DECEMBER 27, 2020
“The Law of Detachment says that in order to acquire anything in the physical universe, you have to relinquish your attachment to it. This doesn’t mean you give up the intention to create your desire. You don’t give up the intention, and you don’t give up the desire. You give up your attachment to the result.”
— Deepak Chopra
All of us have specific goals in our lives, and we strive to work towards them. We decide on them excitedly, start making a plan and execute them by taking actions, all in the hope of achieving success, happiness, and fulfillment. Everything goes fine in the beginning; we work a lot until finally, all of it comes crashing down and puts us back at rock bottom. All of our efforts, goals, and desires become a distant dream, and we continue to live a mediocre life.
This is the harsh reality for almost every unsuccessful person in this world. They try to do so many different things, but keep failing and eventually give up. On the other hand, some people try many things and succeed. The unsuccessful and successful people have goals and desires, but few achieve them, and many don’t.
You may think, “The successful ones know some secret they use to climb through and reach the top.” But reality is nothing like that. The successful people also need to go through some initial failures and grind, but it is only their thought process and necessary foundation that makes the difference.
Whenever you build a house, you need a foundation for it. Making that foundation is a simple process almost every construction worker knows. If the process is the same, then all constructions must be equally strong. But that is not the case. When an earthquake strikes a city, some buildings collapse right away, while some others stand firm. The foundation was poured in the same way, but many different variables contributed to its strength: the type of land, the type of the structure, the weight of the structure, the type of cement, the quality of water, the strength of rods. All of these factors combined and then defined the lattice of the foundation and its strength.
Similarly, even if both the unsuccessful and the successful use the same way to set the foundation of their life and their mindset, the strength of the foundation can vary significantly because of certain variables that mark the crucial line between failure and success.
I recently read the book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra, and it presented some fundamental aspects of achieving success. When I reflected on them, I found that some of those aspects are the variables that decide how strong the foundation of our life and our mindset will be. What are they? Let’s understand.
- Setting the right intention and desire. This is one of the most critical parts of the foundation of our mind. It is the cement. Having the right intention behind doing or achieving something is vital because if the purpose isn’t right, then the actions won’t lead to the desired result. Whenever we desire to achieve something, we often want to attain it as a result of our actions. But that is not how the universe works. When you set a goal to do something, you should back it up with the intention to serve. Take my example. I recently published my best-selling book, Explore The New YOU. When I started working on it in October 2020, I had the goal of publishing it by 1st December 2020. That was the desire or the goal that I wanted to achieve. But there has to be a reason to set a goal to do something, right? So, my intention behind writing this book was to inspire people to lead better and more extraordinary lives every day as they can do so. I wanted to help people find meaning and purpose in their lives to reach greatness. I had the intention to serve. I desired to become a best-selling author, but I did not make it my purpose behind writing the book, because with the right purpose, the desire would be the byproduct. And guess what? I became a best-selling author and a national record holder for being the Youngest Non-fiction self-published author. I never knew that I could do that! But with the intention to serve, I did it, and I found this opportunity. If I had set my goal this way, “I want to write a book and publish it by 1st December 2020 because I want to become a national record holder and best-selling author,” I would not have found success because I would’ve been writing my book to satisfy my ego and not for the fulfillment of my true self. So, you need to set the right intention to serve and have the desire to achieve. It is vital to achieve success and to have desires, but as described by Deepak Chopra, when you shift your intention from, “What’s in it for me?” to “How can I serve?” you are on the path to achieving success and fulfillment.
- Detach yourself from the outcome. The second important factor of the foundation is detachment from the outcome of our actions. We need to accept life’s uncertainty by accepting that even if we do not get what we desire, we will be okay with it. No matter what the outcome is, we will continue to follow our intention to serve. It is as simple as this. We need to accept this fact. Even if our desire is not the outcome, we should not stop working towards our goal because we intend to serve and give something, not get something. You may feel that this sounds too philanthropic or spiritual, but all of it is logical. When you attach yourself to the outcome of doing something, you are allowing insecurity to rise. Referring back to my example, let’s say that I wanted to get the best-seller tag on Amazon, and I just wanted that and nothing else. What would have happened if my book failed and did not record any sales? I would be disappointed, and I would not have fulfilled my intention to serve. There were both possibilities of my book succeeding or failing. Still, if I were too focused and attentive towards receiving the outcome or the fulfillment of the desire, I would have been fearful of not succeeding, and that would have given rise to insecurity and fear. And when there is insecurity and fear about the outcome you desire, then you are on the path of not getting it. If you are detached from the outcome and focused on the intention, you are sending out the message of being determined and committed to fulfilling your purpose, and then success will have become a byproduct of it.
Remember, a firm and tall building is a byproduct of its strong foundation, and success is the byproduct of focused attention to your intention and detachment from the outcome. Have the right intention of serving and giving, detach yourself from the result, and focus on working towards your intention, and success will come naturally to you!
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope I could add value to your life in some way or the other! Do share your learnings and feedback in the comment box, and I will surely respond! You can also connect with me via email and my social media handles!
If you liked this blog post, you will love to read my latest best-seller, Explore The New YOU! From the book you will gain many new insights about finding your passion, setting the right goals, developing strong self-belief, and building supportive habits to help you find success and lead a life of bliss, joy, and happiness. Click here to buy now!
Partnering in your success and growth,
Prabhsimrat
Great post!