Why is manifesting your dreams important from a mental health standpoint?
A very powerful way to cope with depression and anxiety is to have goals, a purpose in life, and passion. Checking achievable tasks off your list and manifesting your dreams may be one of the most impactful ways to boost your mental health.
A friend of mine recently accomplished something major she had dreamed of for years. I asked her what kind of magic she cooked up to make this nearly impossible goal come to life for her. She said that she simply manifested it and over time it happened. That she set goals and worked on them regularly and that she eventually made it happen.
Knowing that achieving dreams is a bit more complicated than that, I decided to do a deep dive on how to manifest. Here are the things I have learned in my own life from this process. I organized this information in a stepwise fashion so you can easily get started on this "prescription" to manifest daily.
Ten Steps to Achieving your Dreams
1. You can't manifest anything until you clearly know what you want. So if you have a general idea, get very specific about the details. And if you have no ideas and need inspiration to create your dream life, this exercise is a great way to start anyway. So full steam ahead! Set aside a few hours to begin envisioning your future. Start by stream of thought journaling from the prompt, "In five years I want to be…" or something like that. Write every single word that pops into your mind no matter how silly. Keep writing until you feel empty. Like it is all out. For more on stream of thought journaling check out my blog post below specifically about that. The idea is to get your mind thinking on this topic and allow your conscious and unconscious thoughts to reveal themselves. It does not have to be all words. Draw pictures as you write. Use lined or drawing paper and colored pencils or markers. You can certainly do a digital journal and insert photos into the document. But the colors and textures of actually writing and drawing these on paper are the first tangible manifestations of your dreams. So paper may be more impactful for you. From the start you are already creating your dreams in a way that you can see, smell, and feel. Engaging your senses is a great way to manifest greater.
2. Once you have a clear and complete picture of what you want to manifest in your life, turn the page in your notebook or drawing pad and write and draw how to get there. Start at the end and reverse engineer your dream. For example if you are an artist and your dream is to own a gallery, create a roadmap to get there. Imagine it is your opening night. Start there and work backwards. If you have trouble with this, ask "The Magic Answer Box"! In other words, do an internet search. You can find instructions for just about everything online. A very simple reverse road map might be something like:
-Clean and close up after opening night
-Network with other artists at the event
-Manage staff and catering
-Welcome attendees
-Finishing touches before event
-Event prep day of
-Publicize opening event and gallery in general
-Hire staff and vendors e.g. caterer for opening night exhibition
-Display my art
-Prepare/set up gallery
-Design, renovate, decorate gallery
-Get keys
-Rent space
-Raise capital for gallery
-Create my art
Obviously there will be a lot more that needs to be done and details to add, but beginning to write this list out and refining it over time gives you a very clear road map / checklist to follow. And having the steps set out allows you to begin focusing on the first steps, and to have an eye on what else needs to be done. This also helps you to get a comfort level with what may seem like an overwhelming project. Working on your art and looking up space to lease seems a lot more doable than "open a gallery". But each step leads to the next. And you should transfer this list into a spreadsheet or document, and reverse the order so that you can plan out your project and get to work.
3. Many people say we should envision what we dream of and it will simply come to us. While this might be part of the process of manifesting, what you really need to envision are all of the hard things, the work part of achieving your dreams. Not just the end goal and the success. Olympians do this because it works. I can credit this tip to Mel Robbins because she discussed just this on her podcast on manifesting. So be sure to see my resource page for a link to her sit. Anyway, back to our artist example. She should not be envisioning her opening night at the gallery! She should be more focused
on envisioning the work of creating her art, looking for a space, raising the funds, signing a lease and the business side of this project, getting insurance, working on the space to make it beautiful, hanging her art up, adjusting the lighting,
dealing well with challenges with employees, contractors, vendors, and customers, creating an advertising strategy and executing it, and so on. These are the intentions you need to put out into the multiverse. And we should make envisioning these steps to our dreams every day part of our habits. You can do this any time, in the shower every day or while brushing your teeth. At least once almost every day run down your checklist that you made in step #2. What you are doing is programming your brain with this code. Doing this gets energy building for you to do the work of achieving your dreams. If you review your unmet tasks on your check-list daily, you will be set up to succeed. And you will be well on your way to your end goals.
4. Spread the news! Talk to friends, family, community members about your goals and mention parts of the work you have and will be doing to get there. By putting your intentions out there, you are again raising positive energy about your dreams. This is an important part of manifesting because positive energy is very motivating as well as you will have a desire to start checking some more boxes on your checklist if you know your friends and family are rooting for you. Next time you see them they may ask how your plan is going. Having this community support and encouragement is very helpful.
5. Schedule time regularly to work on your tasks and goals. Don't sit back and expect to just squeeze these
into your free time. Most of us have little or none of that! So if that is your plan, you may be setting yourself up to fail. Even if you can only set aside 1 hr a week, you will be making forward progress. Put this on your calendar and stick to it.
6. Don't fly blind. Knowing how to manage big projects is actually a whole process itself. Everyone should learn the basics about project management. When you think about it, life is one big project made up of smaller projects and so on. And guess what? You have already done many of the steps of project management in the steps above! And more are below. Some people find that using project management applications or software is very helpful too. So there are many resources out there to help. Do an internet search on “project management” and make sure you understand the basics. This is particularly important if you will be working with other people; staff, vendors, contractors, etc.
7. Learning how to create and work on appropriate and effective goals is a huge part of the process. There is a system called SMART Goals that works very well. This system is a format for goals so that they are; specific, measurable, achievable, reasonable, and time based.
>S_pecific; means -not this "I want to lose weight." but that "I want to lose 20lbs in 6 months by eating a salad and walking 3 miles every day." See how the steps and tasks are specified?
>M_easurable; make sure you can measure your success so you can have a way to know you are reaching your goals. Include as many numbers and measurements as possible in your goal statement. Check your progress regularly to be sure you are making forward progress.
>A_chievable and R_easonable; Losing 10lbs in a weekend is highly unlikely and definitely unhealthy. But 10lbs in 8 weeks is achievable and reasonable. Don't set yourself up for failure by creating impossible goals. Impossible goals lead to failure almost every time. Possible goals lead to the greatest successes.
>T_ime based; Deadlines are important and help us keep making forward progress. Otherwise we may just stagnate and stop working towards our goals without setting time frames for completion and holding ourselves to them. Review your plans and goals at least once a week.
8. Flip your fears and doubts. Thinking of these can often derail even the most determined dreamer. So
have a running list on your cell phone. You always have it with you so it's a handy tool to use for this. Every time you have a fear or doubt pop into your mind, write it down. Then write a statement that reframes that fear or doubt. For example if you have the fear that you will fail because you don't have experience write that down. "I am going to fail because I don't have experience." Now rewrite that statement to be positive and motivating. "I am learning and gaining experience every day. I am taking the steps, checking the boxes, and working every day to achieve my goals. I cannot fail because I am already succeeding." Delete the original fearful, doubtful statement. Focusing on these is very demotivating and sets you up for failure. So wipe that negative stuff right out and stay focused on positive thoughts. Read through your list every day to reprogram your mind to erase these fears and doubts so they don't derail you. You can do this at the same time that you review your checklist every day.
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9. Along the same line, regularly consider what barriers, challenges and risks may be ahead. For instance if you know that your rent budget for your gallery is pretty small, and this might limit your options, consider strategies to overcome this challenge. Maybe you could share a space, or consider a different city that has lower rents, investigate alternative spaces like a gallery in a restaurant you partner with to start off. Every challenge has a solution. So be proactive and anticipate what might stop you from reaching your goals before they happen. And have a solution at the ready when and if they do.
10. Find at least 3 people who have succeeded at similar achievements and learn about them and their successes and challenges. If possible, meet with them and get their advice. Not only can you learn a lot, you are also networking and raising good positive energy about your dreams.
So if you find yourself in despair, with no goals and focus, or you can’t get started on reaching your dreams, go through the 10 steps above. Most people who do will find that their depression and anxiety symptoms have improved. They will also find that they get the things they want in life because they have a purpose and a plan. Taking actions, interacting with others and achieving goals are great depression and anxiety busters. You feel lighter, brighter, happier, more positive, peaceful, and more in control once you find your purpose. And getting halfway there and hitting a hard stop, or achieving your dreams isn't the end. This is an ongoing fluid process. Life is constantly changing and you are getting better and better every day at adapting to change and managing the stress of hitting the reset button. Just go back to the start and begin again. I believe in YOU!
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