86. Do Your Best, Then Release the Result.
This realization in life is a new one for me. I’m a recovering “goal-aholic.” Someone that always thought that I could create something in my head and know it could be MADE to happen through creativity, tenacity, and sometimes just plain ole’ force of will.
But this past year or so, I’ve had a rather profound change of mindset on this. I don’t know if your experience will be the same as mine, but here’s the new principle that guides me:
It’s called: “Releasing the result."
In sales I’ve always had a philosophy of: “Releasing the result.” What it means is that I couldn’t care too much about the outcome, but just do everything that I should do to get to the right point.
I would (and still do) say, “If it’s right for you, great. I’ll help you. If not, that’s okay, too.” Sometimes I’d point to my gut and say, “I’ll eat just fine, regardless. "
I really mean it, too. I didn’t WANT to do business unless it was great for both sides. If it wasn’t right for them, it would never be right for me. And I didn’t get too worked up if I didn’t “make the sale,” because I’d still done what I was supposed to do.
This nearly always worked.
Not DEPENDING on an outcome more often than not made it seem like things would always work out for me.
And the opposite also seems to be true.
I’d seen real estate agents that I’d train, that would use the same words as me that would politely ask the clients to buy—and it seemed that they NEVER did from them.
Why?
Because the agent seemed to be so invested in the outcome—they HAD to make a sale—and the clients in question intuitively knew that, and it made them uncomfortable. Desperation is the worst cologne.
There is a gigantic difference between wanting to make a sale, and having to make the sale.
The unfortunate agents were not able to release the result, and they suffered for it. The people that otherwise could have been blessed by the sale went elsewhere too.
There’s a point to this.
The older I get and the more in tune I get with God and the beautiful serendipity of the world, the more I realize that, “Releasing the result,” is important in EVERY aspect of life, and not just sales.
I don’t know exactly how I came to realize this, but it started a little more than a year ago for me: I understand, to the very core of my being, that things truly happen for a reason. Everything unfolds exactly as it’s meant to do. Everything.
That doesn’t mean that you don’t prepare, or try to get better. You still have that responsibility. In fact if you know deep down that you’re supposed to be doing something, and you don’t, then I think life has a way of correcting you.
The philosophy is do the best with what you can. And then release the preconceived notion of how you think things SHOULD go.
As you do this, you’ll notice that your life will start giving you perfect moments. Times of pure serendipity, when the right things just seem to happen magically for you.
You can calm down your mind and spirit, and get present in the moment. That’s when God (or the Universe) speaks to you, and you feel that something is right or wrong in your soul.
If something is right, and you’re following it, then you know it. You start to feel it in your bones. You feel good about doing it. You can put your heart, effort, and soul into it, and have faith that it’s all going to work out good or bad. Just as it’s meant to happen. You can release that outcome, and just know that it’s meant to be the way it’s supposed to be.
Everything will unfold in its own glory. And it’s all perfect .
The Advice in Practice: