You Can’t Reach Ease Through Effort
Photo by Leandro Crespi via Unsplash.
For years, I longed for an easier way. A path that didn't feel all-consuming. A way to live and work that wasn't powered solely by “hard work”—pushing, striving, and grinding.
I thought that if I made enough money, lost enough weight, or built a solid reputation, I'd finally arrive in the land of ease and relaxation.
That day never came.
Not because the Effortless Path doesn't exist—it does.
But because you can't reach the Effortless Path through effort.
That's the rub.
The Effort Paradigm In Action
As you read the below example, consider where this effort pattern has played out or is currently playing out in your life.
When I look back, I can see how the “effort paradigm” ran the show in my relationship with my body.
It started with weight-loss goals rooted in the belief that my body needed fixing—that if I hit a certain number on the scale, I'd feel successful, peaceful, and at ease.
I see now that the foundation of that goal was faulty. Peace cannot come from the scale. Self-worth doesn't either—not the lasting kind so many of us crave.
But, that's where I was in my evolution…so my body plan was built on effort and control by:
Ignoring hunger signals.
Working out intensely 5–6 days a week.
Doing cold plunges four times a week even when my nervous system was fried.
Fasting until noon, 1pm, or later.
Keeping carbs and sugar “at bay” until I inevitably binged on them, then judged myself for it.
Effort. Struggle. Willpower.
Restriction and deprivation take a lot of energy—all fueled by the fear of not being enough.
The problem with willpower—what I call ego-power—is that it's limited. It runs on the thinking mind alone. And the thinking mind is a tiny generator compared to the unlimited energy of Life itself.
When we let the mind dictate our actions as if it's the whole of Creation, we suffer. And because we've been conditioned to believe we are this separate “me,” we keep cycling through effort, struggle, and burnout. Over and over.
Effortless Awareness
But there's another way—the Effortless Path.
If you question whether this Path truly exists, slow down and consider:
Have you ever been walking with a friend, deep in conversation, and stepped over uneven pavement in the sidewalk without thinking about it?
Have you heard the sound of an approaching car on a morning walk without “trying” to hear it?
Or moved your foot off the gas pedal the moment you saw brake lights ahead?
You didn't have to work to do those things. You just knew to do them.
You didn't have to consciously instruct your body to respond. Your system simply and easily registered what was happening and moved with it.
This is the essence of the Effortless Path—Life moving through you without the heavy hand of self-conscious control. It's a shift from living inside the tight box of “me” to letting the deeper intelligence of Life take the lead.
It is possible to consciously live from Effortless Awareness. You're already doing it—just unconsciously, so it feels different. Deepening your understanding and experience of this Awareness is what helps you live from It with greater ease.
This type of Awareness is happening all the time. We just haven't been trained to understand and live from it. We've been taught to rely on our minds—to hold tight to our separate self identity—instead of aligning with this Effortless Awareness that uses the mind as a tool...and nothing more.
As we connect more with this ever-present Awareness, the pushing and seeking give way to allowing, being, and responding.
The Path is so simple we miss it—because it doesn't require us to “do” anything except recognize the Awareness as it is now.
The Effortless Path Does Require Action
It's not that the Effortless Path means doing nothing. It absolutely includes action.
The difference is that the actions are sourced from the infinite, abundant energy of Life—so the effort feels different.
Right now, I'm taking lots of action preparing for The School for Humaning Well. None of it feels draining or depleting. In fact, it's energizing and enlivening.
This is how our systems are designed to work: Awareness or Consciousness expressing itself through us. The mind has a role here—it shapes ideas into form. What we don't need is the mind pretending to be Awareness. That's a recipe for struggle and suffering.
My Body's Effortless Path
For me, the Effortless Path with my body now looks like nourishment:
Eating when I'm hungry—and eating more than I have in years.
Balancing protein, carbs, and fat at each meal (as often as possible).
Strength training three times a week, resting at least two days.
Listening to my body and responding to its needs, instead of holding tightly to the “plan”.
My “goal” has shifted from losing weight to building muscle. (Fun fact: muscle burns three times more calories than fat—even while you sleep. Talk about effortless results!)
The shift from effortful (willpower) to effortless (soul-power) hasn't been instant. I was resistant and impatient because I wanted results right away. But this has been a process—an unraveling and a deepening that's required patience.
The Open Invitation
This way of being is available to us all. It's our human design—our birthright.
Fortunately or unfortunately (depending from where you look), there's no six-step plan or strategy to follow. Instead, there is simple feeling and sensing your way through life. There is meeting your effortful conditioning (chasing, trying, resisting, controlling) and surrendering it into the Effortless Awareness present now.
The point isn't to understand conceptually. You must go beyond the mind into direct experience—because direct experience is the only place you drop into Awareness.
Letting go…that's what I'm really talking about. And no one can tell you exactly how to do that because the process is personal and unique to you. The great news is that your Inner Wisdom knows the best next step in your evolution.
So I invite you to start noticing where Effortless Awareness already shows up in your life.
What moves in you before you think?
What keeps you from bumping into someone in a crowded street?
What guides you to just the right words in a tender conversation?
Get curious.
The Effortless Path is already here. You don't have to earn it. You just have to recognize it.
With loving,
Amber
NOW OPEN!
The School for Humaning Well
What if you could live, work, and create from the infinite, energizing flow of Life itself?
That's exactly what we explore inside The School for Humaning Well.
Enrollment is now open, and I'm having conversations with those who feel curious.
If you're ready to deepen in Effortless Awareness—to live, lead, and create from a place that enlivens you rather than drains you—let's talk.
Send me an email at hello@amberkrzys.com.
live your best day today
Get my free guide with three simple, yet powerful, actions to CREATE your day (rather than react to it)
so you can feel more alive, abundant and on purpose.
