How Miyamoto Musashi figured Effort

What if I told you that contrary to popular belief you can actually achieve more by putting in less effort? Sounds crazy right but that’s exactly what Miyamoto Musashi, the legendary philosopher and Samurai taught. Now, let’s dive into his insights and show you how to apply his teachings to create a straightforward system that should only take you minutes to understand. In this post I’ll walk you through, step by step, so you can achieve your goals the way it was meant to be, with a clear plan in mind.

Energy Tank

You’ve probably heard of the Pareto principle, right? It’s that rule that says 80% of our results come from just 20% of our actions. The other 80% (mostly filler) is just background noise that fills our day but doesn’t really push the needle, and this isn’t just modern efficiency talk. Musashi was all over this, centuries ago with his Mantra “Do nothing that is of no use”.

Think about how you start your day: Say you wake up, step outside, grab a coffee, and just soak in a bit of nature, that’s a solid start good for your mood and sets a positive tone for the day.

Now flip that scenario: You wake up, grab your phone, and dive straight into social media, next thing you know you’re an hour deep into the latest drama between Drake and Kendrick. That’s an hour of your mental energy zapped on something that doesn’t really benefit you in any tangible way.

Now imagine you had to duel someone at the end of the day but all your energy was wasted on pointless stuff. Back in Musashi’s day that kind of distraction could literally mean life or death. We might not face those kinds of physical battles today, but we’re still up against our own daily challenges. If you want to conquer your battles like Musashi, you’ve got to focus your energy on what truly matters.

You might think “Hey, I can handle multitasking”, “I can keep up with all the side shows”, but let’s be real, our energy and time are finite.

Take a moment to list out what you really want to achieve, narrow it down to your top three and focus hard on number one, when that’s in the bag, shift to number two and so on.

Understanding where you waste time and energy is crucial when you tackle tasks with your full energy, everything flows more naturally, you don’t need to force it. Like right now, as I’m writing this, the words just flow, I’m not burnt out from the latest Internet rabbit hole, I’m fresh and focused.

No-Mind (Mushin)

Let’s shift gears and see things from a different angle.

Musashi once said: “The important thing in strategy is to suppress the enemy’s useful actions, but allow his useless actions”.

Imagine we’re the enemy in a duel against Musashi, instead of focusing on our stance, our movements, or watching his tactics; our mind starts wondering… “What if I move here?”, “Should I try this… or that?”, “Maybe a quick side-step here…”.

All this mental noise… These useless actions just burn through our energy while Musashi stands there, watching and waiting, ready to pounce the moment we slip up, chances are, in this scenario we’d lose bad.

And that’s exactly how we often handle our daily tasks, we’re our own worst enemy, getting lured into useless actions for a quick hit of dopamine. Say you plan to start studying at 3:00 p.m. but then you tell yourself: “Uhh… let’s kick it off at 3:30, I’ve got time for one more episode of this series”, and just like that, the clock ticks away while your energy tank dips, by the time you actually get started, you’re already having to push harder just to muster the focus you need.

Here’s the deal: The most successful people out there have mastered the art of conserving their energy, they don’t get sidetracked, they cut through the noise and focus on what’s essential, achieving what is called “Mushin”, or the No-Mind.

Is this state of Mind-without-mind, where you’re not bogged down by distractions or overthinking, you’re in the zone, totally immersed in the task at hand, whether it’s work, study or working out. This state of flow is where you perform your best, effortlessly doing what needs to be done without fretting over how hard it is or how much you have to do. achieving this level of focus isn’t just useful, it’s crucial if you want to succeed. So our goal it’s about making the most of our limited energy, and not letting the useless stuff drain us. Let’s strive to enter this flow zone at all costs.

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

Musashi hitted the nail on the head with another pearl of wisdom that translates perfectly to our modern lives: “Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful”

Today there’s an obsession with productivity hacks, learning more and constantly trying to speed things up. It’s all about reading the latest books on productivity, tuning into countless podcasts and trying to absorb an endless stream of information.

Sure it sounds productive, but often it just leads to analysis-paralysis. You get so caught up in optimizing everything that you never actually start. Think about it, you can read every book on getting ripped and memorize the best gym workout plans, but if you never start doing exercise, your body won’t change.

All that time spent studying just saps your energy for no real payoff. Additionally, it gives you a false sense of accomplishment. You might skip sending that important email because you’re too busy learning the perfect email structure thinking “Next time, I’ll nail it and get 10 times the results” Sounds familiar, right?

Here’s the cold hard truth: a distracted genius won’t achieve even a fraction of what a simple focused person will.

That focused person might read just one book then get straight to work cutting out all the noise and unnecessary activities that drain energy. And, again (so it really sticks) it’s all about that energy tank, if it’s full you’re set to get things done efficiently and effortlessly, if you waste your energy on trivial stuff you’ll find tasks much harder because you’re operating on lowquality forced effort.

What’s the takeway? Aim for the flow state, remove distractions, simplify your tasks… At the end of the day, we often know deep down what we need to do. We just procrastinate or avoid it. Be ore like Musashi, strip away the useless stuff, focus intensely on what truly matters. That’s how you’ll make real progress.

The Way is in…

Now that we’ve tackled managing our energy tank, Musashi’s words: “The way is in training” really come into play.

Let me share a story that perfectly illustrates how to improve at anything you want to master: At the beginning of a semester, a professor divided his class into two groups, he instructed the first group to spend the semester crafting the most perfect, beautiful vase they could. The second group however, was tasked with making as many vases as possible. By the end of the semester the professor asked both groups to present their best vase.

The first group unveiled a vase that was indeed, stunning, decorated, with intricate designs and vibrant colors… but the second group who had focused on quantity and learned through repeated practice, produced a vase that was superior in form, color, distribution, and overall structure. Why?

Because they had made more vases, learning with each one how to improve the process and outcome.
This story highlights a critical lesson: If you focus solely on creating the perfect product and obsess over optimizing every little detail, you’ll likely use up more energy and time and still might not end up with the best product.

On the other hand someone who repeatedly practices, sticking to the basics and refining their process through actual work will likely achieve better results and understand how to do things more efficiently over time by engaging in the actual work, making vase after vase or whatever your task may be, you’ll find that the process becomes easier, faster and better.

t’s like taking a cold plunge the first time, is shockingly difficult but by the 10th time you’re able to stay in the water for 10 minutes comfortably.

So, if you approach your tasks with: A full energy tank, zero distractions, and a focus on doing rather than overthinking, you’ll find that sooner rather than later everything starts to flow more smoothly.

Know the Way

“If you know the way broadly you will see it in all things” This insight from Musashi ties seamlessly into what we’ve been discussing.

By understanding the broader principles of efficiency and focus you can apply them across various aspects of your life to achieve more with less effort. When you grasp the fundamental idea of focusing energy where it counts, you start seeing opportunities to apply it everywhere, whether you’re at work, practicing a hobby or even managing relationships.

It’s about recognizing patterns of what leads to success and what doesn’t, for instance if you’ve mastered the art of efficient work in your professional life, you’ll likely find that the same principles help you manage your personal projects or workouts more effectively.

The discipline of practicing regularly, focusing deeply and avoiding distractions will make any tasks smoother and your efforts more productive.

By embracing this broad understanding you can streamline your life, eliminate wasted effort, and enhance your overall effectiveness. This is exactly how you achieve more with less effort just as Musashi mastered his craft, not only on the battlefield but in life’s broader challenges.

Distracted Genius

You don’t need to be a genius to excel in any field. You just need to avoid becoming a distracted genius.

Instead aim to be a stoic focused individual who always has their energy tank ready to go… here’s an analogy to carry with you every morning.

When you wake up and face a day packed with activities that must get done, think about your energy tank, and remember what Musashi taught about focusing only on what truly matters. This way you will keep your tank full, and you will use it to go to the places you really want to go, instead of wasting it all in alternative paths.