Three Ways to Make Things Happen This Year

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” –Henry David Thoreau

As a child, you probably had a powerful sense of possibility. Did you dream of being an astronaut, a rock star, an Olympic athlete or a Nobel Prize winner? Big dreams feel wonderful, and the sense that anything is possible can make your spirit soar. Your dreams may have changed over the years, but your longing to make them real probably hasn’t. Take a moment to gauge where you stand. How is your dream quotient these days? How is your faith in the possible doing right now?

Whether you are ten or seventy, you need that faith to make good things happen in your life. To experience extraordinary things, you need a firm and powerful belief that those things can and will happen. When you believe that you are worthy of what you truly want, you can bring amazing occurrences into your life. Louise Hay advises having faith in the “totality of possibilities,” saying not so much that the sky’s the limit but that there is no limit! All of those good possibilities are within you to be realized. So what can you do today to begin making them real?

Here are three ways to get started:

1. Know Your Intention — The Universe will respond to your request for help in manifesting your dreams once your intent is crystal clear. So the first step is to decide what you want. One way to search your soul for your deepest yearnings is to meditate. Meditation brings you closer to your higher self, which can offer helpful guidance from a point of greater spiritual awareness and understanding. Meditation can help you let go of distractions getting in the way of your dreams and set the tone for new productive, meaningful experiences. As you meditate, you’ll start to see the connections between the tone of your thoughts and the way your life feels.  Once you have determined your intention, you can send it out to the Universe. As a spiritual teacher, I can assure you, if your intent is strong and you remain positive, the universe will answer you. Having set your intention and sent it out, then it’s time for faith. Trust that Source has heard you and will respond at the right time. Continue to live a positive life full of purpose and good will. Keep the faith that your good is out there and on its way to you. You’ll start to notice substantial changes in your life, in all areas of your experience, including finding the vision to forge a new future.

2. Visualize What You Want to See — Great scientist, Albert Einstein, believed that the single most vital quality for human beings to develop is imagination. He said, “Imagination is greater than knowledge.” Without imagination and intuition as its guiding force, life would become stagnant and inert. Visualizing goals, dreams, and outcomes is a wonderful self-healing technique. Regularly spend time resting with your eyes closed, picturing the exact outcome you desire. Open yourself to the wisdom of your higher self and to your more refined inner guidance system. I often guide workshop participants to ask their own higher wisdom for guidance and signs that they are on the right path. I encourage them to listen for internal messages regarding purpose and direction and to visualize positive or peaceful outcomes. Also, do you believe that a picture is worth a thousand words? You’ve no doubt heard stories of the power of vision boarding—the gathering of physical images that portray your goals and dreams. Creating a vision board can help concentrate and focus your thoughts on the things you want to manifest in your life. Keep images that reflect your dreams “right before your eyes” and help bring good things and experiences into your life.

3. Affirm Your Dream Here and Now — You’re probably familiar with affirmations, but have you ever considered them as a form of prayer? Most simply, affirmations are anything you say or think. The goal is to focus on making positive statements that describe the state you desire—joy, peace, prosperity, love, wellbeing. Thinking of affirmations as prayers takes them a step up energetically, because they engage the energy of Source in the present moment rather than the future. Petition, or prayer, oftentimes reflects wanting something you don’t have: “God, please bring me a better-paying job!” With affirmations, you’re saying that you already have whatever it is you want: “I love my fulfilling and rewarding job!” Picture in your mind whatever it is you are praying about—a more loving relationship, better health, more abundance—and know that it already exists, thus allowing Spirit to help you manifest it. Affirmations can be used to declare a shift into your higher-self qualities. For example, do you want the gift of healing? State that this skill is already unfolding in you: “I am able to heal.” Do you want to be an instrument of peace and love? Declare, “I am an instrument of peace and love.” At the same time, you’ll be taking action on the physical plane to bring your desire to life. Once you have your vision solidly in mind and you state your affirmation, look for the most obvious next action to manifest that goal into reality.

As the quote that’s often attributed to Goethe goes, “What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it! Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” Spirit helps those who help themselves. You can help yourself by using your power to intend, visualize, and affirm the life of your dreams!