Many great sages and teachers tell us we can make a beautiful life. They say it’s a matter of using your imagination to manifest the right things in the right way. Here’s how to do it.
Creation is an act that involves imagination, willpower, and the skills to make it a reality. It’s a simple formula, but if it were easy, everyone would live lives fulfilling their heart’s desires. However, that’s not the case.
So, we sought out people who claimed to be living fulfilling lives. Not surprisingly, they had some things in common that we’d like to share. The people living the lives they dreamed about followed similar steps, even though their goals were different.
How to Develop Your Imagination
The first thing you need to do is create a detailed picture of what you want your life to be. Make sure it’s what you want and not what others want you to have or become. Use a journal to document the snapshot of your ideal life. Make sure what you want to create is something that benefits you and does no harm to others or the planet. This is very important. Too many people abuse their power of creation to spawn hate, bias, and prejudice. So, use your imagination with proper judgment and care.
Ask yourself the following questions and write the answers in your journal for future reference. Putting these things in writing will help you as you move through the six ways to develop your imagination.
- When you imagine your life, how do you picture it?
- How have you set your intention to create the life you want?
- Do you have a plan, or do you know how to get there?
- Do you know what internal and external obstacles may be in the way?
- Who can help you get there?
- What are your resources?
- What are the obstacles?
Using Your Imagination to Manifest a Better Life
The second thing to learn is that ruminating and visualizing are different. Ruminating is fantasizing about the future. You want to make the change from fantasizing to visualizing. (1)
“The imagination is where we create ideas. Intention gives ideas direction and force. Determination brings ideas created into manifestation.” ― Guru Tua
You start a positive chain reaction when you write your thoughts about creating a beautiful life.
Using your imagination to manifest is something many people have been doing long before the term Law of Attraction was first used in the book Thought Vibration or The Law of Attraction in the Thought World in 1906 (William Walker Atkinson). Finding ways to develop your imagination to manifest and create goes back before recorded history to the Shamanic communities of antiquity.
“With imagination, we can hold a universe inside our minds.” ― Alberto Villoldo
Engaging the power of your imagination is the key. It’s the shaping force of your world. After all, every invention of our modern results from someone using imagination to manifest the positive things we desire. When we add determination and intent, the results are life-changing.
We are motivated by positive actions that support our goals. As a bonus, we also receive support in unexpected ways from unexpected sources. Our intent is the second key. Our intent or willpower is the ingredient that provides the energy for making life beautiful. (2)
“Intent is not a thought, or an object, or a wish. Intent is what can make a man succeed when his thoughts tell him that he is defeated. It operates in spite of the warrior’s indulgence. Intent is what makes him invulnerable. Intent is what sends a shaman through a wall, through space, to infinity.” ― Carlos Castaneda
“Using your imagination to manifest and create mental images stimulates your mind, helps organize your life, and keeps your focus in a particular direction. It allows your unconscious mind to work toward the image you have created, the goal. It’s about understanding the life you want to live and seeing it unfold before you.” ― Georges St-Pierre
The Six Ways to Develop Your Imagination
The key to this process is not to skip the steps. Ensure you complete each step before moving on to the next.
1) Start with the Goal
Your goal may be a place, situation, or people. The clearer the goal, the more likely you are to reach it. Create a picture of what you want your life to be, and fill this image with sounds and smells. Make it as vivid as possible.
Use Your Imagination
Imagine your life is beautiful. What does that look like, and how does it feel? Where is it located? Get your heart and emotions involved. Your heart will help provide the emotional connection to help you overcome any roadblocks. Cultivating your creativity is one of the best ways to develop your imagination.
The key to developing your imagination is taking small steps toward the ultimate goal. You can turn your imagination into a powerful force of creation. Incremental goals are the way to do this. They help keep you on track. If the goal is too far in the future, you can be discouraged even though you are progressing. Breaking the goal down into several stages makes it reachable.
“I understood that life is lived most fully in the imagination – that, ironically, imagination is the key to reality.” — Betty Eadie
Learn how to Manifest
Keeping the goal in your awareness daily is a best practice, and it will become stronger and more vivid the closer you reach your goal. Write it down where you will see it. It’s helpful to write the details of this word picture.
Another one of the ways to develop your imagination is with a vision board. Some people like to use their computer’s desktop, and others use a bulletin board to paste pictures of their goals.
Learn What the Acronym SMART stands for
Creating small goals that you reach is key to creating momentum toward reaching larger objectives. This is why you need to learn how to create SMART goals. Most people fail to manifest the things they want because they do not set themselves up for success by creating the proper goals.
So, how do you set small incremental goals? I’m glad you asked. We recommend goals that follow the SMART format. What the acronym smart stands for are objectives that have all five of the characteristics below:
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- The goal is as specific as possible
- It can be measured in some way, yes or no, or quantitatively
- It must be something that you can reach or attain
- Not only must it be potentially attainable, but it must be realistic
- The objective must be time-oriented
Here are some examples of incremental goals on the way to a long-term objective:
I will complete five courses towards my degree by mid-year, June 30, and another five by December 30. My goal is to graduate next year.
Your ultimate goal is to lose 20 pounds. Start with a target of 2 lbs. every ten days. Set and Then celebrate each step. Celebrating the small steps will encourage and empower you to reach the final objective. If you don’t make the incremental goal, you assess the gap.
2) Assess the Gap
What is the difference between the picture of your beautiful life and where you are now?
In our weight loss example above, we find that at the end of the first 10-day period, we only lost one lb., not two. Why didn’t we reach the goal? Did we fail to stay within our calorie budget? Yes, we know exactly what and when it happened. We attended a birthday party and ate a large piece of cake, which probably had more than 600 calories.
But we did lose 1 lb. So we can celebrate our progress. We know exactly what we need to do to reach our goals. It’s a good idea to write the results in your journal. You can see the roadblocks you need to overcome and identify what you need to do to reach the objective.
3) Plan the road to the Goal
Determine the steps from where you are now to where you imagine a beautiful life. This is where you identify the steps you need to take; it’s also how to develop your imagination.
Don’t get discouraged if the path to your goal takes you on a detour. The route to your destination is often not a straight line. You may need to take a step backward to move forward.
4) Set Your Intention
Set your intent with affirmations and reminders to bring the picture of your beautiful life into your awareness. One good tool for establishing intention is to create a vision board. You can copy photos from the internet and post them on your computer, desktop, or smartphone. Keeping these images in your daily routine ensures you stay focused on the goal. (3)
“To move forward, simply set your intentions, be grateful for what you have, be open to what is possible, and the rest will happen, as a beautiful and effortless journey of cooperation and listening.” — Bryant McGill
5) Work Your Plan
Repeat the above steps until you reach the goal. Using your imagination to manifest gives your positive intent a purpose. Use the law of attraction in thought scripts to solidify your plan.
If the picture of your ultimate beautiful life changes, that’s okay. You have wasted no time or energy. Using this process exercises the power of your intent and imagination. They both gain strength, just like any muscle. Be aware of the interference of any negative self-talk. We highly recommend using The Enneagram of Personality to identify these issues.
6) Do what you can then allow the Universe to guide
Send out positive vibrations and thank the Universe or your Higher Power for each manifestation of your dream. Be watchful. The Universe will send opportunities and steps in ways you may not expect.
In Conclusion
If you want to learn how to manifest things to improve your life, you must learn how to use your imagination. To make a beautiful life, you need to be persistent and patient. The results are on the way if you stay engaged. Be sure to celebrate your incremental successes. Stay positive and focused. Be ready to face the roadblocks that will pop up along the way.
References
(1) Imaginative Thinking and the Learning of Science. The Science Education Review
(2) The Secret to Creative Thinking. The Conversation
(3) The Imaginative Mind The National Library of Medicine