Commitment to Action Vs Detachment
We live in a world with a bias to action. Often, we see someone working feverishly toward a goal and we remark on how committed they are. The workaholic may be recognized (theoretically) as a personality that’s out of balance… but they still command enormous respect in the workplace because they get so much done.
But at the end of the year, was it the person working 3,000 hours who accomplished the most? Sometimes yes. But not always, because other factors also affect results and outcomes.
One of those factors is expectations. I’ve mentioned before the friend of mine who owned a run-down gas station. He was located on a small local road that no longer got traffic after the new expressway came. He spent massive hours “working,” but his results were minimal. He ignored many things he could have done to promote and build his business, focusing instead only on long hours.
He continued stubbornly, blindly banging his head against a problem, never realizing he had no expectations. Only an action pattern unsuited to the results he claimed he wanted.
Another crucial factor is intention. My friend had no real, clear intention beyond proving that he wasn’t a quitter. It would have been so much more effective to shut down the failing location and move to a road with traffic. Although this was obvious to everyone else, he couldn’t see it because his intention was flawed.
Today’s guest contributor Tammi Putnam likes to see her clients produce results – real results – and one of the things she most often recommends to her clients is…
Taking Inspired Action
By Tammi Putnam
Are you taking inspired action? Are you moving forward in your life with intention? See, it is not the taking action that creates the desire, it is the intention.
You create first with thought. Or as Rhonda Byrne says, “thought to it.” It is the thought to your desire, the focus of positive energy toward it, that builds the conduit to your desire.
Forcing an outcome is often what we attempt to do. We want to move things along a little quicker, we get impatient, we want results right now.
Forcing Is Pushing Away Your Desire
The Law of Detachment says that to acquire our desire, we must let go of our attachment to it. Action that is fear based is moving away from our goal. It is based in the negative and therefore will create negative energy around it.
Taking inspired action feels free flowing, like we could do it all day. It is effortless because we are so excited and passionate about moving toward our goal.
Because you are moving with positive energy, you will attract positive events, circumstances and people to yourself that will assist you in your goal. These are things you could never plan out, even if you wanted to.
Birds don’t have to force flying. They just do.
Flowers don’t have to strain to grow. They just do.
It is the same with you.
How Do I Take Inspired Action?
Set your intention. Be very clear about what you want.
Ask for it. Ask once… not over and over again. When you place an order from Amazon or Old Navy you don’t place the same order over and over. You do it once, knowing the order will be filled. It is the same with the universe. It is waiting to see if you have the faith and knowing it will show up.
Raise your vibration. Surround yourself with positive energy. It starts with what you allow into your mind. Begin with getting rid of the negative monkey chatter and filling your mind with positive thoughts.
Think positive. Speak positive words. Let them be kind, loving, compassionate, and inspiring. Feel positive feelings, these feelings are bringing you more of the same.
Be open to the internal nudges. They are moving you toward your goal, listen to your inner voice!
Mentally possess your desire. Visualize it! Visualization is powerful. See yourself as already achieved your goal. Feel what that feels like. This feeling or vibration is aligning you with your goal.
Allow the receiving. Don’t continue to question why your desire has not appeared. Do not doubt. I tend to say to myself these words whenever doubt creeps in…”It’s on its way.”
When you place your order give it time. Be patient!
Tammi Putnam specializes in assisting others in understanding and utilizing the Law of Attraction with her Free 7 Day ECourse “Attracting Greatness” so that they can create their ideal life.
Tammi along with her husband, Bill, assist others in starting their own personal development home based business.
Back to Charles:
I like Tammi’s reminder to ask just once, then accept that it’s on its way.
In fact, in my own mind, I don’t even call it “asking” any longer. Since whatever you’re asking for is already in existence at the quantum level, and it’s already yours for the claiming, I prefer to call it “accepting.” There’s a much stronger element of ownership involved with this word. I’m not saying either word is right or wrong, but “accepting” feels right for me.
It’s useful to think about the words you’re using. If something feels like it’d work better with a little adjustment or re-definition, just think it over. Try it out. See if it’s a fit. And if it is, then make your own decisions about how you do your inner work.
And next, since Tammi has written an article on the Law of Detachment, which ties organically into the above topic, I’m including it here. See if you don’t like the simple, elegant way she explains things.
As you read, see if you can recall the times you did detach yourself from the results you were seeking (and the times you didn’t). What does your memory tell you? Do you recognize any correlations between your attitude of detachment and the results you got?
This stuff isn’t rocket science, by the way. It runs all through the human experience. Guys, think back to your school days and the times you asked the cutest girl for a date. Didn’t it seem like the more anxious you felt, the less likely she was to say yes?
And ladies, didn’t it appear that the cutest boys were always drawn straight to the girls who didn’t care – or who didn’t seem to?
Think of all the couples who remain childless for years, until they adopt, and then suddenly find themselves wonderfully, unexpectedly pregnant. So many times, it only comes after they detach from the results. They stop trying so hard and finally the baby comes.
Law of Detachment -
By Tammi Putnam
Have you ever heard of the Law of Detachment?
Well, I’m sure you have experienced it!
Have you really liked someone and this guy/gal was all you could think about? When after all of your energy, he/she never really seemed to feel the same way about you.
Then you finally got the hint, not to waste anymore time and let the idea of that great relationship go… and then all of the sudden he/she starts seeking you out, wanting your attention and a relationship with you!
Or you had a client that you just knew was going to move to the next level and you focused your energy on talking about what you thought this person would do, and when… and he did nothing.
Have you ever had a similar experience?
The Law of Detachment says that the way to acquire what you want is to let go of your attachment. Please note, however, that by letting go we are not letting go of our intention to manifest it.
How Do We Apply It?
Start with moving through your day with a detached sense of being. This means that when problems arise, you don’t “lose your cool” because you know that a solution will present itself.
If you stand firm in your detachment, you won’t feel that you have to force it or push toward a solution, it will happen on its own time. You, in turn, can stay open to possibilities with the trust that all is in perfect order.
- Practice detached interactions.
- Accept that things don’t always go as planned.
- Be open to solutions instead of wallowing in the problem.
The great thing about the Law of Detachment is that it works well with the Law of Attraction. In order for you to attract what you want, you must be detached to the outcome.
What Happens If I’m Attached?
When you are attached, you vibrate fear, doubt and need. You are attracting more fear, doubt and need, since we know the Law of Attraction says, “like attracts like.” You are approaching your desire from a position of worry.
What is worry? It is planning to fail.
Your mind is creating all these failure scenarios. You think them over and over. It creates this negative downward spiral.
When you’re attached to an outcome you are giving away your personal power. When you allow things outside yourself to bring you satisfaction or joy, you are giving over control to something or someone else. You are then powerless.
In the above examples, with a relationship you are riding the emotional roller coaster, sometimes up and sometimes down. When they are paying attention to you, the coaster is headed up, we feel great, all is well in the world… and headed on the downside when they are not paying attention to you, and we feel sad, frustrated and start to worry.
Or in the case of the client, we feel great when the client is moving forward, and feel uncertain of ourselves when the client doesn’t.
We can’t allow ourselves to be emotionally attached!
So, How Do I Become Detached?
Have you heard the saying, “Let go and let God”? This is the absolute trust and faith that you have that God, the Universe, the Source provides all things. You are trusting that there is enough, that you deserve all great things coming to you.
Law of Detachment means that whatever you seek has no power over you, you are in control.
So many people think to get something that they must hang on for dear life… but the truth is, it is the letting go, that brings it to you.
“Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.”
~ Herman Hesse
Tammi Putnam specializes in assisting others in understanding and utilizing the Law of Attraction with her Free 7 Day ECourse “Attracting Greatness” so that they can create their ideal life.
Tammi along with her husband, Bill, assist others in starting their own personal development home based business.
Back to Charles:
As Tammi so clearly explains, letting go doesn’t mean to let go of your expectations. It means to let go of your doubts – your negative expectations.
It means to manage your thoughts and your feelings.
This detachment thing is so counter-intuitive that it sounds like sheer foolishness the first few times you hear it.
And I know it can seem nearly impossible when your very survival seems to be at stake (like serious, major money issues, or like the love of your life walking out the door). But that’s the very time you most need to bear down, grit it out, choose which thoughts are the ones you’ll allow, and then defend them with your fiercest loyalty.
It’s no disgrace to have doubts come sneaking into your mind. That happens to nearly everybody. But just because they sneak in, it doesn’t mean you must let them stay. You have the freedom of choice.
This thing is further complicated by the fact that we’ve been told so many times that the “negative” emotions such as anger are always a bad thing. Surprisingly, that’s not entirely true.
If you’re feeling hopeless and powerless, anger is a good, strong step up from despair. It’s a step in the right direction. Righteous indignation is sometimes appropriate and justified.
You just don’t want to stop and live there. And you don’t want to move backwards, down from happiness to anger. That’s a step in the wrong direction.
So yes, there are times when it’s quite proper to counter-attack some thoughts – such as doubts – and tell them that they’re wrong. The THOUGHTS are wrong… not you.
If doubts come whispering that what you’re seeking to manifest is not for you, that it’s unreasonable, that it’s more than you’re worthy of receiving, argue back.
I call this defending your dreams.
And sometimes, when I was much younger and not confident at all, and I was just starting to learn these things, I even sometimes called it fighting for my dreams. Because that’s what it felt like. I had to learn to be scrappy and seize “ownership” of what I was trying to manifest in my life and defend my right to it.
That’s what it takes sometimes to release, detach and let go. Not detach from the results, but from the doubt and the mistrust (which are simply old habits of thinking that you no longer want).
Once I did that, I found that I truly was detached from the results. I no longer worried about the outcome of a particular request.
This defending gradually became a new habit, so that less and less frequently those ugly, doubting whispers would find their way in. It became easier and easier to trust that results would come… not necessarily the exact results I’d requested, but the results that would be right for me right then. And usually even better than what I’d asked for.
Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles
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