Focusing on results is entirely consistent with spiritual evolution because results can only be achieved if we practice detachment. Focus on results does not mean attachment to results! Attachment to results is actually the desire for the money, privileges, recognition and benefits that are available to those who achieve results; therefore even before we achieve the results we are dwelling on the scenario of actually having achieved the result! And inevitably, we suffer a notional fear of losing all the benefits if we don’t achieve the result.

The consequence of this attachment is the stress caused by the fear of losing the potential benefits if we don’t deliver the result. Focus on results, on the other hand, actually translates into single pointed concentration on the steps necessary to achieve the result; this can only happen if we drop the attachment to the results and its benefits. So, concentration needs detachment. And detachment is not indifference or disinterest; it simply means doing everything as an offering to the Lord and not worrying about the result. It is also ensuring that in every second in every step of the process we operate at the very limits of our capabilities. By blocking out all thoughts about the ultimate outcome we give everything we have to the task, step or activity on hand. Paradoxically, that is exactly when the result is guaranteed… because a result is just the outcome of a carefully designed process that is implemented with excellence… flawlessly. And…. this is what Karma Yoga is all about!