If “wu wei” is explained in Chinese literally it means doing nothing. I didn’t want to do anything when I was out of work for over a year and I only wanted to lie on the bed or play video games. I felt like I was following my nature, and convinced myself using the concept of “wu wei” to relieve the guilt of lacking self-discipline. But one of the core values of “wu wei” is to maintain inner peace and to conform to the way of nature. I should abandon my version of “wu wei”, which is doing nothing. Doing nothing causes mental burnout, which is completely opposite to inner peace.
I believe everyone wants to become better in life, and so do I, but the Tao Te Ching has a sentence “Those who force things will fail; those who grasp will lose.” It means excessive pursuit of something often leads to negative consequences. The best way is “wu wei”, following the way of nature to complete things rather than forcing things. Doing nothing can never change anything, yet doing something seems to move further away from the concept of “wu wei”. This has put me into deep thought about what true “wu wei” is.
I recently saw an article by influencer Dan Koe which gave me new insights about how to practice “wu wei”. I don’t go to the gym to become healthy; I go because I see myself as someone who loves sports. The former means taking action to accomplish a goal, while the latter means acting naturally because it aligns with who I am. When action flows naturally, there’s no mental burnout, because you’re simply being yourself.