Find a Penny, Pick it Up

Day 36

“Act as if what you intend to manifest in life is already a reality. Eliminate thoughts of conditions, limitations, or the possibility of it not manifesting. If left undisturbed in your mind and in the mind of intention simultaneously, it will germinate in the physical world.”

– Wayne Dyer

I caught up on a couple of the episodes of the new season of The Blacklist last night. It’s one of those shows that I enjoy once I start watching, but I have to be in the mood to watch it. The main character, Raymond Reddington, said something that caught my attention; “I’ve always believed luck to be a function of intent.” I started thinking about what that means. To me, it means that when you set an intention, the universe conspires to make it happen. To us, it might look like luck, but in reality, it’s the law of attraction at work. Whether that intention is to be lucky or for something specific, you will manifest your desire.

There are as many different views on how to set intentions as there are people who have written or thought about it. That’s really good news. It means that there’s no real right way to set your intentions. I believe that whatever feels right for you is the right way. And that’s a good rule for everything in life too.

I’ve used various methods to set intentions – I’ve followed a set of defined steps, I’ve thought of something in the spur of the moment and expected an instant result, I’ve created vision boards, and I’ve done practical daily exercises suggested by various authors.

Here’s my guide to setting & manifesting intentions:

Step 1 – Know What You Want

If you don’t know what you want, you won’t get it. Most people say that you have to be specific, and I agree, if you want a specific outcome. However, you can state an intention to feel a certain way, like “I am full of joy and happiness all the time.”

I stated an intention to be positive for 365 days, and I have no specific desired outcome, other than to see everything in a positive light, so that’s what I’m manifesting.

Step 2 – State Your Intention in the Present

There is no past or future in your subconscious mind, it is only aware of the now. When you think about something from the past, you bring it into your conscious awareness, which only exists in the present.

If you state your intention in the future, it will stay in the future. For example, if you say “I want to be rich”, you will manifest a desire to be rich, but if you want to manifest financial abundance now, state it in the present; “I am rich”.

Intentions starting with “I am” are most powerful. It is a statement to the universe of who you are, and that means you are living in the state being your desire.

Step 3 – Focus on the Desired Outcome

State your intention of what you want, not of what you don’t want. For example, if you want to lose weight, say “I am at my ideal weight”, because if you say you want to lose weight, the universe will give you more weight.

The universe does not judge, so it will ignore the “not” or negative part of your statement and just return the object as your desire. In this case, saying “lose” will also create more instead of less weight, loss implies that you want it back. So if you tell the universe to lose something, it will do everything it can to find it! I’m sure you don’t want to find those extra pounds again after you release them. 😉

Step 4 – Make Your Intention Believable

If you do not believe that your desire is attainable, you will be setting yourself up to create blocks to receiving. If you don’t believe it, instead of manifesting it, you will be sending a message to the universe that you don’t believe you have it, and that’s what you’ll get.

There is no limit to how big your intention can be. For example, if you believe that a billion dollars is attainable, then you can state an intention accordingly. However, if the most you believe is possible for you at this time is $50,000, start there and work your way up.

Step 5 – Ask for the Best Possible Outcome

End your intention with “I accept this or something better, for the highest good of myself and everyone else involved.”

This gives the universe the latitude to give you something even better than you imagined, and it usually does! Asking for the good of others is showing gratitude, which always attracts good back to you.

Step 6 – Expect, Accept & Release

Once you’ve set your intention, you must live in the state of having already received. You can accomplish this through visualization. Once you feel like you have received, and you are living in the desired state in your mind, release your intention to the universe and let it go.

If you stay focused on it, and wonder where it is and why it hasn’t manifested, you will be undoing all of your work and sending the universe the message that you are in a state of lack.

Let go, and have faith that the universe will respond.

Step 7 – Enjoy the Process

Finally, make it fun, play a game with it. Don’t take it too seriously, otherwise you will be coming from a state of lack, and you must be coming from a state of abundance, of having received, in order to manifest your desires.

Try it out tomorrow with something simple like finding a coin while you’re out, or receiving a call from a specific person, or if you’re feeling really adventurous, state an intention for how you will feel after the Super Bowl is over on Sunday.

You can’t state an intention for anyone else, so you can’t use the law of attraction directly to manifest a win for your team, but you can state an intention of how you want to feel, and if that happens to coincide with the feeling you’d have if your team won on Sunday, well that isn’t that a nice little perk? Good Luck!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!