Set Intentions to Manifest Your Best Life

The saying goes, “What you focus on expands.”

Christine S., MPP
ILLUMINATION
4 min readJun 22, 2020

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Photo by Stephanie Harvey on Unsplash

Most people allow things to happen to them. But when you set intentions, you activate your senses and start to make your imagination a reality. This happens because you open your mind to the possibility of achieving your wildest dreams. In doing so, you reduce the probability that what happens in your life will be left to chance.

Your Intention Is Your Guide

It’s not a new technique. Rhonda Byrde wrote about the power of the mind and visualization in the book, “The Secret”.

It’s a widely held belief that visualization is one of the keys to setting intentions and manifesting a desired reality. Many of the greats of our time are well-known for visualizing and manifesting their dreams.

“Positively and negatively, you attract what you feel, you attract who you are, you attract what you attract.”

— Denzel Washington

Kobe Bryant was known to go into a zone and visualize every part of his game. From his practice and training, to his execution. He perfected the craft of visualization, and it’s clear that he lived a life true to his intentions.

Jim Carey has given many quotable speeches, but he’s also known for practicing visualization techniques. He credits his success to maintaining his belief in himself and his talents, to visualizing his success, and to his work with the Wayans Brothers.

The Step Beyond Visualization

These, plus countless other individuals have mastered the practice of manifestation. But there’s more to manifesting your dream life than just visualization. It starts with knowing what you want to do and who you want to be, then setting your mind on believing it will happen.

Intention setting always operates best with the triad: body, mind, and spirit. According to Kristine Gadberry, intention setting is not only about manifesting tangible things. It’s also about guiding our thoughts and energies towards being.

Before becoming a full-time entrepreneur, KG worked in cyber-security for 16 years. She started her career with the intention of helping people use technology safely. But when she was diagnosed with Lupus in 2015, she decided to make her dream of owning a magic shop her reality.

KG now owns The Foxes Den, a metaphysical shop based in New Mexico. It’s a virtual, “no judgment”, educational space — almost like a library and marketplace in one. She has designed and created items with the intentions of helping others heal and thrive. She credits intention setting to her being able to manifest her reality. For KG, intention setting is a daily practice that enables her to move through her day and her life as her best self.

When setting intentions, she focuses her mind on the present moment. From there, she quickly moves her mind to envisioning that she has manifested her intention. Her imagination has to take it so far, that she experiences her intention. “The key,” KG says, “is knowing what you want, and having complete belief in that. There is no room for doubt.”

Set Intentions For Success

Setting intentions requires one key thing. You must know what you want. There is no room for doubt, fear, or negativity in achieving your intentions. Your belief in what you want must be so strong that you can experience your intentions becoming real. That’s how much you have to know what you want.

Go to a place where no one, and nothing, can interrupt your focus. When setting intentions, you must be aware of yourself. This enables you to meditate on where you are in that moment. Do not worry about the future, and don’t give in to thoughts of the mistakes you’ve made in your past. Focus only on who you are and how you see yourself.

Once you’ve achieved your focus, imagine yourself already being who you want to be. See yourself without any fear, and without any doubt. Use your imagination to experience having become that person.

This is a step further than visualization. By experiencing the life you want, you are making yourself believe it’s possible. And once you know it’s possible, you can create an action plan to make it real.

What we manifest in our reality is possible only because of what we envision and maintain in our own minds. So if you want to change your life for the better, start setting intentions. It’s the one activity that allows you to immerse yourself in your imagination for the purpose of achieving a meaningful goal . And it’s the only way to learn what you need to do to manifest your intentions.

To sum it all up, I’ll leave you with this quote by Dale Carnegie: “We can only achieve what the mind can conceive and believe.”

Determine what you want. Envision your intention. Experience it. Then open your eyes and make a plan to achieve your intention in reality.

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Christine S., MPP
ILLUMINATION

Passionate about Humanity, Music, Business, Policy & Technology.