This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedanta. You've heard the old joke. A pedestrian in New York

is looking for directions to the city's most famous musical performance venue.

He sees a musician get out of a cab and asks, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? The musician answers, practice, practice.

I'm guessing you didn't even crack a smile.

That joke stopped being funny a long time ago,

and not just because it's familiar. It's become something of a truism.

We all know that practice, grit and determination are keys to success. If you want to be better

than everyone else at something you have to outwork everyone else. There is much

truth to the story of grit and drive.

We've explored research on the show that

that says that conscientiousness is one of the best predictors of academic

and professional success.

But today, in this episode and in a companion story on our subscription feed,

Hidden Brain Plus, we explore a paradox.

There are many domains in life where practice and effort

fail to work their usual magic. In these areas it's effortlessness that triumphs over effort.

Trying your best or trying too hard can produce worse results.

Understanding why effort and grit can sometimes backfire

and the underappreciated skill of letting go this week on Hidden Brain. There are times in our lives when we find ourselves beset with challenges.

We toss and turn at night, thinking of ways we can extricate ourselves from our problems.

But no matter what we do, nothing seems to work.

At the University of British Columbia, the philosopher Edward Slingalin has explored the counterintuitive

...