Anyone in business for any length of time is used to “making” things happen.  Trouble is we typically struggle, sometime mightily, in our efforts to do so. There is a way to allow things to happen with little or no effort or struggle.  And here is why it is so much better than brute force.

“Making” things happen is a very western way of thinking that resides firmly in the ego.  In essence, when you try to make things happen, this is what you are really saying about how it will get done:

• In my way
• Within my time schedule
• Using my resources
• Under my control

“Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead –ram anybody or anything that gets in our way!”  Are you beginning to see the problem here?  Especially when others are all taking the same approach.  Everyone struggles and he/she who struggles most/best wins –that is if you call being exhausted, uptight and frustrated most of the time “winning”.

There is another way that is so powerful you may be tempted to think that it is just too simple to ever work.  It’s called “creating a space” for things to happen.  Instead of fighting for every inch, go with the natural flow of things.  Open up the space of possibility for what you want to happen.  Now for you to successfully employ this method and enjoy all of its benefits (relaxed effortlessness, serendipity, greater outcomes than what you intended, etc.) there is a few things you need to let go of.

First is the illusion that you have control over anything other than your own choices.  Anything else is just part of the mystery and wonder of life.  Secondly (and this is REALLY important) let go of any attachments to the outcomes.  This means being dispassionate about whether or not you achieve your objectives no matter how badly you want them.  When you marry strong intention (i.e. what you want) with letting go of the need for control and not being attached to outcomes you have by definition created a space for your intentions to happen.  This is a powerful space in which miracles occur effortlessly and often bigger and better than you intended.  They may not happen in the way you intended, on your time schedule, or through your resources, yet they will happen never-the-less.

This doesn’t mean sitting back waiting for things to happen –not at all.  It means taking the steps with full commitment you deem necessary for fruition, yet being open to any possibility that may result from your efforts.  By the way, this approach is even more powerful in relationships.  When’s the last time you tried to “make” a relationship happen? (and how did that work for you?)  In this context making a space for a desired relationship means showing up fully for the other person yet not being attached to whether or not they respond in the way you wish.

There is a corollary to this principle that basically states that the more you try to make things happen, the less space you create to allow them to occur with little or no effort and the more fear is pushing you away from what really works.  There is no valor in struggle when there is an easier, more natural way.

The next time you feel tempted to swim upstream just ask yourself how tired do you really want to be when you finally get to where you want to go –only to be taken down stream once again anyway.  Fight life or flow with it –it’s your choice.