“I hate my life.” “I hate my job.” “I hate _________.” Have you ever caught yourself thinking and feeling this way? Feeling trapped, or suffocated by circumstances? I think we all have. The good news: You can change things. You're not a victim in this life. You have choices.
The topic today is manifesting. It's about bringing into your reality the things you want, and increasing your joy. We’re not talking hocus pocus, or pipe dreams. It's real. In my own life, I've successfully manifested a lot of things, new body (I’ve lost 75 pounds!), new friends, new career, and new passions. You can, too!
The most important part of manifesting is coming up with and
knowing the answer to this question: "What do I want?" If you're like I was, I'm sure you can come up with a litany of "here’s what I DON'T want..." That's not the question. What DO you want? Focus on the positive! What you focus on expands. When you focus on what you don't want, you get more of what you don't want. Think, rather, about what you do want. Delineate what you want, inside and out, and make sure it's realistic, makes sense and fits your life. Here's how to create a well-formed goal or outcome in your mind, or on paper.
So, you're thinking about what you want: state it in the positive. The next step is to set the context. Be very specific! Where do you want this goal, when and with whom? Think about these things as well: Is it realistic? Is it attainable? "I want to lose 40 pounds by next Saturday." Not realistic! It reminds me of the magic 8 ball message: "wish for something possible." It has to be physically possible. Perhaps change it to 40 pounds within the next 8 months; that's doable.
Ask yourself: Is this something I can do by myself, start by myself? We only control ourselves, our behavior, our feelings, we can't control others. "I want Mary Jane to fall in love with me." That's not a well-formed goal. What you can wish for, instead, is that you yourself develop and enhance your own positive attributes that would attract someone like Mary Jane.
Think about the goal in complete sensory terms. How will you know you've gotten it? What will it look like? What will you feel inside your body? What will you hear? Smell? Taste? Get every sense involved!
Think about how the desired outcome may change your life, and whether those are positive changes for all aspects of your life. How will it affect your family and your friends, your health, your career, your spiritual beliefs, everything? How does it fit? You may want a promotion in your job, but what if that would entail much more time spent working and traveling, and less time for your family. How do you feel about that? Is it worth what it will take to get it? Think about ecology, as it's called, as you define your outcome.
Ok, now you have an answer to "What do I want?" You have a positive, contextualized, self-propelling, sensory-based, ecological goal. You've accomplished more than half the battle!! Now we’ll talk about what specifically you can do with this goal to bring it into your world as reality. Here comes the fun part.
We play "let's pretend!" Activate all your senses. Go inside your mind and imagine or fantasize that you have already manifested the goal. It's yours! What is your life like now? How does it look? How does it feel? How does it taste? What do you hear? What's going on? Get inside that context you created. Most importantly, attach a strong feeling of satisfaction to having your goal. I like to play this James Brown song in my mind: "I feel good! I knew that I would, now!" Create a knowing, a certainty, that what you want is a done deal. I throw in some gratitude, as well.
Now, think about how you got there. Notice any intermediate steps you might have taken to accomplish the goal, and attach a powerful feeling of desire to them. Feel the satisfaction as you move closer to the goal, step by step, and feel a growing sense of completion. Make this exercise in imagination really intense, fully blooming, make it potent! The better you can create a compelling fantasy here, the more importance your unconscious mind will attach to accomplishing the goal.
Now, let go and trust. And watch (in varying degrees of amazement) as things materialize for you. Your unconscious mind will look for opportunities, little things in everyday life, which will advance you towards your goal. When you notice these little positive nudges from the universe occurring, go with them! Go with the flow, towards achieving what you want.
Put a written list of your goal or goals where you will see
it, and spend time every day looking at it. When you review it, notice the progress being made on each one, and activate that gratitude again! Be appreciative. Every few weeks, you lather, rinse, and repeat: Re-do the imagination and desire process. You can modify the goals at any time and make any changes you desire as you’re moving forward.
Life is all about change. Change is good! Change is fun, especially when it's a positive change you have well-delineated and desire intensely, and have manifested into your life. Go for it!!
Connie Brannan is a Neuro-Linguistic Hypnotherapist and Licensed Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming™, certified Stage Hypnotist, and co-creator of Mindworks Hypnosis, http://www.mindworkshypnosis.net/about_us.html, a therapy practice in the Seattle, Washington, area. She is a published author and creator of several self-help audio hypnosis products, a speaker and a teacher. She is a member in good standing of professional organizations including the National Guild of Hypnotists, the International Hypnosis Association, and the Society of Neuro-Linguistic Programming™.