Want to make your wish come true? Tell everyone about it!

Since I personally don't know anyone with their own genie lamp or fairy godmother I sometimes wonder what devices are left for making wishes come true. Blowing on eye lashes, throwing coins in fountains and wishing on shooting stars just hasn't really produced great results for me and I can't help but wonder if the reason why is because part of the ritual is keeping these precious wishes to ourselves. 

There is a problem with the film "The Secret" and it's Law of Attraction claim that if you wish and think positive thoughts your wishes will come through via some magic hand in the cosmos. What it is missing here is the power of human intervention. 

Through many years of making wishes I've come to realize that there is one wishing mechanism more than all others that has reliably come through for me: making a wish and then telling the world about it. 

So how does this work? Well, it first involves deciding on a wish that you are truly intent on manifesting. Perhaps its regarding a new apartment you want to find, a better job you are yearning for or a type of person you are hoping to meet. It can be any wish, but it needs to contain the essential ingredient of your intent on really making it happen. 

And now for the magic part: tell EVERYONE about that wish! Tell your mother and your brother, strangers you meet at parties and people you work with, the person sitting next to you on the plane and the children of your ex's new boyfriend. Post it on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and send out emails to all your contact lists. Tell as many people as you can and take note of everything and anything that sparks your interest, creates a new thought or connects with someone else who may have an interest in your wish. Notice what attracts your attention when you walk the streets and which conversations draw you in. Notice the opportunities presented to you that get you one step closer to your wish and take them on, making the most of them and keeping focused on your wish throughout. 

You see, what happens is that your position and frame of reference in the world start to shift. The world after all, is really just a blank slate of potential onto which we project our own inner state, opinions, experiences and memories. When we start to see the world through the filter of our wish we notice with greater clarity those moments that are most relevant. We start noticing that all around us is everything we need to actualize our dreams. We see that we can start immediately acting towards shifting opportunities in our current reality to bring us closer to our future desired one. With only a maximum of 6 degrees of separation between you and whoever you need that could help you fulfill your wish, the power of communicating wishes with full conviction and dedication will inevitably make them come true. In their book „The Art of Possibility“, Ben and Ros Zander breakdown this formula of manifestation into 4 steps:

1. Imagine that people are an invitation for enrollment.

2. Stand ready to participate, willing to be moved and inspired.

3. Offer that which lights you up.

4. Have no doubt that others are eager to catch the spark.

In the first step we experience a kind of opening up to the world in which we believe in the possibility that there are others as charged by our wish as we are. In the second step we throw ourselves into that world, fully opening ourselves mentally and emotionally to all that is present. In the third step we share our wish with passion and lightness. And in the fourth we experience those who are meant to become part of our core tribe welcoming us with open arms and bringing us a step closer to actualizing our dream.

The problem is that many people keep their wishes to themselves or otherwise make a wish but then don't act in accordance with it. They proceed with business as usual, staying at home awaiting a knock at the door, a sudden call on their phones or an invitation in the mail. They hope, pray and fantasize but to an outside viewer would appear entirely unchanged. You would have no way of knowing that internally they are actually possessed by a dream. Unfortunately, wish-granters don't arrive on their own to silent-wishers. Wish-granters travel on the backs of the people you know and the people you're going to meet. 

So the next time you catch a fallen eyelash and hold it up to your lips, ready to blow it into the universe, take a moment to make your wish and then start sharing it with the world! This method works so well that you might just need to be careful what you wish for.

What‘s the worst that can happen?

Ever heard the advice that only when you get over your fears do you actually stand a chance at accomplishing much of anything in your life? While I believe that the advice is well intended, my own experience suggests otherwise. Rather than rid ourselves of fear we actually need to face them full on. This means naming them, accepting them and getting to know what's the worst that could happen because of them. 

1. Name your fears: so many of us are ruled by fears without even knowing what they are. Especially when faced with a personal challenge or aspiration we would like to reach, without identifying our fears we find ourselves stumbling across the same trip-ups and coming up against the same walls. If you notice this pattern taking place, try taking a step back and understanding what is keeping you from reaching the next level. What are you afraid of that holds you back from really taking a leap of faith, trying something entirely new or investing in a risk? Like meeting someone for the first time, once fear has a name it is no longer a complete stranger to us. 

2. Accept your fears: while fears may prevent us from attaining some dreams, they may also be protecting us and keeping us alive. Rooting back to our hunter-gatherer days, the survival mechanism that is fear functions as a checks and balance of sorts, making sure that we double and triple think about our goals and plans before we pursue them. Accepting and even appreciating the benefits that fears can have for us begin to change our relationships with our fears altogether. Perhaps we can view them as guides or even friends, helping us navigate our dreams while still looking out for us and our safety. Sometimes, our fears served an important role when we were younger in protecting us. These same fears may still be around today even though the dangers no longer are. Understanding our fears in this way also allows us to begin changing the relationship we have with them.

3. What's the worst that can happen? While some fears consume us like a bottomless pit, the truth is that even our deepest fears at some point come to a dead end. Although it's not easy, try a game of engaging with your fear. Ask your fear, "What's the worst that can happen if I do ____?"  When you find the answer, then ask, "And then what would happen?" Keep asking the "And then?" question until you arrive at the very end of the absolute worst chain of events that could happen if you pursued whatever it is that is provoking the fear. Perhaps you now have a written list of 10, 20 or even more events in this chain. Now take a step back and look at how many things would need to happen before that very worst fear-based scenario came true. Consider how much is in your control to actually turn things around for each of those events. Reflect on how many safety measures are most likely already in place that would prevent you from even moving through the first 3 or 4 events. For many of us, it can be empowering just seeing this and realizing how far away the worst reality is from our current reality. 

Once you've gone through these three steps, sense into whether the fear still has as much of a dominant a grip on you as before. The fear may not need to disappear at all for you to have developed a much friendlier and more self-aware approach for how to manage it. In fact, it might even make you stronger.