Decisions Cause Manifestation

Every action we take in our life begins with a decision. Without decisions we could not achieve anything. The decision is the catalyst for putting our thoughts, dreams, desires, and goals into action. Most people think that success and achieving goals comes from carefully planning the correct action but this is only partly true. Before that can happen you need to decide that it actually will happen. Deciding that you are working towards a specific outcome solidifies the idea in your mind, and also forces you to exude energy that will progress you towards the goal. When you make an active decision your mind will strive to fulfill it, identifying any possible opportunities that could help and even subconsciously controlling your actions to guide you closer to your goal.

Deciding leads to manifestation. Once something has been decided upon, things will start to occur to fulfill it. It is as simple as that. So why do most people not do this when talking about that one fantastic goal, or dream, they have? Fear. But today we are not looking at why it happens but how to take control and use the power of decisions to our advantage. Today we are going to make things happen.

An Illustrative Story - Toby the Cavoodle

First, a story to illustrate the point. This story is about Toby (warning: cute puppy picture following...)

Toby
Toby

On Saturday Sophie and I adopted Toby. Yes he is that cute in real life, but the real gem of this story is how quickly it all transpired after we decided to get a puppy.

We had talked about getting a dog for many months but always with some doubt hanging around, gnawing in the background. We both said we wanted a dog but we never really committed to getting one until last Friday night.

Sophie and I were out walking and the conversation turned to dogs (again) and then the inevitable reasons for not getting one. But we pushed through all those negative thoughts and we realised we were so definite that we wanted a dog. We both looked at each other with excitement in our eyes and decided “we are going to get a dog”. It felt right.

Arriving home, Sophie received a call from her sister who told her that the RSPCA was having an adoption drive the following day. When the universe aligns to make things happen it does it in a big way.

We canceled our Saturday plans and headed to the RSPCA, but we were let down. Most dogs were too big, or had such high energy levels, that we could not have kept them happy at our house. When we found a smaller dog ideally suited to our property and lifestyle, we discovered a family was already waiting to take her home. Feeling dejected, we went for a drive, pondering our situation. We had been certain that the RSPCA was a sign but we were still dog-less.

Two hours later we found ourselves at an out-of-the-way pet store doing some research on what we would need when we did eventually did become new puppy owners. While talking to the assistant we played with a litter of Cavoodles and during that time Toby won us over. He was fun, energetic, and smart. We had found the dog for us and he went home with us the very next day. Our decision had manifested.

Decisions Cause Manifestation

The point to the story is that nothing happened until we made that finalising decision. We both had longed a do  for months but we had never actually made a conscious decision about it. When we finally made that decision it took less than 24 hours for us to go from decision to manifestation, with many signs along the way pointing us in the right direction and reinforcing our decision.

Adopting a puppy is not really a big dream to have and because of this the gap between decision and manifestation was short. That is how the universe works; the smaller the goal, the smaller the time it takes to occur after we have decided to make it happen.

Consider the action of eating. When you make the conscious decision that it is time to eat the relevant actions occur quickly with little problems and you end up eating a meal pretty quickly. But bigger goals, like buying a house, quitting your job, or starting your own business, take a lot more time to manifest.

That is not meant to serve as a scare-tactic but work as motivation. If you are dreaming about something big then you need decide to make it happen today, so that you give it as much time as possible to manifest. Putting off the decision will only delay your goals more. Use today to decide that you will make your dream come true.

Remove Fear and Self-Doubt

Once you have made the decision, the biggest problem you have facing you is your own fear and self doubt. These are the stumbling blocks that you encounter that prevent your goal from manifesting.

If you start doubting if you will fulfill your goals then guess what? Your mind will find reasons to prove your self-doubt correct. Compare the difference between these two statements: 1) “I want [x]...I want it to happen no matter what!” 2) “I want [y]…Maybe its impossible. Maybe I should aim for something else.”

If you were given both these statements at the same time which one would you focus your attention on? Number 1 of course! Why waste time and energy on a task when we have doubts that it is even possible? And that is exactly how your mind works when you feed it doubt and fear. It is blatant self-sabotage and it prevents you from achieving your goals.

To turn this around you need to start believing and stop doubting. It can be hard skill to learn, especially if you have spent your life listening to the masses of people who try to tell you what you cannot do, so I recommend starting small. Pick a goal that is small but will be noticeable when it is fulfilled. Make a decision that you will achieve your goal and state your decision aloud. This helps you feel more accountable. Even better is if you can tell someone you trust - your partner, friends, or family. Spend 10 minutes a day, preferably at the start, reminding yourself that you made this decision and you fully intend to see it fulfilled.Then wait for he opportunities to unfold in front of you, often in unexpected ways.

Decide to be successful.

If you liked this article you might like reading more on The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and The Way You Think and Why it's Wrong.

Fitness February - lose fat, build muscle, run better

February 2011 is going to be all about fitness. Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net fame is a shining light for how to break bad habits and introduce good ones and in the past five years he has quit smoking, lost 50 pounds, run several marathons, tripled his income, wrote a novel, wrote several e-books, and the list just keeps going. One of his key concepts is to only focus on changing one habit at a time which is a simple yet effective method consider the basic human behavioral stance is to oppose major change. Following this concept I have decided to dedicate the next 28 days to fitness.

Fitness February

The word "fitness" is pretty generic and is too vague on its own. The changes I am implementing will be a little bit more than just one thing but they all come under the fitness umbrella term. I think I can manage that. But as I mentioned previously, setting measurable goals and tracking data is the best way to remain focused on a task, so I will break it down a bit more to set myself tasks that I can easily measure my success against.

February Goals

Visit the doctor - I generally manage to steer clear of doctors baring semi-emergency experiences (collapsed lung, broken wrist, attacked by a clothesline). But this month I am going to schedule an appointment jus to get a full assessment on my health. I want to know how I am going now and what areas I need to work on.

Visit a Feldenkrais expert/Physio/Chiropractor - I was researching neck relaxation techniques the other day and stumbled upon a reference to the Feldenkrais Method. This phrase particularly piqued my interest: "changes in our ability to move are inseparable from changes in our conscious perception of ourselves as embodied", so I will be visiting a Feldenkrais practitioner to see what we can discover about how I use body. If I cannot find a good practitioner then I will settle for a physiotherapist or chiropractor for the time being.

Trim body fat - before I started My 4 Hour Body adventure two weeks ago I estimated my body fat percentage to be at 17.5 - 20%. That is too high. I am a naturally sporty person and I do not like being out of shape so my goal is to trim down to 10% body fat and reduce waist and hip measurements by a further 2cm (already down 4.5cm and 2cm respectively).

Gain size in muscles - I want to be one of those guys who kisses his biceps before going to bed and wears nothing but singlets, even in winter. Ok, not quite that bad, but some extra size in the right places would be great. I want to gain at least 2cm in my biceps, chest, and thighs.

Improve my running style and ability - I want to do some analysis on my running style and improve it to be more efficient. I am thinking about creating my "30 year bucket list" (things to do before I turn 30) and competing in a marathon\triathlon will definitely be included. So I want to iron out any kinks in my running style. As a subset to this I want to be able to run 5km in under 30 minutes by the end of February.

I think that will do. February is going to be great and by March I am going to be a leaner, fitter, stronger, and happier version of myself. And I will be ready for my next lifestyle challenge!

Update (2/2/11): You can now read the outcomes of Fitness February in this article.