselves, what would happen to our health?

There exists a profound link between making great accomplishments seem effortless and health. The link lies in the interplay between physical well-being, mental clarity, and the perception of effort.

Attaining and preserving peak physical health through regular exercise, proper nutrition, and adequate rest enables the body to be well-conditioned to handle strenuous activities with ease. This conditioning permits individuals to accomplish complex physical feats, such as running a marathon or performing acrobatics, with a grace appearing effortless.

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Good health conduces to the efficiency of bodily movements. While muscles, joints, and cardiovascular systems are operating optimally, movements become more fluid and less taxing, generating the impression of ease.

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Mental clarity and emotional stability, realized with habits like stress management upgrade focus and concentration. This mental state allows individuals to execute complex cognitive tasks. Lower stress levels result in better performance. When individuals are not inhabited by anxiety or stress, they are better equipped to handle challenges with a calm and composed demeanor, enabling their accomplishments to appear more effortless.

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A healthy [ physically, mentally, spiritually, financially and socially for example] individual is more likely to approach tasks with confidence, leading to smoother implementation and the appearance of effortlessness. Physical and mental health conduces to a person's overall presence and poise. When someone enjoys good health, they project confidence and ease, rendering even demanding tasks look manageable.

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Achieving a flow state, where one is fully immersed and involved in an activity, generates peak performance which feels and looks effortless. Good health constitutes a vital element in accessing and keeping flow states.

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Prioritizing health through nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress management is crucial for achieving and sustaining effortless performance. By prioritizing health, individuals can heighten their ability to perform challenging tasks with ease which appears effortless.

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Effortful work, especially feeling mentally strenuous, hugely hampers health

Mentally effortful work produces elevated stress levels which in turn raise the production of cortisol. The latter one forms the body's primary stress hormone. Chronic high levels of cortisol weaken the immune system, intensify blood pressure, and contribute to weight gain. Enfeebling the immune system prompts the body more susceptible to infections and illnesses. This is due to the stress hormone, cortisol, which suppresses the immune response while this stress hormone occurs in high levels in the body.

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Persistent stress from mentally taxing work causes cardiovascular problems. Stress creates hypertension (high blood pressure) and increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

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Incessant mental strain results in anxiety and depression. The constant pressure to perform and the burden of heavy cognitive load deplete mental resources, leading to feelings of hopelessness and overwhelm.

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Prolonged mental effort begets cognitive tiredness, characterized by reduced ability to concentrate, impaired decision-making, and reduced problem-solving skills. This mental exhaustion accumulates over time and eventually leads to burnout.

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Mental stress often manifests physically as muscle tension, particularly in the neck, shoulders, and back; which can lead to chronic pain and discomfort. High mental workload interferes with sleep patterns, causing insomnia or poor-quality sleep. Lack of restful sleep aggravates both physical and mental health issues, engendering a vicious cycle.

Mental strain being accumulated in the body over time contributes to the development of chronic health conditions including diabetes, gastrointestinal issues (for example, irritable bowel syndrome), and autoimmune disorders, among others.

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Chronic stress and its accompanying health consequences potentially decrease life expectancy by increasing the risk of serious health conditions.

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By Jean Baptiste Ndabananiye- Media, Empowerment& MBA.

Management and Journalism Professional/Consultant with a demonstrated history/experience of involvement in women’s empowerment, project/program management, peace-building/conflict transformation, training, public awareness campaigns, governance and budget transparency, advocacy, documentation, the broadcast media industry, and community justice, among others.

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He is skilled, among others, in English and French, Project& Program Management, Media Production, Peace-building, Leadership, Advocacy, and Kinyarwanda- English-French Translation, and Mind-Body Connection and its Link with Health through extensive reading and investigation about these two fields as well as Health Reporting and Communication. Strong management, media and communication professional with a Bachelor's and Master's focused in Journalism& Communication and MBA-Project Management respectively from University of Rwanda and Mount Kenya University.

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