For many, the concept of success is linked to money, power and material. We have been brought up to believe that to achieve success we have to work tirelessly, with uncompromising persistence and intense ambition, and our success only seems to have value in the approval of others.

To prove that we are successful we must wear branded clothes, have a pretty girl, a successful profession , a good job, a good car, etc… building a path of suffering, far from a true sense of personal development, emotional well-being and with our backs to our own desires.

What are the laws governing free spirits?

Let’s imagine an executive moved by an attempt to achieve success and succeed in his profession, who is so dedicated to achieving it that, when he reaches it, he realizes that he has lost everything else, including his own wife and children . As a result, the only respect he receives is from his subordinates, the same ones who do not want to lose their jobs. He has money, power, and is in one of the highest positions in his company, but the loneliness and emotional fatigue make him wonder if it was worth getting this far.

As Deepak Chopra has observed, so much effort is not necessary and even counterproductive to success . We should not forget that success is a subjective experience and has to do with being well in the different areas of our life. In his book “The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success”, the author reviews the rules and principles necessary to achieve success.

After all, the most important thing is not to be successful at a certain thing you do, but to achieve a sense of success on a general level. Success is that which leads us to have a satisfying and meaningful life, a full life .

1.Law of pure potentiality

This law is based on the fact that we are all, essentially, pure conscience . That is, being aware is pure potentiality; a state of infinite creativity and potentiality. When you discover your natural essence and connect with who you really are, that same knowledge is the ability to achieve true success, because you are in eternal success and time runs in your favour, not against you .

This law was also known as the law of unity , because despite the complexity of life, especially today in the globalized world in which we live, “being fully aware” is necessary to preserve the spirit.

That is why the practice of mindfulness is so successful today, because this state of awareness and calm helps to self-regulate behaviour and to know oneself better , as well as creating an environment conducive to personal well-being. Full attention is a conscious and intentional way of tuning in to what is going on inside us and around us, and allows us to unmask automatisms and promote integral development.

2.Law of giving and receiving

The Flow State in life is nothing more than the harmonious interaction of all the elements that structure our existence . Giving and receiving maintains the richness and flow of interpersonal relationships. Although many people think that constant giving is a symptom of weakness, both giving and receiving have important psychological effects: they reduce stress, improve self-esteem, etc.

Helping others without expecting to receive anything in return brings more benefits than we think: a study by the Foundation for Mental Health in the United Kingdom has shown that being altruistic is beneficial to our health . But if we also receive, this provides a balance that keeps us alive. Happiness is very much related to healthy interpersonal relationships, and this applies to all areas of our life, even with our colleagues.

3.Law of Karma (or cause and effect)

The Karma is the action and the consequence of the action . The law of Karma is important, for it warns us that if we do something wrong (or that it is considered wrong), it will have negative consequences for us. We may get away with it sometime, but we will probably receive something similar at some point in our lives.

Karma places us, warns us and allows us to choose. It tells us that what happens to us is a consequence of our actions, and enables us to reflect on ourselves to avoid making the same mistakes in the future . Therefore, Karma is not a punishment, it is an opportunity to grow.

4.Law of minimum effort

You have probably heard that “less is more”, and you have heard about the law of minimum effort . This law represents exactly that. This is the principle of minimum action, and non-resistance. This is therefore the principle of love and harmony.

This law does not mean that we should show ourselves immobile and passive before life, but that when actions are motivated by love (towards others and towards oneself), they do not require so much effort. For example, when we do things reluctantly, we will have a hard time moving. But when we do things with passion, that is, with love for what we like, we enter a State of Flow or “flow” .

This law has three fundamental principles:

  • Acceptance : When we treat facts and life with acceptance towards ourselves and others, we feel relieved. This moment is as it should be, for the whole universe is as it should be. For example, when we feel frustrated with someone or something, we do not feel frustrated or upset by a person or a situation, but by the feelings we harbor about that person or situation.
  • Responsibility : All problems are opportunities to grow and develop. When our state of readiness meets the opportunity, the solution will appear spontaneously, without effort.
  • Defenselessness : If we embrace “the here and now”, i.e. the present, we become part of it and connect emotionally, as we release the terrible burdens of the defensive attitude, of resentment and hypersensitivity, favouring the State of Flow. When we possess the delicate combination of acceptance, responsibility and defenselessness, we will live this Flow throughout our lives, with a predisposition free of effort.

If you want to know more about the Law of Least Stress, I recommend this reading:

“The law of minimum effort: 5 keys to understanding it”

5.Law of Intent and Desire

This law states that, by being aware and possessing the capacity to adapt, we can influence the environment, we can create our own future . Desire and having an intention, are the engine that enables us to move. However, desire and intention are not the only requisites to achieve success, but Chopra explains that in addition to these, we must comply with the “law of pure consciousness” and the “law of detachment” (which will be explained in the following point).

Furthermore, he states that “how the future is created based on this intention, it is fundamental to start from the concept that time is the movement of thought. That is, thinking backwards is an interpretation of abstract forces, memory, while the future is a projection of abstract forces. Therefore, intention and desire must be in the here and now , since “only the present, which is consciousness, is real and eternal.(…) Both the past and the future are born in the imagination”.

6.Law of Detachment

Detachment , although it may seem synonymous with coldness , is a very fashionable concept in personal development, since makes it possible to live with equanimity and emotional stability . This is a very important concept nowadays, because most individuals are too dull even to material things. It is not easy to look inwards when culture leads us to constantly look outwards, to compare ourselves, to be more successful, more of a consumer, etc. In the midst of so much information we stick to old certainties to feel secure, unable to describe reality as it is.

Don’t miss this post: “20 sentences about life that will help you be happy”

Detachment does not mean that one cannot feel the emotions , it is about accepting them and observing them from another, much more adaptive perspective . It is about putting them into perspective, that is, moving away from things a bit to try to be more objective and realistic.

As the psychologist Jonathan García-Allen explains in the article “Personal Development: 5 reasons for self-reflection”, published in Psicología y Mente : “Fortunately, we have the reflective capacity to detach ourselves from what we thought was certain and immovable, to connect with the environment and with ourselves and to meditate on our reality. In the individual dimension our beliefs, habits and actions are always motivated by our emotions, so it is essential to understand and accept them. The short, medium and long term future is totally uncertain, but whatever happens we can modulate (for the worse) our experience with the emotion of expectation, control, cynicism, superficiality… but we are also capable of improving it if it happens from the emotion of self-respect, gratitude, trust, sincerity and tranquillity”

7.Dharma Law, or purpose in life

According to this law, we all possess a unique talent and a unique way of expressing it . There is something in each of us that we can do better than others, because for every unique talent and for every unique expression of that talent, there are also unique needs. Expressing our talents to meet needs creates unlimited wealth and abundance.

The Dharma law has three components:

  • Each one of us is here to discover his higher self or his spiritual self , and we must discover it on our own.
  • Human beings have a unique talent . Each of us has a talent so unique in its expression that no other individual has that talent or expresses it in that way. When we express this unique talent, we are in the Flow State.
  • Each of us must put this talent at the service of humanity to help each other . When we combine the ability to express our unique talent with service to humanity, we fully use the law of Dharma.