New year resolutions or how I manifested my dream job, friends and flat
To many, the beginning of January is the perfect time to turn a new page, a fresh start to set new goals, or finally hit that gym you’ve been talking about since November. Yet, I find it strange that society pushes us to be energetic and motivated in a midst of the most physically and mentally frustrating month (at least, in Europe). The days are long, dark and cold. The general post-festive vibe is low key and no one wants to do anything. You got the idea.
So instead of sharing my resolutions for this year, I’d like to shout out to an activity called visualisation/ manifestation, that in my opinion doesn’t receive enough credits.
Visualisation is about living into the new reality now, like it’s already happening, as if you already have what you want and are blissed out. Visualisation can come in many shapes, whether it’s through vision boards, meditating, journaling or affirmations. The daily practice of visualising your goals as already complete can rapidly accelerate your achievement of those ambitions. When done regularly as a daily practice, visualisation becomes second-nature and it gets easier to craft effective visual representations.
“Thoughts create things” — Mike Dooley, Manifesting Change.
How has visualisation helped me to manifest my dream job, friends and a flat
In my second year of university, I was blessed to enrol on the positive psychology class. That is where I first heard of visualisation and the power it possesses.
In psychology, visualisation is described as the process of creating a visual image in one’s mind or mentally rehearsing a planned movement in order to learn skills or enhance performance.
There are a few reasons why millennials and particularly Gen Z talks about this mysterious practice.
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Why does it work?
· It activates your creative subconscious which will start generating creative ideas to achieve your goal.
· It programs your brain to more readily perceive and recognize the resources you will need to achieve your dreams.
· It activates the law of attraction, thereby drawing into your life the people, resources, and circumstances you will need to achieve your goals.
· It builds your internal motivation to take the necessary actions to achieve your dreams.
How does it work?
Visualisation is really quite simple. You close your eyes and imagine — in as vivid detail as you can — what you would be looking at if the dream you have were already realized. And that’s all.
You do this by visualizing what it is you want and feeling into what it’s like to have it. How do you feel in your physical body, cognitively, emotionally, and energetically? For instance, if I’m envisioning myself on the shores of Bali, laying on the beach and soaking all the sun in, I’m going to feel relaxed, calm, content and grateful.
If it all sounds a bit like Hogwarts to you, you are not alone. I thought it myself, how imagining your dream future in your room can help me to get there? Strange thing, it can. And it did.
Back in the same psychology class in 2019, my lecturer introduced us to an exercise to practice for our goal-setting class.
The exercise
Start by sitting with your back straight and breathing mindfully. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Once you feel calm and grounded, stand up in a room with some space for you to walk. All you need to do is walk across the room (allow it at least a few metres). The hook is that whilst you’ll be slowly moving across the room, you’ll be vividly (!!!) picturing every detail of your wanted future as if it was happening right here right now. Try to be as specific and detailed as possible. In your head, look around yourself. What do you see? How do people view you? What emotions do you feel? Can you smell anything? The more precise you’ll be, the stronger the effect of this exercise will be.
During the 5 minutes of me being in absolute zen of my future goals, I’ve pictured or rather saw very clearly in my head my dream career (paying extra attention to details, such as what people culture I want to work in, what my day-to-day tasks would look like, what relationship would I have with my colleagues, how I’d be treated by my workmates, etc.). Whilst imagining every detail with my eyes closed, I could feel my whole body filling up with a warm sensation and gratitude, happiness that came from picturing my dream life as if it was happening right here, right now. After the exercise, I remained super motivated and driven to act towards those goals, to make them happen. As with any goal-setting exercise, one must remember, you need to take action to see the results. Yet, having done the visualization exercise have helped me to stay motivated and content for longer which resulted in me pursuing my goals with more perseverance and purpose than ever before.
Start small
Practice makes it perfect. A unique truth that everyone knows. As I mentioned in the beginning, visualization comes in different shapes and sizes. For some people make a vision board or writing down their dreams and ambitions for the upcoming month, quarter or year in a journal might be the best way to organise thoughts. For others, practising meditation with a particular focus on affirmations and gratitude will be effective practice they’ll decide to stick to. There is no right or wrong way to manifest your future. I encourage you to start and try it yourself.
Good luck fellow dreamers!
J. Canfield (2022). Visualization Techniques to Affirm Your Desired Outcomes: A Step-by-Step Guide. https://www.jackcanfield.com/blog/visualize-and-affirm-your-desired-outcomes-a-step-by-step-guide/.
L. di Franco (2019). Visualization; The Ultimate How-To Guide for Manifesting in 2020. https://lauradifranco.medium.com/visualization-the-ultimate-how-to-guide-for-manifesting-in-2020-23cef67fcf45.