Psychology Has It Backwards Episode 206: Trying, Seeking, and Doing
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Dec 20, 2025 Pressure often comes from trying too hard to meet unreasonable goals, leading to exhaustion and frustration. Many accomplished individuals find themselves joyless in their pursuits. Instead of external validation, true happiness starts with inner feeling and listening to our own wisdom. Techniques can trap us in an endless cycle of striving rather than nurturing introspection. Genuine contentment arises from quieting the mind and trusting ourselves, whether in parenting or learning from animals.
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Trying Causes Pressure, Not Progress
- Chronic trying and overachievement create persistent pressure and physical stress like high blood pressure.
- Judy Sedgman reversed her high blood pressure by stopping excessive trying and simply doing her best.
Activity Becomes A Substitute For Presence
- People mistake activity for escape from self-focused thinking and then attach happiness to the activity.
- That attachment leads to a search that removes you from your innate spiritual core.
Feelings Come Before Effective Action
- Seeking happiness through external achievements reverses the causal order and fails.
- The feeling comes first; clear inner feeling produces joyful, natural doing in the right order.