Manifesting Mojo

I imagine the very title of this blog is enough to get some of you rolling your eyes. Especially if like myself you are one of the many who bought into the whole vision board concept, but how many of us are currently living in that mansion? And when something does not work, you tend to get bored and give up on it. But sometimes it is worth revisiting something that has not worked to see if it could, if applied a little differently.

Manifesting is basically a spiritual approach to setting SMART Goals, which no doubt you have all come across in your working lives. But the difference is you are told to think big, to know no limits, and whilst that sounds fantastic and ultra positive it can lead to falling flat on your face, and quickly turning negative. It would be like setting a smart goal, on your first day of work experience, that by week four, you are going to be the companies CEO. Just imagine that, in four short weeks, going from the lowest in the firm to the highest ranking, what a dream! And whilst miracles do happen, the likelihood is that the time will roll round you will feel like an utter failure. Same with vision boards, the times roll round and you are still in your two up two down, and the nearest you have come to a pool, is an inflatable toddler pool in the back yard.

You might think that I am sounding negative, or that I don’t believe in manifesting, well nothing could be further from the truth. But I also believe in preparation and reality and both play a vital part in regaining your whole manifesting mojo!

To begin with it is all about mindset, where is yours? Remember you are in the driving seat when it comes to what you think, others might try to sway you, but will only succeed if you let them. So let's think positive whilst keeping it real. Nothing brings you down quicker than a reality tsunami, and the only way to avoid that is to keep aware of what your reality is. Both negative and positive thoughts will have no impact on your situation, they will only impact on your mood and your capability to respond to that situation. This is why keeping a positive mindset is so important, as it opens you up to possibilities, allows you to see solutions. A negative mindset, closes you down, “woe is me”, “why should I bother getting out of bed?”, “the world hates me!”, kind of dialogue that prevents you from finding a way forward, and ultimately will make you feel worthless.

Limits, these often come up in manifesting discussions, with the emphasis on `there are no limits, the only limits are those you impose upon yourself`. And whilst I totally agree, we do limit ourselves unnecessarily, by allowing ourselves to be crippled by self doubts, and the opinions of others, I also believe that it’s better to accept that there are always some limits that cannot be overcome. Sometimes you have to weigh up what it is that you want, against what you can change and what you can’t change. In life you most likely accept that you can’t drive at 90 miles an hour in a 20 mile zone, that there is a limit that you need to adhere to, or face the consequences. But that doesn’t mean, you will reach this zone and ditch your car, no you will keep on moving through it, navigating your way forward, working with what you can’t change. Or you might decide to reverse and take another route, knowing that it is something you can change. That is exactly the approach you need whilst manifesting, be open, be flexible, know the limitations are not going to magically vanish, and find a way to work around them. Going back to the work experience kid, there are no limits blocking them from becoming CEO, there is simply a process that will need to be followed first. Another way to think of it, is that life is a series of stepping stones. Let’s just say there are twenty stones, you wouldn’t expect yourself to jump from one directly to twenty, you would know that out-striped your limits, it wouldn’t make you a defeatist, just a realist. Far easier to accept your limitations and work on them, far easier going from one stone to the next. And that is key to making Manifestations work for you.

People often ask me about their life purpose, and I always want to respond, is living not enough? Everyday is such a miracle, with so much potential to experience joy. Not everyone needs their name in lights, and even the most famous, become has beens. Far better to live your life joyfully, loving and being loved, that is how we live on in the hearts of those who follow. That is how we leave our mark. So before you settle down to manifest, think about this, allow yourself time to think about all the lives you have touched, family, friends and so on. And you will see that you do have a life purpose. So once you are settled in a positive mindset, knowing your worth, you are ready. Think about what it is that you want to attract into your life. Then think about why you wish to do so. You might find what you think you want, isn’t exactly what you need, or at least not at this moment in time. You might be surprised to find that there is something else more fundamental that needs to be addressed first, remember the stepping stones.

And now we are going to go back to those Smart goals, remember those. You are going to base your manifestations on these.

To begin with write down specifically what it is that you want,

I want to release weight. (that’s a nice easy common example, but yours could be way more complicated and exotic). You might want to add a visual example, say a really nice slim fitted shirt that you have had your eye on. Or a castle in the Scottish Highlands. At this point there are no limits, what you can envision is yours. There is no logic holding you back, this is all part of the process of changing your life.

Now for logic, it needs to be measurable, achievable and realistic in order to be validated. And if you don’t apply logic, you will come unstuck later on.

So write “I will release 6lbs in the next four weeks”. Not “I wish too”, but “I will”, be assertive!

When setting this, remember it also needs to be achievable and realistic, hence why you need to be logical and do some research into what is possible before putting pen to paper. To write “I will release 6 stone in the next four weeks” is likely to lead to disappointment, making you feel worthless and derail your entire manifesting project.

So with that in mind, we will stick to the 6lbs in four weeks, which is a great start, , but as we need to keep it achievable, it would be better to then break it down further, and say” I will release 1 and half pounds this week” as a subheading. Now this is a smaller quantity, but it's a quicker period, bringing with it the potential of positive reinforcement. And as you reach that goal, it will fuel you on to the next, and help you to see that your overall goal is achievable. I say release instead of lose, as I feel lose, is like something you want to find again, and that reminds me of yoyo dieting. Release is letting it go, knowing you don’t need it. You might like to try meditating, envisioning those pounds as tiny birds, that you are realizing into skies beyond, telling your body you no longer require them.

And what happens if you don’t reach your goal? If a week rolls round and you haven’t released and maybe adopted more instead. Well that is the car in the 20 zone, you don’t give up. You take a look at what you did differently and set about changing what you can, whilst accepting what you can’t. Perhaps there was a celebration, won’t happen every week, you can get back on track for the next week.

Smart goals need to be kept within a time frame, you have your beginning point and in this example the four weeks is your ending point. Now you might be reading this, thinking 6lbs is nothing. Believe me, it will make a difference, maybe not as noticeable as you would like, but you will feel lighter, and more importantly you will feel motivated. When you reach your target, and maybe a little over, you will be enthusiastic about repeating the process. Perhaps you might have a little more energy, and so will consider moving the goal up a little, perhaps you will decide you like the pace, its slow and steady and will bring results. This approach can be applied to anything, not just weight. You simply have to break down your desires, into their most simplest form, and then break them down even further, into tiny wishes that you can see coming true. There is no need to jump from one to twenty. And doing it one stone at a time, you will find you have the opportunity to settle yourself, to re-access your reality, to regain balance and to find the energy to take the next leap into your future.

Love & Laughter Maria xx