Our editors have independently chosen the products listed on this page. If you purchase something mentioned in this article, we may earn a small commission.
September 10, 2021 — 10:13 AM
If you’ve ever tried to reach a goal and found yourself struggling to attain it, you probably wondered what you could have done differently. Enter: the Law of Detachment. While relatively straightforward in theory, it can be a tough law to follow—but well worth the effort.
Here’s what this law is all about, plus how to work with it, according to experts.
What is the spiritual Law of Detachment?
The Law of Detachment states that in order to manifest our desires, we must release attachment to the outcome itself as well as the path we might take to get there.
As spiritual author Shannon Kaiser explains to mbg, the Law of Detachment is a universal spiritual principle that guides many faiths (i.e., Taoism, Jainism, and Buddhism) and comes down to separating yourself and your emotions from your goals.
From a psychological perspective, neuroscientist and author of The SourceTara Swart, Ph.D., adds that “it takes time to build and strengthen neural pathways until you are ready for a new behavior, relationship, or job.” And so, we don’t want to get caught up in timelines, overthinking, and doubts. “The spiritual Law of Detachment is about trust and surrender rather than control,” Swart notes.
“When you are no longer tied to the outcome of how it must be, you free yourself up to abundant possibilities,” Kaiser adds.
As Swart tells mbg, when it comes to working with the Law of Detachment in your professional life, it’s all about patience and effort, without attachment to the next step in your career.
“We should apply for every opportunity that comes up and network with people that might assist us in our goals along the way—but not expect to get every job we apply for, and know that the right one will manifest when we are truly ready,” she explains.
It’s easy to get swept up in the romance of a first (or even second or third) date, but the Law of Detachment encourages us to take things one step at a time.
As Kaiser explains, “When going on a date, instead of projecting or anticipating is ‘this the one,’ pivot your attention to the now.”
Allowing yourself to be more present, she says, will help you cultivate deeper connections no matter what the outcome of the relationship may be.
In love, working with the Law of Detachment isn’t about “jumping into any relationship just because you don’t want to be lonely or the last single person in your friendship group,” Swart says, but rather trusting that the more you work on your own personal development, the more whole a partner and relationship you will find.
“This is why so many people meet their life partner after a dating detox,” she adds.
According to Swart, “With money, it is about working hard, saving, making financially savvy decisions,” as well as not waiting to win a huge sum or find someone else to take care of your expenses.
5. In relationships (romantic and non):
In our interpersonal relationships, both romantic and non, releasing the need to control (and especially to control others) leaves more room for genuine connection and understanding.
Kaiser suggests practicing accepting your partner (or friends, or family) and their habits as they are—instead of how you think they should be.
“When you detach, you’re not worried about what other people are doing,” she explains, “and when this happens, you have so much more compassion and love to share.”
6. In general goal setting:
When it comes to general goal setting, Kaiser breaks down how to work with this law saying, “When focusing on what you want, you can energetically strangle the outcome, [but] the moment we detach from how we want an outcome to turn out is when the universe can start getting to work.”
Co-creating with the universe, she adds, requires active allowance—as opposed to resistance. She explains that detachment creates space to receive guidance from the universe, so again, rather than fixating on the how or the timeline, simply trust and allow things to shake out as they will.
7. When dealing with doubts:
So, what do you do when doubt starts creeping in when things are taking longer than you’d hoped? According to Kaiser, that’s your cue to get more comfortable in the unknown.
According to the Law of Detachment, she explains, wisdom can be found during times of uncertainty. “The more we can trust the space between where we are and where we think we should be, the easier life will be.” And that means resisting getting triggered by every little challenge or upset, she adds.
“Take the time to develop a higher state of awareness and you can become aware of the origin of negative emotions and begin to detach from them,” she recommends.
The Law of Detachment isn’t about not being involved in the world around you or giving up on your goals. Instead, it involves surrendering some control and developing a deeper trust in the universe.
When we mindfully practice detachment, experts agree that we enter a space of receiving rather than resisting and allow life to present us with even more possibilities.
