Manifest: – verb
- display or show (a quality or feeling) by one’s acts or appearance; demonstrate.
“Ray manifested signs of severe depression” - readily perceived by the senses and especially by the sense of sight
Their sadness was manifest in their faces. - easily understood or recognized by the mind: obvious. manifest. verb. manifested; manifesting; manifests.
You’ve probably heard about people talking about using the practice of manifesting to actualize their goals and dreams and bring about what they desire most in life, but what does that actually mean?
Manifesting is based on the law of attraction. It’s based on the idea that whatever you put out into the world, comes back to you. Manifesting is about turning your dreams into reality. It’s about using your beliefs, thoughts, actions, emotions, and attraction to bring something tangible into your life.
The Difference Between Dreams and Goals
You have to be careful not to confuse dreams and goals.They are not the same. Let me explain…
Your dreams and goals are unique to you. Dreams are created in your mind as thoughts, wishes, desires, images, and emotions; they reflect the desires of your heart. They only require your imagination, and they are built on what you hope or wish to have or achieve one day. Dreams are like mini adventures for your mind. Dreams can inspire you and act as your life compass. Dreams can drive you into action while adding meaning, purpose, and direction to your life. Dreams make life worth living!
Goals, on the other hand, are what help us to transform our dreams into reality. They are the actions that we take based on what we can realistically accomplish. Dreaming is fun and easy and goals take hard work and dedication. Both are essential components that help us create the life we want!
My advice? Get lost in your dreams and dream big! Dreams are the essence of your life.
Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.
Your dreams cannot become reality without creating goals and taking action. Goals require action and need to be clearly defined. They tend to be more concrete and tangible. With goals, you tend to set very clear deadlines. For example, “I want to lose 15 pounds before my sister’s wedding in June.” Dreams help you visualize a different or better future and goals define your course of action.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
How to Manifest Your Deepest Desires
Journal your thoughts and get clear on what you really want
Your thoughts have immense power to shape your reality. A journal can serve as a written record of what you want to attract into your life. It can also help you to hone in on your goals. As Tony Robbins says, “energy flows where attention goes.” Give yourself time and space to get in touch with what you really want!
A mindfulness exercise or meditation can help slow down and quiet your mind. It also helps create awareness. In this flow state, you will be able to freely explore and give voice to the desires of your heart.
Most people don’t know what they really want. It’s one thing to say, “I want to (fill in the blank goal/dream),” but what does that actually look like? It’s important to be as specific as possible and clearly define your goals and desires so that you know what steps you can take to turn your dreams into your reality.
Here are 12 questions you can ask yourself to help get you started:
- What thoughts, feelings, emotions, or ideas are in my head?
- What do I want?
- When do I want to achieve it?
- How do I want to achieve it?
- What steps do I need to take to make this a reality?
- Are there any new skills I should learn?
- What tools, resources, or support do I need?
- What kinds of things am I doing or not doing?
- Who is supporting me?
- Will this make me happy and fulfilled?
- What is my attitude and mindset like regarding this goal?
- Do I know any experts (therapist, coach, mentor, pastor, business owner) that I can ask for advice, support, and accountability?
When you clearly define what you want, you create more focus and, as a result, can easily figure out what steps you need to take to move you towards your desired goal!
Connect With Your Why
Discovering your why is one of the most important parts of manifesting your goals. Ask yourself, why you want to achieve this goal and what excites you about this goal. You want this reason to fuel you and motivate you and give you purpose and direction!
It’s the why behind your goals that makes you want to get out of bed every morning ready to tackle the day and achieve your goals. Your why gives you purpose, meaning, and direction. Your why gives your goals life and spurs you into action.
Ask yourself, “Why is achieving this goal important to me?” When you get to an answer, ask yourself again, “Why is this important to me?” Keep going until you feel like you have your core why. You will know you are there when it sparks some emotion from deep within.
For example:
Let’s say you have a goal of waking up 30-minutes earlier than you typically do in the morning.
Why?
Maybe you want to start your day off on time instead of feeling rushed and frazzled before 8am.
Why?
Because you’re sick of feeling behind and stuck in a never-ending rat race you can’t get out of.
Why?
Because you’re pretty sure that you should be enjoying life more than you do and you’re ready to feel more like a human BEING instead of a human DOING.
Why?
Because you know you were created to be peaceful, calm, and focused. You suspect that by waking up just 30-minutes earlier in the morning you will experience all of those things on a deeper level and as a result, become the spouse, parent, business owner, and human you’ve always dreamed of being.
Create a Vision Board
Once you’ve explored what you really want, written it down, and connected with your why, you can use prayer, meditation, visualization, or a vision board to ask God or the universe for what you really want. The goal is to spiritually and energetically align with your goals!
A vision board serves as a visual reminder of what you want. Think of it like a visual offering to the universe to fulfill the law of attraction. This is a collaboration between you and God or you and the universe.
Here’s how you can make a vision board — collect pictures, words, and quotes that represent a visual interpretation of your goal. When you look at these pictures, words, and goals, you want to feel energized and excited! You want to use these things to serve as a visual reminder of why you want to achieve your goal.
Display your vision board somewhere where you can see it and be inspired by it daily. When you feel depleted or defeated, you can glance at it and it can re-ignite your flame!
Engage in a Mental Rehearsal
By holding your goals in mind as you journal, you are essentially “placing an order” or asking the powers that be for what you want. You are putting the desires of your heart out into the universe.
Now the next step is to visualize yourself living out your dream or goal. Close your eyes and engage in a mental rehearsal of you doing exactly what you want to do. Focus on the feelings you have of achieving your goals and living your best life. Allow those positive feelings to grow like a warm ball of light that you carry with you wherever you go. This exercise allows you to fully integrate and align with your manifestation, and it can be done daily.
I like to walk my clients through a mental rehearsal exercise to help them visualize their dreams and imagine a future where they are enjoying exactly what they want. I’ll often record these and send them to them, so they can listen to them daily.
The Power Of Positivity
Our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors have such power in creating our reality. How and where we focus our attention will impact what we attract. We have to believe that we already possess or will soon have our goal. Believing in yourself and in new opportunities means that you are open to unlimited possibilities.
No matter what your goal is, it’s important to be proactive and positive. Remember the whole “law of attraction” thing? If you focus on putting out good energy and positivity, it will come back to you. Being self-aware and in tune with your thoughts and beliefs is key. You want to take control of your mind and the thoughts swimming around in there. In Philippians 4: 9-9, the Bible says: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” Your actions follow your thoughts. If you feed your mind with the good things that you can find in your life rather than the lies that Satan would have you believe, you will enjoy victory over negativity.Use Positive Affirmations
Positive affirmations are a great tool for programming your subconscious to believe in what you are trying to create. Think about what you are trying to achieve in your life and then create positive statements about what you would like to see manifested. Focus on what you want to see and experience. You want to make your affirmations realistic — not too much of a stretch for your subconscious mind.
You can write down your positive affirmations on multiple sticky notes and affix them to your bathroom mirror, your microwave or refrigerator door, your computer monitor, your dashboard in your car, or anywhere else where you could use a boost of positivity. When you see these statements often and repeat them to yourself enough, they become part of how you see and interact with the world.
Here are some examples:
“I enjoy eating foods that make my body heal and thrive.”
“I listen to my body every day and give it exactly what it needs to feel good.”
“I am powerful, strong, and confident.”
“I love myself and accept myself unconditionally.”
Acceptance
Align your expectations with reality. There will be events or circumstances beyond your control. No one said that this was going to be easy. Accept that there will be difficult situations, setbacks, or obstacles to navigate along the way.
Be thankful for the opportunity to learn and look for the silver lining; it’s there if you are willing to look for it. Be flexible and trust the process!
Reframe
You have to learn how to reframe any negative events in a more positive way while having faith that you will learn and grow stronger through adversity. Looking at things from a different perspective can help you discover new solutions and gain clarity. Remember that you can only control your reaction or response to negative circumstances.
Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears.
Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
Create Action Steps
Believe It Is Possible
If you have set realistic goals and expectations and you truly believe that you can achieve your goal, you will be willing to put in the hard work to make your dreams a reality. You have to focus your thoughts, beliefs, feelings,and energy on your goals and believe that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
Having a growth-mindset is key. You have to believe in your ability to succeed, and you have to be willing to learn and to grow through the process. Take some time to remember the last time you accomplished a goal, how you did it, and how it felt when you accomplished it. Remind yourself that you can be successful again!
Let Go Of Any Limiting Beliefs
We’ve talked about mindset, acceptance, beliefs, and actions, but let’s not forget the importance of letting go of any resistance that may be interfering with you achieving your goals. This can be fear, negative self-talk or beliefs like:
- I don’t have what it takes
- I’m not enough
- I’m not lovable
- I can’t
To work through your limiting beliefs, pick up your journal and ask yourself, “What are the beliefs I have about myself that may be holding me back from stepping into my full potential?”
Once you have a list, work through each belief and reverse or replace it with a positive statement. If you wrote, “I’m not enough” on your list, reverse it and replace it with, “I’m fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalms 139:14), or “I am enough; I have what it takes to accomplish my dreams.” When this limiting belief sneaks back into your awareness, take control of your thought and replace it with truth.
Manifesting is all about using your beliefs, mindset, and thought-patterns to attract what you want the most. In essence, we create our reality. You are responsible for your thoughts and actions.
Recognize that if you think the same thoughts over and over again, they become your belief. Your beliefs affect how you interpret your environment and how you view the world around you. You act in ways consistent with your beliefs, hence, the self-fulfilling prophecy. Gaining awareness of this reality provides you with a choice in how you go through life. Take back control of your mind and feed it truth and positivity. I’m not suggesting that you lie to yourself, but recognize that you, and you alone have the power to create the life of your dreams.
Begin with the End in Mind
Gain clarity on what you want and go after it. Start living as if you already have what you want. Be the person who already has your desired outcome.
Breathe through your lungs. Think with your mind. Feel with your heart.
The only person that can stop you from manifesting your dreams and goals is YOU!
Do you want to live your best life but feel stuck? Book a complimentary discovery session, so we can get you unstuck and help you create the forward momentum needed to create the health, life, and relationships you really want and deserve!