Manifesting The Life You Desire
“You wander from room to room hunting for the diamond necklace that is already around your neck.” - Rumi
I like to believe that we are the co-creators of our lives. There are things that we can control and things that are beyond our control. In a way creativity and imagination link to manifestation: the things we keep visualising and telling to ourselves eventually tend to become our reality. Therefore, we should always dream big and never limit ourselves and our imagination.
Manifestation is an exercise to connect to our authentic selves and our deepest desires, and learn to live a life that reflects that. The ability to manifest - love, money, health, career - comes from self-worth. We have to believe in our dreams first in order to achieve them. This is the starting point to receive and welcome abundance. We need to heal our past wounds, let go of shame, and learn to trust the process. Letting go and reprogramming the subconscious mind requires action and commitment. To become magnetic we need to become vulnerable, honest, and be present authentically. There’s no ego dancing or looking for others’ approval. Manifestation is often based on the Law of Attraction, which states that like attracts like. When we focus on positive thoughts and emotions, we will attract more positive experiences and outcomes.
Now that the summer holiday season is over, goal setting and manifesting are very relevant topics. In this post I’ll go through a few fundamental things that can help you to achieve your goals - big or small - and live the life you want.
Personally, I have been more or less lost with my life during the past few years. One big reason for that, of course, was the pandemic and everything it led to and how it changed my life: career path, homes, and so on. Now that life has been more stable for a year or so I have been finally able to plan for a longer term future. I believe we should always plan how we want our lives to look like one year, five years, ten years or even decades from now. Life does not always go according to our plans but at least goals and dreams give us direction. As Oprah writes, "Having a vision creates a path for the future. It focuses you and allows for clarity moving forward."
Building a Solid Foundation Through Repetition
Discipline and repetition are the bridge between our dreams and accomplishments. In the book, The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp explains why preparation is vital for creativity - but the same goes with any goal we want to achieve in life. By creating rituals we can create habits, and make it less likely that we would give up or skip our practice. When our rituals become almost automatic behaviour we do them without questioning. This is important because no matter what we are trying to achieve, things will get hard, boring, and unpredictable on the journey.
I always like to recommend the book, Atomic Habits by James Clear for anyone who wants to create a good habit, and break a bad one. One of the key things is to have a habit forming environment where the cues for good habits are obvious and visible. For instance, if you want to start training again, leaving your shoes and workout clothes next to your bed the night before reduces the risk of skipping your workout. Similarly, one the most practical ways to eliminate a bad habit is to reduce exposure to the cue that causes it. For example, if you have a bad tendency to scroll your phone and avoid working, leave your phone in another room for a couple of hours so that you can focus on your work.
Only through repetition can our skills be improved. And it requires skill to bring something we have imagined into the world: whether it’s about using words to create engaging stories, sequencing movements to create a beautiful dance, or building a new business. Typically we need to keep on doing the same thing over and over until we master it. Success does not happen overnight.
Furthermore, when we repeat enough, patterns will emerge and our goal will become more crystallised and our ideas become more sophisticated. We find our way of doing things. Moreover, with more skill, we also get more confidence. And confidence is essential for manifesting, or turning our dreams into reality.
Overcoming Fear And Self-Doubt
Humans are highly adaptable to all kinds of circumstances. Only our fears, shame, and self-limiting beliefs can truly hold us back. There are an infinite number of possibilities in this world that go beyond our wildest imaginations. Ask yourself: What are the beliefs I have about myself that may be preventing me from progressing? Cross them out, and find good qualities about yourself or an affirmation that can support you on your journey. For instance, “I am not good enough”, reverse it with, “I am enough and I have the courage to try my best”.
There are a few common fears and worries like “I don’t know how to do it”. The truth of the matter is that when we are doing something for the first time we cannot know how to do it. We don’t have the experience but doing is better than not doing. We tend to regret the things we did not do rather than the things we did. There’s almost always an opportunity to learn and grow.
“It’s going to take a really long time and requires so much resources”. Whether it’s about time, money, or energy, it all comes down to prioritisation - especially after our basic needs are covered (food, clothing, shelter). It’s likely going to take a long time if we are trying to bring something exceptional or something that never existed before into reality but procrastination is not going to take us any closer and there is not going to be any more time during this lifetime. When it comes to money, we should always ask ourselves whether our spending habits are in alignment with our values. Unless you are living paycheck to paycheck there are always ways to save for the thing you want. And if not, find ways to create value for others to earn more.
“People will laugh at me and think I’m silly”. Those who care about us won’t. And seriously, most of those people who have negative or unsupportive thoughts and comments about our goals, they are usually the ones who didn’t have the courage to follow their own course in life. Those who genuinely care about us may have words of wisdom to share, and we should carefully listen to them.
The Techniques For New Ideas And Creativity
Getting quiet, seeking solitude, and daydreaming are essential skills for the creative process and manifesting. In our modern world we can be distracted all the time; For many of us sitting silently with our thoughts has become difficult or just taking a walk without our headphones. We have the urge to fill these moments with tapping and scrolling, leaving no breathing room for our own thoughts. There are strategies artists and authors like to use to tune out digital distractions; The best ideas tend to come when the mind is still. Constant stress and distractions disrupt the creative flow.
Daily mindfulness practice can bring us back into a creative mind-set, and a clear mind is essential for fulfilling our vision. This is the reason why I like to start my day ideally with gentle movement and stillness without digital distractions. Other excellent ways to calm the mind and quiet the noise include walking or exercising without technology, leisurely reading, and daydreaming. Or just committing to stillness for 10 minutes each morning can make a significant difference. I recommend doing your practice first thing in the morning because you never know what life throws at you later in the day.
There are many things we can do to find inspiration if we start to feel stuck. I like to seek exposure to new ideas, and perspectives in disciplines outside my own by listening to podcasts, reading articles, and watching films. I use the notes app or sketchbook to catch ideas when they show up. All the things I have seen, heard, or discussed with someone will influence the way I behave in this world and which decisions I make. This is the reason why I like to meet new people with all kinds of backgrounds: they always give a fresh way of looking at things.
I may sound like a broken record but my favourite tool has always been journaling. It works for many things like making sense of the world, understanding ourselves and our aspirations, or brainstorming new ideas. No matter what we are going through, writing things down forces us to concentrate and look at things from different angles: does this make any sense? Is this true? Where did these ideas come from? Where could this lead? What are the options? Choosing the right words, constructing meaningful sentences, arranging paragraphs, and developing a sensible narrative forces us to pause and become mindful.
The Value of External Reminders
One of the biggest reasons why we do not reach our goals is that we simply forget them. By setting external reminders we can increase our chances of hitting our goals. In a psychological strategy called cognitive offloading, we use a physical action to reduce demands on our brain. For instance, you can journal your goals and intentions in a notebook or use a daily planner, or store your ideas on a smartphone or computer. Cognitive offloading can improve our ability to remember our goals and perform better.
For manifesting a vision board is a powerful tool. It can also be described as a dream board: a collage of images and words representing the life you want to live. You can create it by hand or make one digitally. It can be for a particular area in your life - such as career, relationships, home environment, finances, physical health - or for your whole life in general. When we have visual reminders we can increase our likelihood of putting our energy and attention to all the right things. There is even the saying, energy flows where attention goes. Be as specific as possible about your goals! Instead of wanting to meet your soulmate, imagine the qualities, characteristics, and values they would have. Or instead of wanting to find a new home, develop a detailed picture of the ideal location and environment, and imagine how you would feel and live your life there.
It’s crucial to be able to store and retrieve the ideas when needed - and never lose them. The most important goals and future visions should be kept in a place where we can encounter them every day so that we stay motivated and focused.
Choose Your Words Wisely
Words are powerful. You can be your best friend or worst enemy. Having a healthy relationship with yourself is the starting point for a good life and manifesting. By good life I don’t mean a perfect life or life without hardships. Learning to live with yourself and accepting yourself as you are right now will make a major shift in your confidence.
We are all here on Earth for a reason and we all have something special within us. It is our sacred duty to find our gifts, harness them, and share them with the world. When we create little space and time for self-discovery, we can connect with our intuition and find what we were meant to do here during our precious lifetime.
Sending you so much love!
Resources
Books:
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life by Twyla Tharp
Articles:
Vision Board 101: How to Make a Vision Board Manifestation Tool
WSJ: Feel Like the Internet Ate Your Creativity? Here’s How These Famous Artists Got It Back