Sometimes the best way to achieve a goal is to get out of the way.

Today's hustle culture has an implicit message: work, work, work without rest until you achieve your goal, your desired result. Outwork the others and you will win the race.

That may work short term. That may work for some goals. But winning the race isn't just about sprinting, nor is it just about keeping pace. It's about actually pausing, resting, and even letting things out of your control happen.

You cannot demand a flower to bloom. You cannot force a plant to sprout. You can only create the right conditions and let the rest happen. Trust in the process. Trust that the yield will come.

There is such a thing as overwatering a plant. There is such a thing as giving a plant too much sunlight. Water and sunlight are necessary for a plant to grow, and they must be given their portion each day, but only so much is healthy.

If we think about watering a plant as taking an action towards a goal, we can see how doing too much to meet a goal can actually have the opposite effect. It can move us away from our goal. It can kill the plant.

Do the work each day of watering the plant, but let the rest happen. Trust in the natural process. If the yield is slow, ask what else can be done — maybe the plant needs a different pot, different soil, or different sunlight exposure. But changing constantly and mistaking that for hustle is a veiled distraction. Give space for the process to happen.

Do you workout but give your muscles time to rest and grow before hitting the gym again? Study hard but don't cram — give the brain time and space to rest and integrate what you learned. Let your new crush know you like them, but don't send too many messages — give them some time to miss you.

There is a dance between agency and space, a collaboration between exertion and automation. How will you loosen control and allow for the universe to respond to you? How will you dance with action and allowance?