The desire to get something for nothing is a constant in all cultures and historical periods. To a large extent, mythology is derived from this desire. People make themselves believe that, if they perform a magical ritual, some divinity will assist them in getting something for nothing.

When approaching Taoism for the first time, beginners are in danger of falling prey to the delusion of getting something for nothing. Why? Because, although Lao-Tzu emphasised not doing as a key element of his philosophy, Taoists seem to lead remarkably effective lifestyles.

To prevent misunderstandings, this paradox requires strong warnings from my side. I do not want readers to regard Taoism as a form of magic that can deliver magnificent results without any thinking, learning or action.

Chapter 48 of the Tao Te Ching stands at the root of all false hopes created by Taoism. It calls for reducing the scope of our action, day by day, until very little or nothing is left. Similarly, it praises non-action as the supreme form of action and ends by saying that we can achieve our goals by doing nothing.

No wonder that, if beginners take those words literally, they feel entitled to expect wonders without effort. Did Lao-Tzu not promise that we can get whatever we want without having to study, make plans, and implement every step carefully?

In fact, that’s not what the Tao Te Ching means. Lao-Tzu’s words need to be interpreted by placing them in context. They should not be taken literally, as thought they were prophesies. I cannot warn people enough against taking Taoist quotes out of context.

The correct context

What’s the correct interpretation of Chapter 48 of the Tao Te Ching? The proper context is defined by the purpose stated at the beginning of the Chapter. Some translations say “to achieve the Tao,” or “to arrive at the Tao.”

I personally love the translation “to align ourselves with the Tao” or “to align ourselves with natural law.” The key point of Chapter 48 is to draw up the Taoist path to happiness, stressing the need for high effectiveness. We need to employ our energy and skills economically, so that we do not waste it.

Happiness, according to Taoist tradition, can be achieved by each individual, but progress will accelerate if we concentrate on the critical aspects. In modern management theory, we use the term “concentrating on the bottleneck,” that is, making sure that we apply our resources where they can generate the largest benefits.

What is meant by “bottleneck” in management theory and in the Taoist philosophy? It’s the point in a process or path that is creating the largest blockage. It’s the field or area in our life where we are experiencing the sharpest pain and frustration.

Sick people have no difficulty in identifying their sharpest pain or bottleneck. They know what’s bothering them, what is preventing them from leading a normal life. If they have strong headaches, they cannot walk around or work normally. If they cannot walk, they experience mobility problems. And so on.

Unemployed individuals have no difficulty in pointing out their search for employment as a bottleneck in their path to a better life. Job seekers will regard themselves as happier after they have succeeded in their quest.

Looking up vacancies, submitting job applications, doing interviews and following up consume lots of resources, leaving little time for any other self-improvement projects. Those tasks constitute a necessity, but few people will characterise them as pleasurable. They are a bottleneck that needs to be removed.

Obstacles and bottlenecks

Taoists need to remove the same bottlenecks as everybody else, and will not embellish the tasks necessary to regain their health, find a good job, or solve any other pressing problem.

In the Taoist happiness conception, the end result may look similar to the end result pursued by friends, neighbours, family members and colleagues, but Taoists use a strikingly different method: they consider not doing as important as doing.

What’s the difference in practice? The difference is huge. In the case of non-Taoist individuals, the search for a new job or a workable therapy can become frantic. For the unemployed or sick person, those are the paramount objectives.

Unemployed or sick Taoists also regard those objectives as their top priorities, but their actions are calm, organized, serene and narrowly focused. Before moving a finger, they will reflect long to discard every unpromising path. Before walking a step, they will plan their route to avoid unnecessary detours.

For Taoists, not doing is a way of life, not a temporary habit to be discarded as soon as the pain recedes. For the uninitiated, not doing seems deceptively easy. It looks like a panacea to get what we want at little or no cost.

Think twice

My warning goes against the impression of extreme facility and ease, since that is rarely the case. In the face of severe pain or setbacks, it requires a steel determination to give non-action preference over action.

Yang-Tzu’s writings take this principle to the limit. It shows no appreciation for people who panic and act without thinking in the face of danger. In doing so, they’ll jeopardize themselves and their families for no good reason.

We should think twice before engaging in any form of self-sacrifice, warned Yang-Tzu. Self-sacrifice tends to achieve the opposite of its stated goal. The concerned person would have achieved better results if he had prioritized non-action instead of engaging in automatic responses.

Chuang-Tzu goes a step further in his writings, recognizing that it takes lots of effort to internalise the Taoist conception of happiness. It is illusory to believe that non-action will deliver the desired results if one does not know exactly what to avoid.

Taoists have elevated inaction to an intellectual art, but their thought patterns are hard to imitate. How will the sick person tell what to avoid before adopting a suitable treatment? How could the job seeker determine the actions to avoid, the opportunities not worth pursuing, the openings to be discarded?

The answer to those questions defines the Taoist advantage, and my warning is addressed to those who naively believe that such an advantage can be acquired overnight. Taoists possess a significant advantage because of their commitment to abiding by natural law.

If an alleged solution requires that we behave unnaturally, it should be discarded because it cannot be sustained over time. If a promise looks too good to be true, it should be put aside and ignored because it is likely to prove deceitful. If someone gives the impression of trying too hard, we should take a step back and check what’s wrong.

I could give a million examples of Taoist non-action but no collection of examples will suffice to exhaust the principle. We need to study the writings of Lao-Tzu, Yang-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu to grasp all the subtleties of the Taoist path to happiness, but in the meantime, please let us avoid the delusion of getting something for nothing. Like all delusions, it is doomed to fail.

If you are interested in applying rational ideas in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “On becoming unbreakable.”