Stop trying so hard. Achieve more by doing less. | Bethany Butzer | TEDxUNYP

Bethany Butzer, Author, Speaker, Researcher & Lecturer at the University of New York in Prague explains the concept of "down stream effort" and how to live life and achieve goals effectively and efficiently without over exertion. The majority of Bethany’s professional work involves teaching, writing, and doing research in the field of positive psychology, which emphasizes the development of human strength and potential. She received her PhD in psychology from the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Bethany has worked in the corporate world and in academia, and she has also spent several years as an entrepreneur. From 2013 to 2015 she was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School, where she studied the effects of yoga in school settings.

[hvovpmf]

I live in a cabin in the the woods offgrid. Time has slowed down. Definitely downstream. I feel successful. I'm sure people can't see that. I'm healthy. I'm happy. I'm free. That's success to me.

[ninicoco]

She was my professor in grad school and I was blessed to work under her guidance. The way she mentored us was amazing and tbh changed my life in a positive way.

[bitesizedmoti]

"Your success might not look successful to the people around you but it will feel successful to you internally." wow, that is one way to look at life. Amazing.

[defactotechno]

If you want to get something done, you often don't have to push harder. Take a step back and do something else. Then look at it with fresh eyes and it suddenly works. At least that's my experience.

[epikvideogamer]

“Our authentic life choices won’t always be easy, but they will always be worth it because it helps us live with integrity.”
What a powerful statement.

[mars]

Basically, don't stop working hard, but direct your efforts to the flow of things. That way, you will be propelled towards success with the inertia of what's already working for you.

[yjdeng]

So, in a word, we don't feel our efforts as efforts only if we're doing something personally meaningful.

[whalingwithishmael]

This came at a good time. I’ve burnt out twice in 2022, and I don’t ever wanna do that again. A week of headaches and difficulty experiencing joy and getting rid of anxiety.

[arazr.khojasteh]

She basically summarized whole year of therapy sessions in 16:31 minutes. What a brilliant character. Thanks for sharing!

[punitasalwan]

In short, develop your spiritual quotient. Live the way you want to live....like a child. Most of the times, our efforts are propelled by our desire to achieve what others have achieved. This phenomenon starts in adolescence when our awareness ignites and continues till we suffer severe damages both mental and physical. And by then we have no courage, energy and will power to make the necessary changes. God Bless

[Codyheart]

This is actually one of the best TED Talks, in my opinion.

[Emilybfree]

Key take away: Define what is your true success work for it. Don't go by the society. And this true success does keep changing with time so be conscious of it and adapt.

[planetalexradio]

"Flow State". .... trying without trying is the essence of TAOISM

[nguyenlekhaan]

Billionaires often say "Money doesn't matter"
Models say "Appearance doesn't matter"
Geniuses often say "Grade doesn't matter"
People tend to underestimate things they have and value things they don't. Anyway, she chose fame and approval over well-being and health. If she wasn't academically successful, I wonder if she could still think the same way.
P.S. No offense. I just want to express my thought. Her speech is still amazing in many ways :)

[DylanCorneliusOnGoogle]

Upstream effort. Downstream effort. Find what you authentically want, how you want to feel, and what you value. Act on those values and feelings in the real world. Use discernment to evaluate the results of our decisions. Are you experiencing flow? Is synchronicity occurring in your life? Stop trying at things that don't matter to you and start trying at things that do. Wuwei. Great guidance! Thank you.

[visualinotion]

I have a huge problem with the "upstream effort". I tend to care too much, work too much and expect too much from myself. I literally got quite hill a couple years ago, and I'll have sequels for the rest of my life. I have "fixed" a lot of psychological problems I've had by studying the right stuff, meditation, self awareness and a healthy lifestyle. Now I'm addressing this. Life Never should feel like a burden. For several reasons I never fully explored what comes easy to me. But it's never too late.
If your life feels like a burden, pause. There is something to consider and the moment is now.

[dayebeats]

This is so great, I am proud to say that i've been living a downstream life and it feels very successful and i am excited for whatever comes next in my life

[Puglifemama]

Don’t work so hard for things that doesn’t matter to you

[alie]

Authenticity is important
I think it means living like a king even when you're poor.

[chully]

Flow and sychronicity are very zen topics. Achieving flow is as easy as not thinking before acting. Hovering a helicopter, landing a plane, applying the brakes on a car to avoid an accident, shooting a bow. All good examples of zen, of flow. You both act and decide to act at the exact same moment. This was a beautiful talk.