In last month’s column I addressed a question about how goal setting works within the context of conscious manifestation, and we discussed the importance of distinguishing between ego desires and Authentic Desires. This month I’d like to touch on another important aspect of goal-setting: releasing attachment to outcome.

Releasing attachment is one of the least understood aspects of conscious manifestation. Many people who teach goal setting will advise you to focus intently on the form that your achievement will take, down to the tiniest detail. However, if you focus too much on the form of your goal, you’ll be engaging your ego. And your ego can sabotage the realization of your dreams.

The ego is the part of you that gets trapped in the illusion of form. It is mesmerized by surface level reality and therefore has no power to shift things at the vibrational level, the level where reality is created. Your ego is the part of you that makes you feel anxious, and worries about whether things will go the way you want them to go. And it generates frustration, fear or anger when life doesn’t happen according to its plan. This is not the aspect of yourself that you want to engage in your goal setting, but that’s exactly what will happen if you don’t know how to release attachment to outcome.

One of the simplest ways to learn releasing attachment is a process I call vibrational goal setting. We’ll talk about that in next month’s column. Meanwhile, try this practice for letting go: Imagine you’re holding the outcome you want in your clenched hands. Slowly begin to release your attachment by opening your fingers, one by one. Open your hands and surrender the outcome to the Divine, or to Cosmic Energy, or the Great Space. Repeat as needed.