It makes no difference what your faith is or is not; your thoughts will always, unfailingly, create your experience.
— Mike Dooley, Leveraging the Universe
Can you remember the first time you ever had a desire so strong, you willed it to come true? If so, that’s all the proof you need to believe in the power of your thoughts.
We often attribute it to happy accidents or luck, but looking back, when you see all the miracles that happened in your life, you’ll realize you have a superpower you’ve never acknowledged… it’s the power of manifestation.
I was just a young teenager when I heard the Beatles would be in San Francisco. I begged my mother for the tickets.
She thought it was an expense we couldn’t afford, but I was determined. I entered the local radio show contest with just three postcards I’d bought with babysitting money.
Yep… I won.
And the superpower didn’t stop there.
It always begins with one thing… I have a single thought, and I claim it as mine. Here’s how…
Step One: You imagine it.
Your mind is ready to go to work if you allow it to ignite!
As adults, we rarely make time to dream, and yet it’s the most important thing we did when we were young.
I remember waking up every day, feeling excited. I always knew my imagination would carry me from one adventure to the next.
I have news for you… dreaming is mandatory. Dreaming is what gives you the momentum to look for a brighter future. Dreaming is what declares, “all things are possible.”
As adults, we often call our dreaming something else.
Learn the art of brainstorming.
Successful people will tell you they make time to “brainstorm.” Brainstorming is a form of dreaming! It’s a way of challenging what is and making it become more. It expands the idea beyond the initial thought.
It’s precisely what Steve Jobs meant when he told a Disney Store executive in charge of revitalizing the sagging stores to “Dream bigger.”
Having a thought is the starting point for manifesting change in your life.
If you cooperate with your thoughts, you can’t help but bring your dreams to life.
But there’s more to this.
Step Two: You have to claim it.
Until I read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, I believed I was the only one who thought ideas were out there just waiting to be captured.
In her book, Gilbert says that our planet is inhabited by ideas, as much as they are by humans, plants, animals, and amoebas. Thoughts are swirling around us, just waiting to be claimed.
It’s the human mind that is capable of capturing the thought and bringing it to life. Once we’ve claimed it, we go to work to make it happen.
Step Three: Write about it.
This step is imperative. I know this because my journal writing (diary) began at about the same time as my dreams started coming true.
Writing your thoughts and dreams down is a plan of action. It’s momentum for your mind. It doesn’t mean you have to create an actual plan. It means you’re putting energy behind your thoughts. Once you start the process, your mind will see the opportunities. It’s up to you to take them.
There’s an additional way to place your manifestation order. In Leveraging the Universe by Mike Dooley, he says to draw put a line down the middle of a piece of paper. Write your dream at the top.
On one side of the paper, list everything you can do to further the advancement of your dream.
For example, if your vision is to find a new career as a graphic artist, list all the things you can do to work toward doing that:
- Take new action. Get more education, certifications, coaching.
- Learn from someone who does what you want to do.
- Read books and watch videos about successful graphic artists.
- Volunteer your services and expertise to get more experience and a resumé.
- Practice, practice, practice.
On the other side of the paper, list what you hope from the universe:
- Unexpectedly meet new people who can help you.
- Give you a unique idea that will bring your brand to life.
- It will provide inspiration by helping you notice miracles.
- Eliminate negative beliefs and make an easy path to the next step.
- Hones your skills by helping you feel confident and intellectually alive.
- Drop financial resources on your doorstep.
When you look at this list, you recognize how important it is that you make the Universe your partner, but you need to be ready to do your part. Start doing all the things on your side of the paper and begin to notice the little “wins.” That’s when the miracles start happening.
When opportunity knocks, pay attention. Without your fulfillment, the rest doesn’t happen.
“If you don’t do all you can, with what you have, from where you are, the Universe cannot do all it can do for you.” — Mike Dooley
Coincidence or not?
That’s for you to decide, but I think there’s enough evidence in your life to prove it. See if you’ve ever used any of these words to explain something good that happened to you:
- got lucky
- hit the jackpot
- was blessed
- heaven-sent
- fortuitous
- accidental
- opportunity
- fortunate
- happy accident
- unexpected
- unforeseen
- coincidental
- timely
- serendipitous
If any of those words resonated with you, guess what, you’re the happy recipient of manifesting your thoughts!
Thoughts become things. If you see it in your mind, you’ll have it in your hand.
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— Bob Proctor, You Were Born Rich
Think about that quote. Look at your desk now. Everything you see was once a thought: a lamp, a cup, the coffee inside the cup, a pen, a computer, an iPhone…
Bob Proctor is one of the thought leaders in this principle of manifestation, and he says the missing ingredient for most people is that they forget to attach the emotion to their vision of the dream.
When you attach emotion, it activates the brain, and every cell in your body begins to believe it’s happening.
When I dreamed of seeing The Beatles, I spent hours imagining I was right in front of the stage, screaming as they sang. I wrote about it every day in my diary. I was sure Paul was destined to be my future husband. (well… that didn’t come true, but the rest of it did!)
When I was writing, it was so real my heart raced, and tears pooled in my eyes.
I even chose an outfit to wear to the concert, a houndstooth black and white mini dress paired with knee-high lace-up boots. I’d carry a small gray purse packed with a hairbrush, toothpaste, and brush, just in case Paul asked me to join him on tour.
This fantasy went on for a month, until the glorious day when I heard my name announced on the radio station as The Beatles tickets Grand Prize Winner!
I had done it. I had manifested those tickets from a thought and a dream I captured and claimed as mine.
Throughout my life, I can document numerous instances where my conscious thoughts came true.
Step Four: Ready to launch.
Consider your thoughts as a demand to the universe. Here’s an example of how this works. You realize that you need a proper mic for starting your new podcast. You do the research and order the mic from Amazon Prime; you’re pretty sure that once you press “purchase,” your order will arrive in two days.
Meanwhile, you continue to work on other elements necessary for your podcast so that when the mic arrives, you’re ready to record.
You don’t continue to worry that it won’t arrive, even though that could happen. You’re too busy pursuing the dream by doing the very next step to fulfill your intention of podcasting your message to the world.
Don’t Stop!
An essential key to manifesting your dream is not to stop! Set the intention to take steps every day to make it happen. Keep going.
Everything works out in the end. If it looks like things aren’t working out, it’s not the end.
— David Norris, The Power of Good, With a Capital G
While you’re taking steps, remember to project yourself into the future with your dream having already happened. Picture it, feel it, make it real in your mind.
Think about reading a story. You start seeing pictures in your mind and live the events you’re reading.
Here’s an example of breathing life into your thoughts.
Someday I want to….. You know you’ve said it over and over. We all have.
Let’s say you want to become a writer. It’s a dream you’ve had forever. You’ve said, “Someday I want to write,” but never made it a priority. Suddenly you have the gift of time because we’re faced with mandatory social distancing and sheltering in place (terms we will now live with forever).
Begin with one word, one sentence, one paragraph.
Now close your eyes and imagine yourself holding your published book in your hands. Then picture your book in the hands of your reader. They have a smile on their face. Your words have helped them, inspired them, and given them a solution to their problem.
As a writer, you’ve translated your thoughts into words and now have the power to become a gift to others, to make a difference in other people’s lives. When you publish that book or write a blog, it’s everywhere! You never know who will read it.
Your job is to continue to write and publish it. Then, you can take the very next step to promote it. The universe does the rest…. It finds readers who will benefit from reading your book.
Long ago, I had a thought to write a book for my newborn daughter, Julianne. She came into this world with a facial defect, a cleft.
She would need many surgeries to correct her face, but she would go through those surgeries during the early school years of her life.
I knew children often mock and tease what they don’t understand. I had been teased as a young girl because of my red hair and freckles, and it felt awful. My self-esteem suffered.
I didn’t want my daughter to go through the suffering of teasing or bullying. I asked myself, what could I do for her to help her through those difficult early years?
I had a thought to give my daughter a story, a fairy tale that would nurture her self-esteem. Fairy tales have a long history of using stories to make real-life problems not so scary. They bring a sense of triumph over evil… the good always wins.
I loved writing, and once I claimed the mission as mine, I started the book.
I could have easily created a little fairy tale, printing it on colorful construction paper, and read it to Julianne nightly.
Instead, I chose to go big. I found a publisher, and the book came out before she started kindergarten.
On that very first day of school, Julianne walked in as the leading character of her very own fairy tale.
By that time, Julianne and I were a team in raising awareness about children with special needs. We had already been on national tv, NBC and Fox News, The Today Show, LA’s Morning Show, and numerous radio shows and newspapers.
The published book opened doors I never imagined. It went on to be in hospitals and clinics, and was the first book of its kind in the new Barnes and Noble section for “Children with Special Needs.”
This is when you see how far-reaching your dreams really are.
All of my skills and talents came together to give this gift to my daughter, and the impact was greater than I ever imagined.
I often think of Oprah saying, “I never could have dreamed big enough to have imagined all that I am today.” She is the perfect example of manifestation and putting a call out to the universe to make it happen.
My thoughts planted the seed for this book a long time ago.
With this first book, all past experiences and talents suddenly made sense!
I loved children’s fairy tales because I was a voracious reader as a young child.
I knew how to write because I was obsessed with my diary when I was a young teen. As an adult, I worked with my husband, a professional writer, on his television scripts. I took English and Literature courses in college, and I studied writing in my 30’s with a private teacher.
I was comfortable on a stage because after seeing the Beatles live in San Francisco, it inspired me to join a small musical group in my hometown. From there, I auditioned in New York to join the national cast that traveled the world… and I was just 16.
Being a cast member often meant being interviewed and speaking in front of an audience.
I knew how to work in front of cameras because I took acting classes in my 20’s and 30’s, and I had parts in television series and movies.
I learned how to do publicity because I was in the entertainment business.
And this story doesn’t have an end yet. Every day I am learning that the past opens the door to new experiences.
Everything begins as a single thought.
Do you see how all of these things began as a thought? But that thought was the first in a line of dominoes.
If you consider yourself a creative person, you’re already a step ahead. If you don’t, then consider this… all people are born creative. Learn to believe that your ideas can expand by trying out a single thought.
If you dream of going to Paris, start planning the trip by researching what you want to visit, where you want to stay, and who you want to go with! Put money in a Paris Fund every week, even the tiniest amount. In your mind, see yourself having a latté at an outdoor cafe in the Montremarte district.
If you dream of owning a yoga studio, get yourself a light kit and camera set up and begin giving classes online. Research commercial space where you’d like your studio to be, write a business plan, start saving money or researching small business loans. Devote time to seeing yourself in your studio, exactly as you want it, serene, beautiful, inspiring.
Creativity happens when you claim that thought as yours to fulfill. Your thought is put in motion when you activate it by taking the very next step… and the next.
Remember that successful action is cumulative in its results.
— Wallace Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich
Wattles urges us to form a clear mental picture and do every day all that you can do to fulfill your destiny.
He says to “contemplate your vision and increase your faith and purpose; and by all means, in times of doubt and indecision, cultivate gratitude.”
Step Five: Look for the purpose.
Finding purpose in your dream is one of the vital steps in bringing your dreams to life. You have to find the reason, the purpose of your thought.
For me, writing Julianne’s book sifted down to one question… how can I help her adjust to life with having a visible birth defect?
The rest came at me like a waterfall.
Often, people are uncomfortable, even embarrassed of their dreams. They silently ask, why should I have a successful business? Why do I deserve the Tesla? Why am I deserving of a wealthy life?
You are worthy because the dream is yours. No one else claimed it for you, and no one else can fulfill a similar dream exactly the way you do. You and your story are unique. My book was a perfect example. I was given the dream to fulfill because of my daughter.
Look for the purpose guiding you, and your ideas will expand.
You might not even know the fullest extent of your thought’s impact until later in life when you have a chance to look back… and suddenly, it all fits together.
All of our dreams and life experiences come together as a symphony. One note doesn’t stand alone… they all fit together to create a great masterpiece…
… your life story.
Get started on your next dream today… it’s out there, just waiting for you to capture!
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Previously Published on Medium
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