Want to succeed? Let go

When I joined my college comedy troupe during my freshman year at UPenn, I wasn't the only new member of the group. Another man named Pete came on board with me.

Pete and I are the complete opposite. Right before the show started, I was a nervous ball of energy, while Pete was super calm and relaxed.

While I worked hard in practice, memorizing the rules of each race, studying what worked and what didn't, Pete - always on cruise control - just seemed to wander through practice and do as he pleased.

I didn't like Pete at first. I don't think he's a very good performer, and I don't believe what he does in the scene. He would say something completely random that no one else was prepared for, and the scene would suddenly turn in a completely different direction.

There's just one thing though -- Pete is funny. Really funny.

Excel to let it go

Audiences instinctively smile whenever Pitt enters a scene, and they always get a kick out of the quirky, quirky things that come out of his mouth. The craziest thing is, Pete doesn't even want to be funny! Pete didn't try anything. Pete is just Pete.

So how did he do it? How can Pete be so funny on stage without putting too much thought or effort into his practice time?

A. He let go.

On the face of it, Pete should be better at improv after letting go. How can you be good at something if you don't do your best?

Well, here are three reasons why letting go will actually make you better at what you're trying to accomplish:

1) It means you work smart, not hard

In order to be good at something, you have to work hard, we all know that. But what does "work" actually mean?

When people hear the word "work," they instinctively imagine themselves in a cubicle lost in front of a computer screen in a cubicle within a cubicle. That's the job, right?

Well, yes, that's work. There's just one problem: most people work for the money, not for the good.

If your goal is to be really good at something -- whether it's creative, athletic, academic, or even career-related -- why would you combine the principles of a standard day job when the goal is simply to not get fired and continue to earn an income?

It's about doing the opposite. Take what you think will work and let it go. Let go of all the hardships associated with completing a task, and suddenly the path to glory seems less daunting, less daunting.

Of course, you still have to put in the work - but now you work smart, not hard. You don't overwork yourself trying to win at all costs. Instead, your mind is light, which makes the work itself more manageable.

2) It gets you out of your head and into the world

When you grab something, your muscles tighten. Anxiety causes tension in the body and mind.

Letting go relaxes not only your mind, but also your muscles. Letting go is freeing yourself from mental and emotional burdens. But the consequences of such a powerful decision go far beyond the mental and emotional, they also affect your physical world.

We all know what it's like to be trapped in your head -- nervous, anxious, desperate -- and it can be so overwhelming. But what most of us don't realize is that during those moments trapped in our minds, our bodies clamp. Our shoulders hunched, our hands turned into claws, our teeth clenched, our eyes narrowed.

Basically, we've become the villains of a superhero movie.

The way to get rid of this physical burden is to free our mind by releasing the anxieties, worries and mental strains that bind our bodies. Letting go allows you to square your chest, straighten your shoulders, stick out your fingers, smile, and look at the world with wide eyes.

Basically, it turns you into a superhero.

Or to put it another way, letting go gets you out of your head and into the world. Suddenly, instead of being dull and passive, we are proactive. We can make progress through our efforts instead of succumbing to procrastination.

Success doesn't lie deep inside you. It's out there waiting for you, in the whole world. Letting go is the first step to finding it.

3) You can enjoy the journey

You may have heard the saying that life is about the journey, not the destination. What this means, of course, is that it doesn't matter where you end up, but how you get there. Most people spend most of their lives on the road, so it's the journey that matters, not the destination or final goal.

But did you know that if you focus on the journey, you can actually change your destination? Not just change -- improve.

The reason is simple: the journey is your present, and the destination is your future. By focusing on the journey -- the present moment -- you free yourself from the anxiety or worry that imagining future events inevitably brings. You live in the moment, which allows you to let go and achieve better results.

In other words, you will have fun by focusing on the current journey. Having fun is the key to success, because you can't really be good at something unless you love it.

Focus on the destination, you may or may not get there. Focus on the journey and you will arrive at a destination that is more powerful and satisfying than you could have imagined before.