Leveling Up
The Truth About Getting What You Want
“Welcome to the morning. Welcome to my day. Yes, I’m the one responsible; I made it just this way” - John Denver
I’ve spent (what some would consider) an absurd amount of time manifesting. Daily affirmations, vision boards, picturing my desired future mid-orgasm–you name it, I’ve tried it–but there are a number of steps in the casting of a spell that the manifestation community keeps hidden behind paywalls.
I don’t say this to sound grim, but the path to self actualization isn’t quite as hunky-dory as the spiritual industry would like you to imagine. Obviously, the results are often incredibly gratifying, but the alignment path requires consistent dedication, honesty with oneself, an openness to regeneration, and the willingness to let go.
Be Careful What You Wish For
As the storybook saying warns, not all wishes are worth their price. Choosing which trail to hike requires self awareness and a healthy connection to one’s intuition. You are the first to traverse this life path; there is no map to guide you. So how do we know we’re walking in the right direction?
Within all of us lies an inner compass. Some are born with a demanding mass that beeps and honks when it is pointing north. Others contain a tiny ticking trinket whose guidance can be more easily drowned out by the sound of thoughts and external influences. These spiritual conductors are not fixed; one can install louder alarm bells and gain a great sense of direction through the silencing of thoughts and reconnection with the body.
I used to have a nearly undetectable compass. Every choice I made relied on either analysis or emotion, yet none of my plans were fruitful. I developed a sense for my own intuition when I began meditating and practicing kundalini yoga. Favoring messages from my body over structured plans and fleeting emotions has brought me closer to my goals, although not without fear and loss. I’ve found the most abundant plans don’t make much logical sense, are uncomfortable, and yet excite my spirit.
Pick A Single Vision
Every trail has off-shoots that take us down unnecessary but sometimes useful paths. I call these detours. Often these detours teach us useful lessons to help us on the main trail–how to cross an upcoming river or which animals may be lurking–but taking every side quest can prevent us from reaching our goal in a timely manner. Mortality demands us to stay focused in the direction the compass points us.
This doesn’t mean that the path we envisioned will be the exact path that gets us to the top of the mountain. The universe often tricks us into thinking the actual path may be a side quest if it doesn’t look as we had imagined. Coming back to that inner compass grounds us in the trust that we are still walking in the right direction. If it feels right, it is right.
The goal is to pick vision that excites you over and over again, one that feels so correct that when you imagine yourself in it your ability to distinguish fantasy from reality is limitted. It can be mundane: doing the dishes in your future home, sitting in a meeting with your desired employer, a number on a bank statement. Once the vision is chosen, then you must trust completely in the compass, maybe even forget about the goal entirely.
Don’t Dream It, Be It
Often we see people being changed by life accidentally; a sudden loss or event occurs, and they are changed by it. These people are falling through life, allowing life to happen to them, not through them. All of us will experience tragedy or ecstasy that may motivate us to change, but only some will be the source of change themselves.
Every step the traveler takes towards the mountain prepares the body to reach the top. The taller the mountain, the more training required. To manifest is to place a wager on the future self, but in order to evolve into the version of oneself that lives within the vision, one must slowly start behaving like them.
When I’m exploring the future self I’d like to step into, I often find myself asking, “if I were already her, what would I be doing right now?” This question usually pops up when I’m engaging in a bad habit (social media scrolling, binge eating, avoiding a menial task, etc.); answering it in full honesty often shifts my habit, not out of guilt, but motivation. I reattach to the vision I’ve been manifesting and become re-excited to work towards it.
I recommend making these behavioral changes in small increments. Long term expansion requires stability and consistency. I’ve tried changing everything at once, but it always becomes a juggling act. As the saying goes, “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”
You Can’t Take Everything With You
The adventurer must be discerning about what is essential to their voyage. There are the necessities–shelter, tools, a means of catching food–which cannot be replaced once the long trek begins. There are also sentimental items that assure the adventurer’s emotional stability, like a family photo or a lucky rabbit's foot. These items have their purpose, but hoarding too many can create a heavy load, ultimately hindering the voyager on their journey. If they over pack, they may find themselves leaving some items along the trail mid-hike.
It is the adventurer’s willingness to let go of what can no longer be carried that assures the longevity of their journey. It is the wisdom to distinguish what is desired from what is imperative that makes for a successful survivalist. You only have so many pockets in your backpack. What will you release to make space for something new?
This is where the grief comes in. Often manifesters are caught off guard by the losses they experience in exchange for the gains. This is why picking the vision is so important. Choosing a path that is superficial may result in unnecessary and heartbreaking losses; paths reliant on vanity often don’t manifest as they were originally invisioned due to their misalignment with the inner compass.
Reaching Completion
When the caterpillar enters the chrysalis, its body dissolves into a clump of cells that reformulate into the butterfly. Similarly, when one trains to climb great heights, fat sheds away and muscle builds.
No matter which path the adventurer traverses, the losses usually come first, but as their vision of the future begins to actualize, losses and gains are rapidly delivered making them indistinguishable. Tragedy and fortune appear simultaneously, and it’s easy for the manifester to become overwhelmed. Keep going. Soon, any remaining trace of the old self will be shed and you will have embodied the new self entirely.
Once you find yourself living within the vision you had manifested, it may come as a surprise. It may be overwhelming to realize you were once quieter, or lonelier, or poorer. If you’ve chosen your path wisely, you may find that embodying this new version of yourself comes easily. There is no desire to revert back to old habits or engage in past relationships. The life you have lived becomes the life you have created.