The Truth About Manifesting

Yesterday Instagram served me up an ad with a video from a coach I don't follow. It was full of the sort of advice that gives the coaching industry a bad name. People flaunting their wealthy lifestyles with private planes, islands, and rich and famous friends is the norm. They're often telling us that all we have to do is get in the right mindset, create a vision board and sit back and watch whatever we want to arrive as if by magic. They promise that if we buy whatever they're selling, it'll help us get there.

Now I'm a fan of manifesting the people, things, and experiences of our dreams. But I'd like to deconstruct manifesting as I've experienced it (and seen clients and friends experience it as well) into steps that anyone can follow. For illustration, I'll use my real-world experience of moving from Chicago to California as a case study.

Step 1: Think of something you want to experience or have - something you're dreaming of that still feels far away; meeting a soul mate, having a strong, healthy body, finding a dream job, buying a new home in your happy place, etc. In my example, the dream was moving from Chicago to California.

Step 2: Write whatever dreams you have down and review them daily. And having a visual representation helps; create a vision board, update an image on the home screen of your computer or phone, place an item that represents the dream on your desk or bedside, etc. These words and images will serve as a constant reminder to you. I had a vision board with some California pictures on it I could see from my home office desk.

Step 3: Then think of all the potential steps it would take for whatever you're dreaming of to come to fruition. If you want to buy your first home, one step would be to save for a downpayment. If you want to have a strong, healthy body one step would be to begin to work out with weights, etc. For me, wanting to sell my condo and move to California, the steps included prepping my condo for sale, finding a realtor I trusted, setting the sales price, packing, selecting a moving company, and finding a new place to live in California, etc.

Step 4: Then, take the first step in the list of steps you've identified. For instance, finding a realtor I trusted was important, so my first baby step was to send an email to friends and neighbors asking for recommendations.

Step 5: Lastly, keep taking additional steps and don't give up until whatever your dreaming of happens. This was my approach and it worked.

And as I've seen over and over again, when we take steps to go after our dreams, the universe will conspire to assist you. No purchase required!

While we're on the subject of manifesting, if you haven't already seen We Crashed on Apple TV, I highly recommend you check it out. It's based on the true story of the rise and fall of WeWork. Manifesting (sadly done at the expense of others) plays a recurring theme. The series is excellent!