Before you start reading this entry, ask yourself the following questions:
Have you ever wondered…
…what it takes to make things happen in your life?
…what is one of the most powerful tools to make your dreams a reality?
…why some people achieve incredible success while others don’t, despite their hard work?
…why it is so hard to bring the physical manifestation of your desires to life?
For many years, I have used journaling as a way to manifest my dreams. It was especially important to journal when my German teacher told me that, “writing is an extension of your soul.” I thought that phrase was so beautiful that I decided to commit myself to journaling constantly to extend my soul. In high school, I remember a big goal that I set out to achieve: writing in my journal for 365 days without skipping a day. I knew that if I achieved this goal, I would be able to achieve any other big goals in life through testing my discipline.
My husband has witnessed how journaling has allowed me to manifest all of my dreams, to the point that he is now using his amazing drawings as a way to journal and manifest his dreams too. He was skeptical, but when he noticed that the things I was writing were manifesting, he said, “be careful what you write, everything is coming true.” This comment brought my commitment to journaling to a whole new level.
Over the years, I have become an expert in journaling, applying many techniques that work magically in my own life. For the first time, I am ready to share my secrets to the rest of the world, with real tangible results over the last 15 years that everyone around me has witnessed.
Here are the top 19 proven techniques that will help you manifest your dreams:
- Gratitude – This is the top technique as gratitude is the biggest accelerator of your dreams. Open up the journal, on the left side, write down all the things that your are grateful for now, the things that are tangible in your life by starting the sentence as follows: “I am grateful now that…<insert the things, people and circumstances currently present that you are grateful for>.” Feeling gratitude in your heart is very important. On the right side of the page, you can write the things that you want, physical and nonphysical (i.e. a loving relationship with your family), but the magic happens here: you write them in the same format as the list on the left, in present tense and with the same format, feeling an intense gratitude in your heart as if you already had them.
- Inspirations – Inspirations are ideas with an amazing positive feeling. When you receive an inspiration, not only must you write them down, but also take immediate steps to make them happen. Your intuition and positive feelings will determine if that thought is a true inspiration. Pay close attention to these as they are amazing propellers of success in your life.
- Ideas – On some occasions, you might get simple ideas that might not have the same strong positive feeling of an inspiration, but it is important to capture them as well. Keep them in a special section for further analysis. You can go back to this section once you have collected a few ideas and then rate them, prioritize, organize them and decide their feasibility. If they are not worthy of your time, simply discard them and come up with new ones.
- Affirmations – These are positive statements that conduce to empowerment, usually written with an optimistic connotation. For example, if you would like to lose weight, you would say something like this “I have a beautiful and perfectly healthy body” rather than “I want to lose all this weight.”
- Lessons – Life is all about learning and applying lessons that make us better individuals. Capture your lessons to improve your life constantly. Go back and review them when the same lesson presents itself. Remember that life will continue to present you with the same lessons over and over again until you learn them. Writing them down could be the difference between “getting it” and not.
- Realizations – Sometimes we are presented with “Aha” moments. There is no better way to capture those moments of awakening and realization, than writing them down. Review them constantly to stay on the road of self-betterment.
- Smart Goals- Every goal should be a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound. Use your journal to create a solid commitment to your goals and see how they become a reality.
- Quotes – Many times our inspirations in life come in the form of quotes from leaders of our world, take time to write them down as gems that will help you expand your horizons.
- Experiences – Write down your professional and personal experiences to ensure that you remember them, they can be either a positive experience or a negative experience. If it is something that you don’t understand why it happened, then write down a list of questions…the answers will be revealed to you either right away as you create objectivity by simply asking them or at a later date through other people, inspirations or ideas.
- Vision – A journal is the perfect place to encapsulate your vision through drawings – a mind mapping exercise. Infuse a positive feeling when capturing your vision for the new month, year or 10 years. Start out by writing down the vision in a circle at the center of the page, then write down all the thoughts around the page. Once you have exhausted all the ideas related to that vision, go back to each one of them to elaborate with additional details. Finally, organize them by category, feasibility and create action items for each of them to complete a cohesive plan of action.
- Planning – “For every minute that you plan, you save ten minutes in execution,” is a famous quote by Brian Tracy. It is true. Use your journal to plan your day, your week, your month and your year. Be as specific and realistic as you can to create a timeline that works for you, depending on the objective at hand.
- Processes – Everything has a process, from brushing your teeth to exercising. Become a thought leader in your field by encapsulating your intellectual property through the development of processes. A process is an asset and you have them. You can capture the steps you take to do a certain project by brainstorming about the frequently asked questions on that specific topic. If people keep asking you the same questions over and over again, that is a sign that they consider you an expert. Enhance that status by developing a process and increasing your value.
- Drawings – Some people love to draw. You can use your talent as an artist through imagery rather than the written word- another powerful way to physically manifest your dreams. You can apply a lot of the techniques shared here, but instead of using words, you can use images and pictures to convey your desires or you can use a combination of both.
- Action Items – ‘To-do’ lists are part of our everyday life. Write them down in your journal and feel the sense of satisfaction as you cross them off as completed. Then go on and create more lists to complete. This is a powerful ongoing process.
- Financial Goals – Finances are always on top of mind of most people. Write down your financial goals, monthly expenses, savings, and innovative new ways to generate income to grow your financial stability.
- Compliments – All of us receive compliments, whether it may be for the necklace (or necktie) we are wearing or a something we have done, write them down so that when you are having a difficult time, you can go back to them and rebuild your self-esteem. Very powerful.
- Research – Life is a constant evolution and our interests might change with time. You can use your journal to write facts or statistics about a new hobby you are considering. You can do your research online or gather information from other sources, but keeping them in one important place, will keep your thoughts organized.
- Testimonials – Have you received unexpected testimonials about your work or talents? Take the time to write them down so that they become part of your nomenclature, part of who you are. The way others positively perceive you might become a propeller to achieve more in your professional and personal life.
- Accomplishments – This is one of the most powerful techniques to use in journaling, especially for those who are working on building their self-esteem. You should capture your accomplishments every 2 to 4 weeks so that when times are difficult you can go back and review what you have done. This technique has two major benefits: it reminds you that if you have done them, you can do them again and it reminds you that you are a talented individual.
I have used and continue to use every one of these techniques for at least 20 years of my life and they are all proven techniques. I have been able to start a successful marketing/PR agency, publish six books, travel around the United States to share a message of positivity as a public speaker, started a foundation for young Latinas, and my most important job: mother and wife, all by the age of 31. All of this brought to their physical manifestation through journaling.
It is up to you to embrace this art form to manifest your own dreams starting today…you can use one, two or all of the techniques, it’s up to you.
Selecting the perfect journal for you
Journaling is a spiritual process and oftentimes, your feelings will guide you through the selection of the best journal. When you go to the store, look at the various journals and become aware of the feeling that you get with each. You have to feel the connection to it as it will be your partner for months or perhaps years. You have to feel happy every time you look at it – it might have a beautiful picture on the front, a nice texture that reminds you of something significant, a special lock or key, a color that you love, etc.. Once you select the journal, you will feel joyful and it will allow you to fully express yourself.
Initiating your journal
The start of a journal is very important. The name of your journal sets the tone for its feel and emotion. I named one of my journals “The Journal of A Young Successful Entrepreneur” per my mentor’s advice – this happened when I was just starting my business and I did not consider myself a successful entrepreneur at all, but every time I saw it, I started to feel it was more and more real, until it actually became tangible. Then, you want to set a special day to set the intention of your journal, put on the start date and write your first entry.