#31: The Art Form of Detachment

Detachment.

Not giving power to opinions of others.

Not focusing on outcomes, rather, enjoying process.

Cultivating the habit of just ‘do’ and course correct along the way.

Three examples in my mind of the art form that is ‘Detachment’.

In conversations with coaching students who are very intentional about leaning into life and business (fulfillment wise), and while studying the likes of Wayne Dyer, Neville Goddard and Alan Watts, I’ve come across the following quote no less than 30 times over the past year. It goes as follows:

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.” – Henry David Thoreau (1854)

Can’t count how many times I have thought about this quote. It has latched onto me because it thoroughly expresses how I have come to understand that we are spiritual beings having a human existence on this planet, yet so many are wasting it. So many are not realizing that they can, as Henry says, “…pass through an invisible barrier”.

So, what’s on the other side of that barrier? Not sure because it is unique to each person. Here is how I think of things.

"Everything that exists in this world started in someone's imagination. That includes the iPhone, cars, the computer I'm typing on, and any family or personal desire people have manifested. Your imagination is just as powerful. It's screaming at you to drive forward towards your dreams and get to the other side of the barrier, so do it. Detach from societal norms, opinions of friends, coworkers, and family. Detach from the version of success school taught you over 2 decades. Adopt your own. Detach from internal voices that tell you your vision is not possible in favor of a cultivated mindset to just "do... and course correct along the way." If you can do that, your world will open in ways you never expected. - Maurice Philogene (2024)

.........

In reflection, my world is expansive. I crossed a barrier in my early 20s, detaching from the limitations imposed, and status quo definitions imposed on me. It's something anyone can do, including you.

There's no way to express my entire journey, but let me give you a glimpse, along with some photos for fun.
To enter and exit every scenario, I had to detach from someone, something or some definition that told me I couldn't:

1. 25 years as an executive at Accenture

2. Special Agent in Charge, AFOSI Las Vas Field Office

3. Owner of 30+ Apartment Complexes

4. Living and dreaming in Beirut, Lebanon

5. First episode of Try Life On Podcast

6. 15 years patrolling streets of DC Metro area

7. Developing property in Republic of Cyprus

8. Leaning into Restaurant Ownership in DC

9. U of Virginia Football – Shot #1 at the NFL

10. Bowie State Football – Shot #2 at the NFL

I was never trying to be everything, go everywhere. Just never liked the idea of pressing repeat because life should constantly evolve. But it can’t if we stay attached to societal definitions of success as a default and to people and places we have outgrown, for example.

Detachment is emphasized in many philosophies and spiritual teachings such as Buddhism, Stoicism, and modern self-help practices.

• Release Control: Letting go of need to control every aspect of life and accepting that some things are beyond one's control.
• Focus on the Process: Concentrating on actions and efforts rather than obsessing over results.
• Embrace Uncertainty: Accepting the uncertainty of life and being open to whatever comes, without rigid expectations.
• Inner Peace: Cultivating inner peace and resilience by not becoming overly attached to material possessions, specific outcomes, or external validations.

I want to emphasize the notion of “Inner Peace”. I find myself just “being”. I find myself just “doing” without care of the outcome.

I fundamentally believe, as I learned from Wayne Dyer, we are all spiritual beings having a human experience. And if we are having a human experience, better to make the most of it.

Whatever you are now and whatever it is that you think you want to be or whatever place it is you think you want to go, I encourage you to Detach from what you know so you can move forward and experience what you don’t.

That’s how you build a life book that makes sense for you.

Let go.

Detach.

Try Life On.

Maurice