The fastest man alive ran at 85% effort.

In a 2020 episode of ​The Tim Ferriss Show​, actor Hugh Jackman shared a story about legendary track athlete Carl Lewis (emphasis mine):

Do you know the 85 percent rule?

It came from a guy studying Carl Lewis...

He couldn’t understand why a guy who was routinely coming last or second-last after 40 meters...would always win by 10 yards at the end.

And he said, what he realized Carl Lewis did at the 50-meter mark, 60-meter mark, was that he did nothing.

His breathing was exactly the same. His form is exactly the same as had been between meters 25 and 50.

Whereas everyone else starts to push to the end, trying—"Gonna try a little extra harder!"—and he said their face would scrunch up, their jaw would tighten, their fists would start to clench.

Whereas Carl Lewis stayed exactly the same and then he would just breeze past them.

So that’s where he invented the 85 percent rule...

If you tell most of A-type athletes to run at their 85% capacity, they will run faster than if you tell them to run at 100%, because it’s more about relaxation, and form, and optimizing the muscles in the right way.

The 85% Rule says that you can achieve more by pushing less.

Carl Lewis won nine Olympic gold medals with this strategy.

And as it turns out, the general principle here is one that has been recognized throughout history.

An old Zen parable offers a similar lesson:

A martial arts student asks the master how long it will take to achieve mastery.

The teacher replies, "10 years.

"The impatient student responds, "I want to master it faster than that. I'll work harder. I'll practice harder. How long will it take then?"

The teacher smiles and answers, "20 years."

Both of these accounts bring to life a concept called the Law of Reversed Effort, first coined by author Aldous Huxley, who wrote:

"The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed."

It's easy to find examples from your own life where this concept rings true:

• When you press to try to complete a creative task, you become less creative.
• When you actively push to try to find the perfect partner, you rarely find that person.
• When you try to force yourself to fall asleep, you stare at the ceiling awake.

Paradoxically, in most areas of life, 100% intensity leads to inferior results.

The lesson here is simple:

If you push and strain at maximum effort at all times, you set yourself up for burnout and bad results.

When you adopt a mindset of smooth, balanced, relaxed effort, you stay in the game long enough to let compounding work its magic. You achieve higher heights.

What does this look like in practice for me?

1. I stopped glorifying grinding on things. The traditional hustle narrative tells us that more hours equals more results. It doesn't. Working in concert with your energy, rather than against it, is a much better practice. For example, I know that I'm most creative early in the mornings, so I focus my writing in a ~2-3 hour window in the mornings. I don't try to grind on writing outside of that window. I work with, rather than against, my energy.
2. I created more space for thinking. Space is what allows you to see the bigger picture. Your thoughts and ideas can formulate and reconnect in new and interesting ways. I stopped filling every gap in my calendar. The best ideas I've ever had didn't come at my desk. They came on walks, in the shower, or driving in silence. Space isn't wasted time. It's your next breakthrough waiting to happen. Ventilate your calendar with ~5-10 minute pockets to create space for a little bit more flow.
3. I started running my own race. It's easy to feel the urge to press when you're staring at the other racers getting ahead of you. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's this: You run your best race when you run your own race.

There's an old military saying that I love:

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Balance your effort. Learn to flow in everything you do.

If you follow the 85% rule, you'll always find a way to thrive.