A Complete Guide on How to Manifest Your Dream Life [In 8 Steps]

Imagine thinking of something you desire on a deep level.

Something you’ve always dreamed of.

And then… You effortlessly make it come true.

Is it even possible?

Most people would disagree. That’s because they don’t realize they are always manifesting their reality.

Even if it’s what they do not want.

But, why would we manifest things we don’t want?

Well, this lies in the very nature of the universe. Everything in this physical reality is constantly being manifested.

Right from the very atoms that create everything.

Think of everything as information. Every atom, subatomic particle, cell, or strand of DNA. It all carries very specific data with instructions to follow.

These instructions have one purpose. To seek balance and harmony, and it does this by evolving.

It is our very nature to find order out of disorder, but there can’t be one without the other.

Therefore, growth and development are intrinsic to our existence.

Even if we don’t know it, we are all changing and evolving this very second.

The information in every atom doesn’t falter unless instructed otherwise. Manifestations happen here and there in an instant.

It’s only when our minds take over that things slow down. Yet, the buffer between our conscious awareness and turning our thoughts into reality is a necessary component to our existence.

If everything we ever imagined manifested instantly, it’s likely we wouldn’t even be here. Just one thought or worry of our death and that would be the end of us.

But it’s these exact thoughts of fear and worry that manifest things into our lives we don’t want. And our unwanted thoughts aren’t coming from our conscious mind, they’re coming from our habitual subconscious mind.

The repetition of past thoughts or events that evoked powerful emotions keeps us trapped in the known and fearful of the alternative.

Part of the process is to recognise that the only place growth can happen is in the unknown and that we need to get comfortable with this unfamiliar territory.

And this is what I want to help you with.

I believe you can achieve anything you can imagine. If it’s physically possible, then it’s physically achievable.

And if you can imagine it, then you can create it.

If you’re ready, read on to discover how to manifest your dreams.

9 Steps to Manifest Your Dream Reality

“Your whole life is a manifestation of the thoughts that go on in your head”

Lisa Nichols

Here are 9 steps to manifest your dream life into existance.

1. Know What You Want

The first step in manifesting anything into existence is knowing exactly what you want.

With this comes a few things you should keep in mind:

• Be specific
• Know why you want it
• Visualize

Be specific

Being specific of your goals is something we learn about when setting SMART ones.

If you didn’t know, the S stands for ‘Specific’ and for good reason.

The more specific the goal, the stronger the intention will be. It’s the building block that creates a foundation for the other two areas to take form.

Each one builds on the next so make your goals, desires and dreams super specific.

You can start by creating a personal mission statement.

Know why you want it

Say you want a coffee because you love coffee and always drink it when you wake up because it gives you that boost in the morning…

Now, lets say you need water fast or you will die of dehydration…

Which one is more important?

Obviously the second one right!

This is an extreme example, but the more critical a reason behind your intention to achieve your goal, the more powerful the manifestation process will be.

Here’s another more realistic example:

“I want to manifest $500 extra side income per month because I want to save up for a rainy day.”

Which isn’t that specific? Something better might be:

“I want to manifest $500 extra side income per month to give me more freedom with my family.”

The examples you come up with will really depend on your own values, but keep in mind that you should think of a high valued reason behind the thing you want to manifest.

Visualize

Don’t just think of the words, create a vision in your head. A mental image.

Create a movie in your mind that you are seeing from your own eyes and play the movie repeatedly in your head every day.

The clearer the mental movie, the more excited you’ll feel and the more motivated you’ll become to making your dream a reality.

Read next: How to Start a Personal Development Blog That Makes Money in 2022

2. Imagine How You’ll Feel

Once you know what you want to manifest, it’s time to imagine how you would feel once you’ve created it.

You can do this in a few ways, which I’ve outlined below:

• Write it down
• Say it out loud
• Create a vision board

Write it down

Writing anything down helps you visualize. And writing your goals or what you want to manifest sets a strong intention.

Doing this daily will consistently remind you of what you want to manifest and if you want it to influence your subconscious mind, then you can try doing the 55×5 method.

The 55×5 method is a process whereby you write what you want to manifestation 55 times every day for 5 days.

The reason this is so powerful is that it focuses your attention on what you want and almost sends you into a hypnotic trance while you write it 55 time, line by line.

Doing this over 5 days deeply embeds your wish into your subconscious mind, which will amplify its powers.

Say it out loud

Affirmations are another way to impact your subconscious mind and change the way you think and feel.

When you say clear intentions to yourself, you are affirming to yourself what you want and it keeps you motivated to go after your goal.

Create a vision board

The third technique is all about the vision of what your life might look like once you have already manifested it.

This is a powerful way to produce the emotions associated to your manifestations.

Search for pictures of the things you want on Google and print them out.

If it’s more of a state of being or you’re trying to manifest a relationship with someone, try to get a picture of yourself feeling that state of being or you with the person you want to be around.

Look at your vision board daily to create excitement about the thing you want to manifest into your life.

Even better than doing one of these would be to do all three but don’t overwhelm yourself. Try one at a time for the first few times you start the manifestation process and then start adding all three techniques at the same time.

You could do the 55×5 Method and say it out loud while writing it whilst recording yourself saying it too. Then replay it back to yourself when you’re on a commute, doing chores or as you’re falling asleep at night.

The important thing to note when doing any of these is to feel the emotions you would feel as if you have already manifested the thing you are writing, saying, visualising etc… And the magic will come to you sooner than you know it.

3. Know the Benefits

This closely ties into the first step of knowing what you want, but that’s the basics.

Many people don’t think of the benefits being that important, so they disregard them.

But knowing what the benefits are will reinforce why you want to manifest this reality.

You want to be as specific as possible with what the benefits are. Don’t just think of what the benefits are for yourself either, think of what the benefits might do for others.

Here are a few examples:

• You want a 6 figure salary to give your loved one’s a life of freedom
• You want to become a bodybuilder and fitness coach because you want to help and inspire others
• You want to learn the piano so you can travel the world teaching others to learn music

There’s a counterpart to this step too…

What are the consequences if you don’t get it?

It’s important not to focus on this too much, but it is important to ponder what the ramifications might be if you haven’t achieved this goal within the next year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even ever?

Take a mental note of those ramifications, try not to resist any negative feelings around this. Instead, let go and don’t get attached to them.

Give thanks to the knowledge and be grateful for being aware of the opportunity to pursue your goal.

4. Focus on the Process, Not the How

The things you do everyday that get you closer to your dream life are far more important than the how.

Most people who created anything significant didn’t know exactly how when they started.

You have to imagine yourself already living your best life and think about hat you’d be doing everyday. Then start doing those things now.

You might not be able to do everything, but you can trick your mind enough to think you’re already living that life.

They weird synchronisities start showing up and you begin to align your present self with your future self.

An essential skill is knowing how to be in the present moment. If you are consumed by negative thoughts of the past or worries about the future, you’ll keep your manifestations at bay.

5. Believe in Yourself and the Process

This is where most people get caught up.

They consciously say all the right things and tell themselves they believe it will happen.

But, we often say we want one thing and then do another or push the thing away, it’s because we’re using the law of attraction to repel the things we want.

Saying we believe we’ll manifest what we want isn’t enough if our subconscious beliefs contradict what we are saying.

For example:

If I have a subconscious belief that I can’t trust people, but I’m saying consciously that I want to meet new people and make new friends then I’m going to have a hard time letting people in.

This is literally a current problem in my life, but more on that another time!

The point is, we all have subconscious beliefs that run 95% of our behaviour, but we think our behaviour and decisions are all made consciously.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, which is why most people struggle to manifest what they want in their life because they are putting out the wrong energy, and hence repel what they want.

How we believe in ourselves is by noticing our subconscious beliefs and the internal self talk that keeps them alive.

Then we can change the way we talk to ourselves, which changes the limiting beliefs.

But how do we become aware of the thoughts and beliefs that don’t serve us, though?

The simple answer, meditation. This is the single, most effective way to become aware of the thoughts that rattle around in our heads that keep the limiting beliefs alive.

Once we know the kinds of thoughts going on in our head, we can start to reprogram our mind with better words.

And one simple way to do that is by listening to affirmations when you go to sleep at night.

There are thousands of affirmation videos on YouTube.

Type in “affirmations for” in the search bar and you’ll see the most popular options that people use affirmations for to reprogram their limiting beliefs.

6. Let Go of Trapped Negative Emotions

Do you question “why is my manifestation not working?“

It’s almost always to do with your internal state and how you feel on a subconscious level most of the time.

Us human beings will experience some emotional pain in their life.

You might have had a difficult childhood or relationship as an adult.

Or maybe you get socially anxcious and feel self conscious around people.

Whatever your pain looks like, it’s important to go through a process known as letting go.

Read next: You Are Enough: Here’s Why and What it Really Means

When things happen in our life that doesn’t fall inside of what we perceive as acceptable, it triggers a negative emotion.

But, it’s important to realise that negative emotions are there for a reason, which is to keep us safe.

It’s a signal created in our body to warn us that what we’ve experienced doesn’t line up with our expectations.

Although these negative emotions are normal and often warranted, it’s important that we don’t hold on to such negative emotions and carry them around with us for years into the future.

Our brains work in brilliant ways to ensure we avoid situations that cause us pain and suffering.

But for us to live an incredible life without being consumed by dread and fear, we must accept that sometimes things won’t always go the way we want them to.

When we become emotionally intelligent, we are better able to manage our emotions which makes it easier for us to let go of negative situations.

But what if we already experienced something in the past that has a hold on us still?

Well, this is what letting go is all about, which allows us to release this pain we’re holding on to.

Letting go isn’t the same as forgiveness, although forgiving ourselves and others might be required to surrender our negative emotions.

The Sedona Method is a simple yet powerful way to let go and feel more at peace with any pain you might have held onto.

You can start this process with a simple exercise:

1. First, focus on the issue you would like to feel better about, then ask yourself the following questions.
2. Could I let go of this feeling?
3. Would I let go or am I willing to let it go?
4. When will I let go of this?

Check out this video with Hale Dwoskin explaining this process. It might change your life in a profound way.

7. Feel as Though It’s Already Your Reality

“Your brain does not know the difference between what is real in the external world and what you imagine in your mind.” – Dr. Joe Dispenza

For us to experience the life we want, we have to shift our perception from being without it to feeling as if it’s already here.

When we desire something deeply, we are essentially saying; “I don’t currently have it.” And we focus on the negative thoughts and worry that it’ll never come true.

This then creates a self-fulfilling prophecy and manifest a reality where we don’t have the life we want.

The reason this happens is that we are more energy beings than physical beings. We have proven this in modern science.

In Quantum Physics, we now know that everything in the Universe is made from waves or vibration, and this is even the case for particles or matter.

Suffice to say, the reality that we perceive as physical is merely waves of energy vibrating at an unlimited range of frequencies.

It’s these different frequencies that allow us to perceive a physical reality as separate objects, including us human beings.

So the secret to attracting the life we want is down to the way we think and feel most of the time.

If we spend most of our time in a state of lack and putting out desperate feelings of deeply desiring what we want, we are putting out the wrong signals.

Therefore, we need to get into a state of being congruent to the vibration and frequency of the reality that we want.

Think back to a time when you wanted something in your life that you desired, and then it became your experience. I’m sure you’ll realise that the energy you were emitting gradually (or instantly) came into alignment and resinated at the correct frequency of what you wanted to experience.

And this is exactly what you have to do to manifest your dreams that you may have been repelling them until this very day.

To do this, you want to get very present by focusing on your body. Get present by activating your five senses. Take slow, deep breaths and feel the presence and energy within your body.

Get very still and let any feelings of the past and future slip away. Try not to resist these feelings as what you resist, persists.

There is no need to worry about the future or that you might never live your dream life because you can imagine that reality right now in your mind.

If you do this practise every day, you will experience the exact feelings you would feel if you were currently living your dream life.

And when you can do this, you experience a great sense of peace and tranquility.

All your worries fade away because the reality you want to experience is only your desire because you want to feel a certain way.

And now that you’ve learned how to create the feeling inside you before experiencing this reality in the physical world, things will start showing up in your life that clarify your desired reality is on its way to you.

8. Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is possibly the most powerful yet overlooked emotion we can experience.

The reason for this is simple.

We human beings have survived for thousands of years and it is thanks to our ancestors for developing a brain that favours fear or negative feelings over positive, happy feelings.

In other words, our brain would prefer us to focus on what could go wrong as oppose to make us happy.

We know this as a negative bias in psychology. It was our brains’ primary method of keeping us on the lookout for potential danger in the cavemen days.

It was important that this method of survival was primary because we were so much more vulnerable at this time of our evolution.

At any moment, we could have been prey to a Saber-toothed cat or have our entire tribe wiped out by another threatened tribe.

Back then, it wouldn’t have been favorable for us to sit around meditating, feeling emotions of joy and peace all the time.

If this was the way our brain developed, then we would not have survived for very long.

Now, the world is a lot different, but we still have the same brain.

Yes, there are still things in this world that could pose a threat, but mostly, the first world is a fairly safe place to be.

If our parents were negative and fearful all the time when they raised us, then this is how we will grow up.

Thinking this world is a scary and dangerous place.

But there are far more things in this world to feel excited and grateful for that there is to feel threatened by.

For instance, the fact you’re reading this article means you at least have a mobile device or computer of some sort and an internet connection. Therefore, it’s likely you have a roof over your head and you aren’t scrounging around for food.

If everything I just mentioned is all you have in life, you have enough in life to be grateful for.

If you are however living in unfortunate circumstances that cause you a lot of pain and suffering, then know this… There is a way out, and you are already on the path of changing your life.

How do I know this? Because you are reading this article!

That is something to be grateful for. The fact that your future is going to be vastly greater than whatever you’re experiencing in your life right now.

And even if you can’t think of anything to be grateful for, you could imagine a world in which you live in that is far worse than you are currently experiencing, and then shift your attention to the fact that you’re not experiencing that reality.

That is something to be grateful for, because whatever your situation is, there is always someone living in this world that has it way worse than you do.

It’s sad to realise, I know, but it’s possible for even these people to feel grateful one day despite the adversity they have gone through.

9. Set a Plan and Take Action

For over 10 years of my life, this was the only step I would focus on.

And the only thing I manifested was disappointment and negative thoughts about myself.

So, it’s important not to skip any of the steps before this one.

Likewise, making a plan and taking action is important, yet many people struggle to get much of anything done.

If you aren’t following a system to be productive, then it’s going to be very difficult to get motivated.

And if you follow a system to achieve your goals and feel you’re getting nowhere, then it’s likely you’re sabotaging your success, like I was for over 10 years.

Most people think goal setting and taking action is hard when it really need not be.

People only find taking action hard because of a few reasons:

• Not clear on what they want to manifest or going after something that isn’t authentic to them
• They have limiting beliefs that contradict what they desire
• Focus on lack, worry, and fearful thoughts
• Or work from circumstance and blame the environment for making things hard

Luckily for you, I have already covered all the areas in steps 1-7, so they shouldn’t be a problem for you and setting a plan and taking action should be a walk in the park.

But where do you start?

Well, if you did the first step which is “know what you want”, then this is where you will start.

Paint a picture in your mind and imagine yourself experiencing this desired reality.

Then make a commitment to achieve this for yourself and set a date in which you’ll achieve it.

This shouldn’t create any negative emotions inside you. If it does, it’s like you’re focusing on the fear that it might not come true.

All you need to do is set the intention that you will try, if you fail, it doesn’t matter. In fact, failure is only possible if you completely give up on your goal.

You might not achieve everything in the time you set, but if you follow your plan and take consistent action, you will reach your goal eventually, it is inevitable.

“If you would go every day to a very large tree and take five swings at it with a very sharp axe, eventually, no matter how large the tree, it would have to come down.”

Jack Canfield

Once you have chosen your big goal, you need to break it down into smaller goals.

If you want to achieve this goal in one year, then I suggest breaking this goal into quarters, setting milestone goals every three months.

Start from your big vision and work your way backwards. Where will you need to be in month nine to achieve your big goal in month 12?

Where will you need to be in month six? And where will you need to be in three months from now?

Once you know these three monthly milestones to achieve your big goal, you must work out what you must do each month to reach each of these milestones.

You can do this by setting specific tasks you should work on every week. I recommend setting yourself three to five things to focus on achieving each week.

Then once you know the three things you have to achieve each week, what specific tasks will you need to do daily to achieve these three weekly tasks.

If your big goal is to grow a YouTube channel to 100,000 subscribers, then your daily goals might include researching and recording videos.

If you don’t know how to edit videos, you could take a course or learn how to hire someone to edit your videos for you. It requires all these tasks each week for you to be able to move forward.

If your big goal is to run a marathon, then your daily goals might be to message some friends to look for a training buddy, shop online for the right outfit, and plan when you’ll go out running each week to train for it.

Whatever the goal is, don’t be afraid to make it big, and then reverse engineer it by setting smaller goals that prepare you for it.

Remember, it’s never important to complete or achieve your goal in a specific order or timeframe. The intention is to break it down and know exactly what you should work on every day to work towards manifesting your dream life.

Conclusion

Manifesting your dreams entails visualising a reality you want to experience, allowing yourself to receive it, which includes dropping any negative connotations you may have around it, and then taking action on tasks you set yourself.

The most important piece of the puzzle is to always remember your internal state during the process.

Manifesting should feel light and exciting. Focus on the process, enjoy the journey, and know on a deep level, everything works out for you.