What does it mean to set your intentions? It means making a statement that represents your commitment to do something. I like to make these statements daily, or before any task, big or small, that helps me live in my purpose. It might sound simple, but this is an incredibly empowering process that clears your head so you can move forward. It forces you to slow down and focus on why you are doing what you are doing and how you are going to do it. It helps you to live life intentionally (get it?) instead of haphazardly. Knowing what your intentions are is the first step toward creating change in your life. Once you’ve made your intentions known, you can go about setting goals. I know that as someone with ADHD, if I don’t do this, I’m screwed!
STATE YOUR INTENTIONS
What do you need help with? What kind of power are you looking for? Do you have a tough issue at work you need to deal with? Are you trying to fit in your workout today? Are you about to sit in your car in traffic and all those bad drivers give you anxiety? Do you have a wedding to go to where you will have to deal with difficult family members?
Setting your intention gets you ready and psychs you up for the task at hand. It’s saying, “Okay, I’m going to do this. I’m getting ready. I am focusing on the now.” It’s a little pep talk you give yourself about how you are going to handle a situation.
You set your intention by stating it out loud. Believe me, if you wake up in a grouchy mood and say, “I know I am going to have a bad day,” you will have one. If, instead, you say, “I am not going to let this grouchy mood ruin my day. I am going to go for a run and then come back and eat a big bowl of blueberries with Greek yogurt and honey because that makes me feel good,” you are going to undo the crappy mood and feel a whole lot better.
My goal with every class I teach is to encourage and empower my students to use their physical strength and fortitude to infuse every other aspect of their lives. In order to reach that goal, I always set and state my intentions before class starts. Either I set my intentions when I am taking the short walk from my apartment to the studio, or I shut the door to my office, and I turn off my phone because I need quiet and to be alone, without any interruptions. It’s my time to focus and get my energy ready so I can power up. I’ll close my eyes. Take a deep breath. Exhale, releasing anything I’m holding on to in my body, state my intention out loud (“I am going to give 100 percent of myself to make this a kick-ass class!”), and then I go right into choosing my music for that session.
Doing this for myself sets the tone for the class and for the rest of my students’ day. I’m also choosing music that has a certain beat and feeling to it to reinforce the intentions I’ve decided upon. Some songs are so cheery you just want to sing along. Others are longer and slower, building up to an eventual crescendo subtly so that my students don’t realize how hard they’ve been working to stay on the beat until the song is over.
For example, I once asked a friend who’s a novelist how his process worked—where his plots and characters came from, what inspired him, how he did it. He told me that once he sorted out the general theme, he’d go to bed and start dreaming the characters, and then over time they would coalesce into more detailed scenes. He’d wake up and tell himself what he would write for the day. What he then added resonated with me the most: “I never actually put pen to paper until I know the general outline of the plot. Especially the ending. Some writers can write without a blueprint, but not me. I have to know where my characters are going in order to get them there.”
What this writer was doing was creating a goal (to write a book). Without putting a name to what he was doing, he was setting his daily intentions to reach that goal. He went over his tasks in his head; he stated them aloud; he found his motivation; and he was then able to get to work.
Like this writer, start small with stating your intentions at first. All you need is a calm and quiet minute. What’s most important it is to be alone and uninterrupted when you set up your intention for the day. It is you empowering yourself to get going.
Once you get used to setting intentions for a minute every morning you can increase the time you spend as you get more comfortable doing it. Your intention goal is fifteen minutes of meditation. You’ll soon become so used to this kind of intense focusing that you will enjoy taking more time to do it. Eventually, this intention-setting time can be about visualizing yourself in these actual intentions—in other words, knowing what your intention is and picturing yourself living it.
When you set your intentions, not only will your work flow better, but you will be calmer and more focused when faced with the usual stresses of life. Instead of being anxious about your first meeting of the day (you know, the one with the unpleasant boss who always puts you on edge), your intention not to take this boss’s comments personally will lesson your worries about your performance at work. Instead of dreading the commute home when you know you will be stuck in traffic, your intention to buy an audio book and listen to that instead will leave you calmer and less aggravated by the other drivers.
In addition to stating your intentions aloud, I always say, “LYSU”—line your shit up! That means figuring out your tasks for the day. What are you doing after you leave for work? What is the most pressing issue you need to be prepared for? Do you have an important meeting? Is there an issue with your child’s teacher? Is it an easy day when all you have to worry about is dusting the shelves in the living room, buying food for the dog, and having lunch with your boyfriend?
The Lineup Sheet is my version of a to-do list. Some Lineup Sheets will be easy, like a shopping list of tasks that take little energy or are fun to do. Some will be a little more complicated if you’re dealing with matters that are sensitive. Line it up anyway, as this will help you keep your thoughts and your emotions in order and really assist with those I-am-overwhelmed sensations. Any time I have boxes to check, I turn it into a game, and I make sure I check all the boxes before the end of the day. Like this:
DMV
Call GMA
Call Mom
For all your Lineup Sheets, get a piece of paper and a pen. You can’t do this on a computer—you need to sit at a table and desk and focus on the paper.
SG TRUTH Since the dawning of the iPhone, I tend to do the boxes in my iPhone calendar, but it’s not the same! Make the effort to write this down and make the boxes. It works! Post-its are great to fit in your wallet.
Here’s what to do: On the right side of a piece of paper, write down what you have to do—call mom, call plumber, call little Johnny’s teacher, send résumé to XYZ, go to FedEx, pay parking tickets, buy a book to read on vacation, send your friend who’s sick some flowers.
Draw little squares to the left of each task. This way, when you check the box, you know you’ve put something in the pipeline of change. The more checked boxes, the happier you will be with your day.
What I’m doing here is trying to give you a bad-ass-y yet nice way to look at these lists. I know the word task is one of those clichéd kind of words and doesn’t pack a lot of punch. So if, instead, we use the word shit with a positive attitude, and with a positive tone, it will put some velocity behind what you’re doing. So say it with me: “I’ve got to line my shit up. LMSU!”
Feels good, right? You bet it does.
I LOVE MY NOTEBOOKS
What’s the one thing I am never without? No, not a bottle of water. My favorite trusty little notebook. I’m always getting ideas, and I know that if I don’t write them down, I may not remember them. Yes, I could use my phone, but when it comes to ideas, I prefer to write them rather than type them. Besides, having a notebook makes me more conscious of the fact that I am having ideas worthy of writing down—and that, in turn, spurs even more ideas.
Here’s another scenario. Let’s say you know you have to have an uncomfortable conversation with your spouse about things you want to do to liven up your relationship. Maybe your needs aren’t being met anymore, and you’re asking yourself, “Is it something I’m not doing in our relationship that’s making my partner unhappy?”
You put on your Lineup Sheet: What can we do to make our relationship awesome again? When you line it up, think of things that you would be willing to do to make your partner happier. These could be to plan more things to do together, go out to dinner once a week, have more adventures, rub their feet when they get home after a long day, talk about more issues that are important to both of you, or have breakfast together every morning to fill each other in on daily events in your life, etc.
Coaches know all about LYSU; it’s the whole point of training or rehearsing or studying. Someone throws the ball at you, you reach up to catch it, you slip, you fall, what are you going to do to recoup? You may fall nine times, but on the tenth time you are fearlessly up and running without hesitation. It’s the long-term training requiring drills, practice, and repetition until you can easily catch the ball and run with it. Remember, everyone falls. Falling is not failure. Falling is part of the game of life.
As long as you have the instinct in your body to get up and try again, you’re going to be okay. And you are going to realize that you are strong, and that no matter what happens in your life, you’re good. That’s the point of the Lineup Sheet. You have a plan, a list to hold you accountable for putting your life in motion. It is taking your intentions and giving yourself a list of things to do to help make them happen.
Stating your intentions and acknowledging the tasks required to fulfill them is what allows you to take the first turn of the knob toward a happier life. Your life revolves around your ultimate happiness and living with intention and taking the proper steps is how to tap into your happy, every single day.
SG TRUTH Since I got my iPhone, I sometimes use Notes on it, but I always have a real notebook and a pen close by, too!
I think carrying the notebook is one of the best habits you can have. It will also help you take notes when you’re reading this book, not just about my experiences, but about what I’m saying that particularly resonates with you in the moment you’re reading it. You could write, for example, “Ideas of healing” or “Ask for help” or “Move it!” or “Get a jolt!” or anything that jumps out at you. You can keep these notes in the notebook or put them on Post-its and stick them where they’re going to inspire you. Before you know it, you’ll have entire notebooks full of amazing ideas that will inspire and motivate you, and you won’t have to worry about accidentally erasing them the next time you hit the wrong key on your phone! And if your phone ever dies, you’ll still have your notes!
REINFORCING YOUR INTENTIONS WITH VISUALIZATION
Imagine that you have the power to visualize your destiny, and that today could be that day where you cross over into a new level of success in a more creative way, with out-of-the-box thinking and a unique approach to your goals. Imagine that for a second.
Time to visualize this success! In vivid, three-dimensional color, right down to the faded blue hue of your jeans and the soft and well-worn texture of your favorite T-shirt!
I would never be where I am today without visualization. I visualized myself as a teacher, as a loving partner, and as someone who kept quitting cigarettes until it eventually stuck. Of all the toxic things I gave up, smoking was by far one of the hardest. It took me five different times to visualize quitting, but I never gave up. A telling moment was when a seven-year-old found my cigarette butt in the toilet and shrieked through the house, “Someone was smoking!” So much for trying to hide that fail!
Let me be brutally open about this topic. It took me many, many failed attempts at quitting the toxic things I allowed into my life. (I have a method for quitting everything, but that is past the scope of this book—you can read about it in my next one!) This was due to me being what I called a triple-threat kinda gal. When I say that, I don’t mean it in the athletic sense. I mean I had issues as a smoker, a drinker, and a drug user. It totally sucked. I hate admitting that, but the me now will never again be the me I used to be. There is not a chance in hell that I will go back to being Crazy Stacey ever again. Finally, after over ten years of being sober (with the help of my partner, my friends, my family, and my students), I am more connected to the sober version of myself than I was to the partying, crazy version of me.
Everything in your universe starts with what you think—your intentions—followed by your actions. You can totally push forward once you identify what you want. After you have stated your intentions, visualization allows you to see what you want in your mind’s eye and turn it into reality. It clears your mind of all other thoughts except those you’re focusing on with calm intent. This lets your brain do the work for you. During visualizations, you can watch a movie in your mind based on all your new ideas of what you want in your life.
Your visualization can be an image of something positive (“I want a new job”) or something you are trying to overcome (“I want to stop smoking”), or anything at all. It’s like Mad Libs, that fill-in-the-blank game you probably played when you were younger. What I’m going to show you how to do is play out the scenario in your head, imagining yourself in that situation attaining the results you seek. I want you to visualize every step of the way, down to the color of the shoes you are wearing and the jewelry on your wrist during the handshake you make with your boss when he promotes you and gives you a raise, to the ecstatic blush on your cheeks and the jubilant e-mail you send to your friends with the good news.
When you are finished with your visualization, bring your attention back to your breathing and slowly begin to come back to your body and the space you are in. Sit up tall. Your breathing might have changed, along with your body position. You might feel energized, or you might be a bit tired. These are all normal responses, and show you how powerful the visualization actually was.
Remember your feelings of confidence, success, and achievement. Remember how vivid the images were and how mentally tough and inspired you feel. And because you wrote the script, you can recall these images and feelings anytime you choose.
Look, it’s totally normal that doing visualizations may feel weird in the beginning. It takes a pretty grounded, centered, and ready person to sit and visualize. I understand if you aren’t ready, and I also understand if you’re not into them. No biggie! They are here for those of you who need calm in your life, who need help focusing and manifesting some things. I’m not expecting my friend Deepak to read this and go, “Oh, I never thought of that.” These practices have been used for thousands of years—I’m just packaging them my way!
If you have trouble with visualizations at first, don’t worry. It’s a learned skill, and like any other skill, it can sometimes take a while for you to learn. One way is to try picturing your favorite photo—of you. I believe in motivational fridge pics if they are of you in a happy place, not a retouched photo of a supermodel or a fitness guru.
Visualization for Empowerment
This is a very grounding visualization that will empower you by setting a positive vibration for your day.
1. Close your eyes and sit in a comfortable position, in a spot where you won’t be interrupted. Imagine you are at the beach on a glorious summer’s day. Can you feel the soft breeze and taste the tang of the salty sea air? Of course you can!
2. Take your surfboard (yes, you—even if you don’t know how to swim or are scared of the big waves, you can imagine yourself out there in the surf) and run into the sea. Picture yourself lying flat on your tummy, easily paddling out past the shore break, the first set of waves. Turn yourself around now and face the shoreline, powerfully waiting for the next set.
3. Wait for the ideal wave, then pop up on your feet. You’re in charge. You’re balanced perfectly on the board, without a hint of fear. You soften your stance a little bit, confident of your position.
4. You ride the wave all the way back to the shore. It feels like you’re flying. You’ve never felt so alive, with the sound of the ocean and the splash of water on your feet, and your body so utterly in tune with the board and the wave beneath you.
5. You arrive safely back on the beach, exhilarated and proud of your strength.
6. And then you go out there and do it again.
Feels pretty good, doesn’t it? You can do this visualization in just a minute. You can even ride a longer wave for as long as you need to. Or, if you want, you can switch it up and insert mountain climbing, white-water rafting, or downhill skiing into your visualization. Just find something that you can easily picture—maybe something on your bucket list, like a hot-air balloon ride or skydiving—that brings powerful imagery into your head. I want you to be happy in the visualizations. This is never supposed to feel like a chore. It’s a vibration tool, and it helps you focus on power.
Remember, this is a chosen visualization to change the vibration of your body. If you visualize yourself strong in the ocean, or on a mountain, or anywhere there is powerful movement, your inner vibration could possibly change the way you move in your actual reality. Don’t judge it, just try it. You may be surprised at how well visualizations work!
In the Maldives (Islands), 2001
Visualizations are there to empower you. If you find it’s too hard or too boring to do without music, go for it. Play your favorite song or songs when you’re doing your visualizations and meditations. There’s no reason they don’t deserve a soundtrack!
Visualization for Creativity and Focus
Do this visualization before you start work on the days you feel you need it. The goal is to find a healthy and consistent routine.
SG TRUTH I have to confess, I have gotten out of practice with my own visualization time. I used to do it every day, when I had far fewer responsibilities and a less fraught schedule. Now I do this maybe once or twice a week in my office when I’m alone. I need to work a lot harder on doing this every day!
1. Close your eyes. You are going to see yourself performing at a high level of creativity and focus and drive. You are centered and balanced. No matter what you’ve done in the past, it won’t matter today, because today is a brand-new version of you. Today you have more power, more influence, more integrity. You’re in the positive zone. Stay there.
2. Think about something that you really want in your life. Something that you’re going for. Something you’re trying to achieve. Something you’re trying to finish. Something you’re trying to start. Think about something like that. Something that inspires you, gets you excited, gets you motivated. Something good. You got it? Is it there? Do you see it? Do it now.
3. Picture you embracing what it is you want. Find that wonderful space between being scared and not being scared. That place is called trust.
4. If you struggle with finding that space, focus on your breath. The most consistent thing you can ever do is breathe, and it is an action that you can control in nearly all circumstances. It will get you through everything.
Visualization for Energy and/or Love
This is a terrific visualization to do before a class of any kind, before a meeting at work or school, or in any group situation.
1. Close your eyes and relax your forehead, your cheeks, your lips, your neck, your arms, your fingers. Then focus on your breath for a few seconds. As you breathe, feel your forehead relax, your eyebrows, your eyelashes, your cheeks, your lips. Let your tongue sit in the bottom of your mouth, softly, away from pushing up against your teeth. Relax your neck. Relax your shoulders. Sit up tall. I want you to be so grateful, grateful for your life, your health, your wellness; the very blessing that brought you to this moment is the one that will fuel you for the entire day. Do this now.
2. Imagine you are with a like-minded, supportive group of people. There is, as you know, a tremendous power in a group collective. We are all energies, after all. We are all force fields walking through this universe. And when you capture this many amazing attitudes, it’s like that magic moment when your children are collecting fireflies, running around while shouting with giggles, joyfully watching the lights flicker on and off in the darkness in the jar full of life and love.
3. Keep your eyes closed and imagine your special jar of life and love. As you feel it in your heart, let it heal you. And then you have the light of love to heal everybody you touch. This is how we change the world, and this is how we move toward our intentions and our goals.
4. Feel your body glow, getting brighter and brighter. Brighter and brighter. One more deep breath here for transformation. Do this now.
5. Open your eyes. You are now flooded with energy, ready to tackle any situation.
MOVING MEDITATIONS
When I studied yoga in India, it was difficult for me to master a lot of the moves at first, in large part because I am the kind of person who is in perpetual motion. Once I figured out that if I combined the calming wonderfulness of yoga/meditation techniques with movement, I had the best of both—for me. That’s what I transformed into my teaching methods, and it’s a large reason my classes are so successful. My students are moving as hard as they possibly can, but they learn how to calm their minds even when their hearts are pumping and the sweat is blurring their eyes.
Say “meditation” to someone, and they usually picture someone sitting in a quiet, dark room. But you can just as easily meditate, relaxing yourself and visualizing, while your body is in motion during a Moving Meditation. It’s where the real you pops out. It’s when your true integrity, drive, passion, perseverance, tenacity, grace, and patience start to show and shine.
When you do any tasks—emotional, as in dealing with a loved one; or physical, such as a workout—with all the positive affirmations of the Moving Meditations, it’s almost a perfect storm. It’s like a satisfying stretch for your brain, which is hearing the affirmations while you’re feeling and pushing through a physical hurdle or boundary or challenge. Add the rhythm of music to the mix, and you’re transported to an almost trancelike state while in motion.
I created these Moving Meditations after I had been teaching for a few years, and they work wonders for centering and balancing who you are on a cellular level, as a human being. Once you master Moving Meditations, whether you’re walking, running, jogging, swimming, biking, or doing any kind of exercise, you’ll come back to them day after day after day. Not only do they make you feel (and look) better, but they’re really fun!
These can be done during any kind of workout where you will be safely in motion—in an indoor cycling class, on a recumbent bicycle, on a treadmill or rowing machine, or while walking on level ground. What you’re reading now is exactly how I talk to my students when they’re riding in class. Imagine that it’s my voice speaking to you. Or go ahead and read these aloud into a voice recorder, and play them as you move.
Our driver, Shisa, Mysore, India
Obviously, you can’t meditate and read this book at the same time. If you want help with decision-making, I suggest you read through these meditations once or twice, and then give them a shot. If some of the words written here really strike you, I encourage you to let that process flow and dive in.
Moving Meditation for Setting Your Intentions
1. Picture yourself in a meadow with the green grass soft under your feet and the sky a stunning blue. The sun is bright but not blazing, making you feel all aglow as you turn your head up toward it.
2. Imagine one large, white, puffy cloud floating up in that blue, blue sky. That’s it. Your meditation. When you start to feel a thought come through your mind, I want you to put it on the cloud and watch it gently float away.
3. After it’s gone, put another fresh cloud right there. This is how you reset your mind. You are pushing away the old thoughts and replacing them with new, loving, and amazing thoughts.
4. Next, you are at the beach, walking strong on the firm white sand in the body you’ve always wanted for yourself.
5. You’ve never felt more confident in your intentions as you transform back to yourself, striding in and out of the water and walking on the sand again.
6. Time is barely moving, but you’re strong enough to get through it now. You’re strong enough to push through—it’s who you are. Strong, determined, tenacious, focused, reliable, consistent, honest, truthful, and beautiful. You keep moving until you reach the house at the end of the beach, the welcoming house that you realize is your home, and when you put your hand on the doorknob, take a deep breath and come back to reality.
Moving Meditation to Help with Decision-Making
1. Before you start, make sure you’re thinking positively. Make sure you are in it to win it with your thought process. Get into a zone with yourself, and focus on your breath. This is not about anybody else but you. This is your time. Close your eyes and feel your own power—the very power you were born with.
2. Open your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and relax. Before anything will make sense you have to find your center of gravity. So relax your shoulders. Drop your head and relax your forehead, relax your eyebrows, relax your cheeks, relax your neck, relax your biceps, relax your chest.
3. Say this mantra silently: Can’t stop, won’t stop trying, can’t stop, won’t stop pushing, can’t stop, won’t stop movin’ and groovin’ and workin’ and pushin’. (Today! Remember you can’t meditate for tomorrow today. You have to take each day on its own.) Play those words in your head over and over and over. It will help you find some pep in your step, and rush your adrenaline a little bit to give you the motivation you need for whatever reason you went on that walk in the first place.
4. Now let’s put a visual in front of your head. Keep your pace with however you’re moving. Don’t slow down. Can’t stop, won’t stop trying, can’t stop, won’t stop pushing, can’t stop, won’t stop movin’ and groovin’ and workin’ and pushin’. There’s got to be somewhere that you go in your head when you want peace . . . and on that stretch of road where you go for peace, I want you to keep yourself right there, keep the pace, and see what it is you really want for yourself.
5. Visualize holding on to yourself—hug yourself from the inside out. Sometimes there’s no one around to give you a hug when you need it, so you hug yourself by flexing your abs really tight. This just involves tightening your abs and hugging yourself almost like you’re bracing for someone to hit your tummy. That’s a self-hug! Can’t stop, won’t stop trying, can’t stop, won’t stop pushing, can’t stop, won’t stop movin’ and groovin’ and workin’ and pushin’.
6. Be careful what you’re thinking about here. You have a lot of power right now with this mental behavior. It’s a direct shot into the universe when you have this much going on. I can almost guarantee if you have a positive thought going on and don’t stop thinking that powerful thought and push through, there will be something magical, such as a long-awaited message in your voicemail, waiting for you when the Moving Meditation is over. Stay 100 percent primetime in love with the thought. Don’t let anything else penetrate, or it won’t work. If you stay focused on it and punch it through, it will work.
7. Keep your breathing even and keep playing the mantra in your head until you feel it’s a great time to stop.
Moving Meditation to Help You Work Out and/or for Emotional Strength
1. Every time you choose to move, it’s your choice where you’re going to take yourself. Every day is a different twenty-four hours. There’s a different vibration on every hour of every day, so you have to lock in to your highest vibration here and now. Don’t forget that you are the vibration.
2. Self-mantra: Say to yourself, This is my life. I own it. It belongs to me. I am going to live it the way I want to. I am going to make it an awesome day. My body is strong and it is mine and I am going to use it to make me stronger.
3. Feel the strength flood your body from your head down to your toes. It’s an attitude, it’s a motivated approach for your life. It’s emotion, it’s activity, it’s energy, it’s electricity, it’s vibration, it’s who you are. Walk, run, ride a bike, jump up and down in your kitchen, just move. And keep on moving. Sometimes a fist in the air and a nice loud “YEAH!” can do the trick!
4. You were born with a voice—make sure you use it at least once a day. Communication is key. How you deliver your words is crucial. You can’t go wrong if you’re delivering those words from a perspective of strength and kindness.
5. It’s your choice. If there’s something you’re really going for in your life, I want you to put it out there and believe it will happen. This is where your true colors start to shine through. Your true testimony to yourself, what you really believe in, how you handle all the challenges in your life is going to show right here from wherever you are, whether it’s up or down. You’re pushing through this day. What will you choose to do today? Make it a productive one!
6. If there were no boundaries, if there were no consequences, if there were no limitations, where would you go now? Change your attitude now. Shift it to higher levels of thinking, a stronger belief system, with more integrity, more honesty. Be the best you in this imagery. Remember, your cells are listening to what your mind says. The more positive you are with your thoughts, the better your body feels.
7. Stay focused, stay driven, stay in your Moving Meditation until you feel it’s a great time to stop.
Now is a good time to make a fist and punch the air and yell in a whisper that is strong and meaningful, “YEAH!”
ASK THE UNIVERSE FOR HELP
Stating your intentions works. The thing is, not enough people really do it because it takes a bit of work—and to be on it, it takes a small bit of nonjudgmental belief that there are forces in the universe willing to help you if you ask for it.
I am going to walk you through a Moving Meditation where you ask the universe for help in landing the job you not only want but need very badly. You can then tweak this scenario for any other goal in your life. Believe in this technique wholeheartedly and it will work for you.
All you need is a piece of paper, a pen, and a small white candle.
1. On the piece of paper, write down your goal—in this case, it’s “I Am Going to Get a Fabulous Job at XYZ.” (Write in very small print because you’re going to fold the paper up.) Under the main goal, write down everything positive you can think of about this job, even if you know that position may not exist yet. Here are some examples for you to choose from: “I will love this job. This job will be close to where I live. My boss will be incredible. My salary will be what I deserve. I am worthy of getting this job. I am going to find this job. This job is right for me. Somebody needs me to do this job. I am the right person for this job.” (Notice how your thinking will shift from “I need a job” to “I am the right person for this job” to “I’m going to get this job.” Your mental determination is already shifting!)
2. Fold the paper in half and put it underneath the white candle. (Be sure, of course, that it’s sitting flat and won’t tip!) Light the candle, and as you sit by it and stare into the flame, go through all the items on your list and try to remember as many of them as possible. Say them out loud.
3. Get up, make your wish that the universe hears your intention (in this case, for the job), blow out the candle, and go walk around the block. This is very important. Even if it’s just to the end of the street and back—even in the rain or snow—you must get outside and move so the universe knows that you’re putting your intentions into action. In other words, the instant you uptake this list, it’s there in your mind, and you want to telepathically tell the universe that you’re serious. Again . . . you gotta believe or this will absolutely not help you.
Call me cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs all you want, but this shit works. I have many, many testimonials to prove it. Seriously! Have faith. Believe. It will happen.
4. You are going to repeat step 3 every freaking day until that job shows up. You don’t stop. (Okay, so if there’s a blizzard or hurricane outside, or if you’re not feeling well, open your door, go through your intention list, and then close it and go back inside—no other excuses allowed!) It might take one day, it might take a week, it might take a month, or even a year or two years—but you don’t stop until that job shows up.
“Don’t scoff at asking the universe for help.”
Get Ready to Shine and Pop
While you’re putting your energy and desire for this job out into the universe, you are also going to work on your visualization in preparation for the day when the fateful phone call or e-mail arrives telling you you’ve got an interview. Follow these steps. They’re really good training for any kind of important meeting.
1. In your mind, go through your closet. What are you going to wear to your appointment or interview? Make sure when you visualize yourself, you look great. Don’t hesitate to put yourself in an outfit you don’t even own—it could be something you saw in a store window or in a magazine that you wish you could have. Whatever it is, just make sure that you feel good in it.
2. Then when you visualize what you’re wearing, visualize how you’re getting to where you’re going. If you have an interview a mile away or an interview in a specific office building or someone’s house, imagine yourself getting there with absolutely no traffic. All the lights are green. It’s a beautiful day outside in your visualization, even if it’s raining or snowing right now. Just clear a path and think, Green lights, green lights. When you arrive at your visualized destination, there is a parking spot right in front with your name on it. The parking gods are on your side, and you don’t even have to think about parallel parking!
3. Next comes what I think is one of the most important visualizations, one I always do: Imagine the person you’re supposed to meet is smiling as they greet you. They’re smiling with pleasure as they shake your hand and show you to your seat. They are so happy to see you. You instantly feel confident and enthusiastic.
4. As soon as you sit down, imagine that the conversation is going totally in your favor. They tell you yes, they would love to have you at this job, what great ideas you have, they love what you bring to the table. This is going to be amazing for the entire staff. Then they thank you, shake your hand again, and say good-bye with a proud and contented smile for the brilliant choice they have made—namely, hiring you.
When you set that deep of an intention—with anything that you’re about to do—it really gives it the opportunity to line up. It tells the universe that this is what you want, and it creates an unknown path. Since we as humans don’t really know how our telepathic powers manifest, why not just tell the universe how it’s supposed to go down? Because then at least you have set the path in motion. The way you tune in to this energy is by repeating your visualizations over and over. You will literally be creating your own destiny. And instead of saying, “I want this job later or soon or next month,” you will always be saying, “I want this job now, immediately.” Be positive. Be confident. After all, if you don’t ask, how can you get what you want?
Please don’t scoff at asking the universe for help. If you do, it’s like a double negative. Because not only are you not asking, but you’re stripping your request of its power. Picture a magnet that is attracting all your intentions when you are thinking positive and visualizing, and then the second you don’t believe, the magnet reverses its charge and everything is instantly repelled.
You shine when you try. You shine when you pay attention. In other words, you pop! You want to live that way—shining and popping! That’s why making your list, writing down your goals, and setting your intentions is so important to do by hand, on paper. To say it out loud and to put it in motion. Ask yourself: If there were no boundaries, no consequences, and no limitations, where would you go now?
After all, as Roald Dahl wrote in his book The Minpins, “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”