The backwards law proposes that the more we pursue something, the more we achieve the opposite of what we truly want and the more disappointed we feel. Or simply put: the harder we try, the less likely we’ll succeed. On the flip side: when we stop trying, we’ll have what we want. Now, how exactly does this backwards law work in practice? Or more specifically: how exactly do we get what we want, by not trying to get what we want? This video explores the backwards law and its paradoxical nature, as well as the cause of our ongoing dissatisfaction in life, and how we can liberate ourselves from it.

tags:
Alan Watts, Mark Manson, The Backwards Law, Happy, Happiness, Backwards Law, Reverse Effort Law, Philosophy, Consciousness, How to Be, Better, Happier, Brain, Trick, Hack, Thought Experiment, TED, Alone, Loneliness, Sad, Sadness, Dealing with, Anxiety, Anxious, Thinking, All the Time, With Yourself, Negative, At School, In Life, Pink Elephant, Stop Trying, Don't Try, Stop Trying to Get It and You'll Have It, Letting Go, What You Really Want, Alan Watts What Do You Desire, Knowledge, Solitude, Loner, Stoicism, Philosophy, Taoism, Buddhism, Inner Peace