How To Manifest Your Dreams: Simple 4-Step Process

Post updated October 2021

This is your year! This is the year that you will manifest your dream into reality; if you want to that is. What have you always dreamed about doing? Why wait any longer to make it happen? There is no better time than now to start building your dreams into reality. This simple four-step process will have you well on your way to making your dreams a reality.

The more I travel, and the more I learn about life, the more I discover that everything is interconnected. And everything that you experience in your life is dependent on your mindset. You manifest your dreams. If you dream of failing, then that is precisely what will happen. Alternatively, if you dream of living a life surrounded by success, joy, and beauty, then that is what you will find.

Of course, sometimes challenging and unexpected things happen to us that are out of our control, and we cannot blame ourselves. However, how we move forward from our challenging experiences by finding lessons in them. How we learn from life is 100% within our control. We are in charge of how we use our current situation to mold our future.

4-Step Process to Manifest Your Dreams This Year

Anyone can use this four-step process to manifest their dreams. It will work on the simplest things, maybe you want a pay rise at work, and significant life changes, perhaps you want to quit your job and travel the world. Follow these four steps, and your dream life will be your reality in no time.

Step 1) Clarify Your Dreams

How can you expect to manifest your dreams if you don’t have a clear picture of what those dreams are?

• Want a million dollars? How are you going to get it? Start a business selling bath-bombs that rivals Lush? Write a best-selling book?
• Want to travel the world? Where do you want to go first? What type of accommodation will you stay in? What activities do you want to do?
• Want to improve your health? How will you measure this? What sustainable lifestyle changes will you make to your diet and exercise regime? What will improvements to your health allow you to do that you can’t do now?

Think about what your life will look like once you manifest your dreams. Focus on how achieving these dreams will make you feel. Really picture yourself living your dream as if it is already your reality. Flushing out the details in step one is essential because it helps you to create the right mindset to tackle the next two steps.

The Power of Visualization

Psychologists have found that visualizing an action lights up much of the same parts of the brain as actually doing it. A study by Ranganathan and colleagues from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, showed the power of the mind-body connection in an experiment looking at finger exercises.

• To be expected, the people who completed the physical exercises saw a 53% increase in finger strength.
• Amazingly, the people who only visualized the exercises saw a whopping 35% increase in finger strength.
• As expected, those that did none of the exercises saw no significant change.

Activities to help you clarify your dreams:

Additionally, sometimes we don’t always know what our dream is. Maybe you want to earn a million dollars, but you are not sure how. The following activities can help you tap into your subconscious mind and spark ideas of how manifesting your dreams appears. Consequently, the results are often unexpected and will help you discover skills and plans you would have never thought of if you had merely sat down and force yourself to think about it.

Related: 5 Inspiring Books to Help You Find Your Passion

Meditation

Meditation is a powerful tool that gives you space to clear your mind of cluttering thoughts to find clarity. If you’re new to meditation, first try practicing five minutes a day. A smaller regular practice is more powerful than longer sessions less often.
Tip: Set a timer, so the thought of time doesn’t distract you during meditation.

Meditation to clarify dreams

1. To use meditation to clarify your dreams, focus on one thing that you want to manifest. This could be a specific thing or broad such as “love.“
2. Sit or lie down comfortably in a quiet space. Close your eyes and focus on your breath moving in and out of your body. Feel your belly and chest expand. Notice the tickle as your breath gently passes your lips.
3. Start to focus on the dream you wish to manifest. Make it real. Use as much detail as possible. What would it look like to live in this dream? What would it feel like? 
4. When you are ready, go back to focusing on your breath. Bring your mind back into your body and gently open your eyes. 

Yoga

Yoga is more than just an exercise; Yoga is a transformative tool for the mind. Through Yoga, you find focus, clarity, and control. Yoga teaches us to become more in tune with our mind, body, and intellect.

Manifest Your Dreams with Yoga

1. Next time you step on your mat open with an intention to manifest your dreams. 
2. To set an intention, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and focus. Like in the meditation exercise above, you can be specific or broad with an affirmation such as “I can and I will.“
3. Throughout your practice, bring your mind back to syncing your breath with your movements, and your mind with your intention.
4. Close your Yoga practice by thanking yourself for stepping on the mat and taking time to work towards your dreams. 

Create a Vision Board

Vision boards are a fun, crafty exercise to gain clarity about what you want in life. They are a great first step to bring your dreams into the physical realm. 

To make a vision board:

1. Collect images and words from magazines and papers that you want to see in and have in your life.
2. Get crafty and stick them to a board in a way that reflects your personality and style.
3. Place this board somewhere you will see it daily, such as your bedroom wall.
4. Alternatively, you could make a board on Pinterest and look at it daily.

Journaling

Writing your dreams down on paper is another way to help clarify your dreams. You may find once you start writing that the dreams change from what you thought you want. Journaling exercises help to guide you to clarification and how to achieve your dreams. Write down your answers to the following questions in your journal.

Journal prompts for clarifying your dreams:

1. What do you feel is missing from your life at this moment. Why?
2. How do you want your life to look in one year?
3. What have you long dreamed of doing?
4. What steps can you take to make this dream happen?

Conduct a Skill Evaluation

A skill evaluation is useful when you are feeling lost about what your passions or dreams are. You’re not alone; this is something I have always struggled with. The big question for many of us is, “what do I want in life?”

To explain how a skill evaluation helps, I’m going to use a formula to find your niche that crops us in business planning a lot. When searching for a business niche, you want to look for an overlap in your passions, skills, and what people need. You can use this same formula to help manifest your dreams. 

Skill evaluation steps for dreams

1. Write a list of all your passions and interests.
2. Write a list of all your skills, small and big. Think about what you do every day in your job and daily life. Your strengths when interacting with other people. Topics you have studied in the past that you feel comfortable with. Nothing is too small. Often we overlook the little things we are good at because we find it easy and take it for granted that everyone can do it.
3. Write a list of all the ways you help other people or animals.
4. Write a list of all the ways you want to help others.
5. Look for any overlaps. This may be a good place to start building a new dream on. You may have things to learn to add to your skills list but that’s the fun part. This exercise is about clarifying what you have to create a foundation to build what you want.

Step 2) Believe in Yourself

How can you expect to move forward if you don’t believe that you can make your dreams happen? Manifesting your dreams is a combination of magic and action. Like we all learned in fairy tales growing up, if you don’t believe it’s possible, it won’t happen.

If you don’t believe in yourself and you think you will fail, you probably will. A study by Andrew Martin in 2002 found that students who described themselves as having low self-belief, low control, and high fear of failure displayed significantly higher rates of anxiety, pessimism and exhibited lower achievement compared with their counterparts who believed in themselves and weren’t afraid to fail.

Because the action part of the manifest your dreams process is not always easy, and you need to have that built-in belief in yourself to push you through the difficult times ahead. Think of your heroes. They didn’t get to where they are today by giving up, and you won’t either.

Activities to help you believe in yourself:

Believing in yourself involves building your self-esteem and self-confidence. The following activities help you to discover the barriers that are holding you back and push past them. Use the same methods for these activities as described above to create a strong belief in yourself.

• Meditation– focus on your dream and your ability to achieve it.
• Yoga – set an empowering intention at the start of your practice, such as “I am worthy.“
• Repeat positive affirmations throughout the day, such as “I am capable” or “I will make my dreams come true.“
• Journaling – use journal practices to unravel why you don’t believe in yourself. Ask yourself, what is stopping you from manifesting your dreams? Is it the absolute truth? How can you overcome this obstacle? What do you want to be true? What do you need to start telling yourself to make this real? 
• Read inspirational stories and biographies by women who are living their dreams and find out how they did it.

Fake-it-until-you-make, it is also a valuable strategy to use. If you struggle with low self-esteem or low self-confidence, like many of us, including myself, you don’t have to believe in yourself to the top of your dream. You only need to believe in yourself enough to take the first step forward. Following this method, you will find that taking action will naturally help you build esteem, confidence, and belief in yourself.

Related: 10 Inspirational TED Talks About Building Confidence

Step 3) Make a plan

What is a dream without a plan? The law of attraction works both in mysterious ways and follows logical paths to get you where you need to go. Now that you have a clear idea of what you want and believe that you can do it, it’s time to make a plan.

If you’re not sure where to start, look for people who are already doing what you want to do. Don’t be afraid to do something that is already being done because your input will make it unique & valuable. Undoubtedly, your plan may morph as time goes on but start somewhere and ensure each step moves you forward.

For example, when I decided to quit my job and travel the world, I had to organize my budget to start saving money. I calculated how much money I would need to put aside each week to quit my job within 18 months and begin full-time travel. Then I researched places I wanted to go and the costs associated. Albeit, I had to sacrifice certain social events to make this happen. But here I am now, seven months and five countries later, sitting on Isla Cozumel in Mexico writing this article. I made a plan, I stuck to it, and here I am.

Activities to help you make a plan:

Knowledge is power. If you don’t know where to start, then learn!

• Find out what the people who are living your dream did.
• Ask Questions.
• Read books, magazines & blog posts.
• Listen to podcasts and audiobooks.
• Watch how-to YouTube videos.
• Take a course.

If you need more help with this stage, check out fellow blogger Nadalie Bardo’s Free Slay Your Goal’s Guide. She is an expert in helping people achieve their goals.

Related: Five Essential Time Management Tools

Step 4) Take action

Now you’re ready to go and manifest your dreams because you know what you want, you believe you can have it, and you have a well-constructed plan as to how you’re going to get it. So get out there and TAKE ACTION!

Step four is the logical step required to manifest your dreams because the law of attraction doesn’t work by visualization alone. It opens you up to new experiences and opportunities so that you can take action and make your dreams a reality. Additionally, you will find that magic happens along the way.

Related: Flow State & How to Enter it!

What are your dreams?

Learn More About the Manifestation Process:

A woman after my own heart, in Make it Happen: Manifest the Life of Your Dreams Jordanna Levin speaks my language when it comes to manifestation. I highly recommend her book. It’s available as an e-book, audiobook, and paperback. Plus, if you’re new to Audible or Kindle you can get your copy free with a trial account.

If you’re looking for a journal to help you organize your thought and hone your manifestation abilities The Your Best Life Manifestation Journal: Guided Manifestation Weekly Planner and Workbook is the one for you. This semi-guided journal features:

• A practical introduction to manifestation so you understand the whole process that will bring your dreams to you.
• Visualization worksheets to clarify your dream and make the manifesting process easier.
• Journal prompts to help you identify and work through limiting beliefs.
• Plus it includes three months’ worth of free-flow writing pages, gratitude journaling, and space for writing affirmations to stay in a high vibration and draw in positive energy.

References:

• Martin, A. (2002). The lethal cocktail: Low self-belief, low control and high fear of failing. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 12, 74-85. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1017/S1037291100004568
• Ranganathan V.K., Siemionow V., Liu J.Z., Sahgal V. & Yue G.H.(2004). From mental power to muscle power–gaining strength by using the mind. Neuropsychologia, 42(7), 944-956. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14998709