How to Visualize Your New Reality (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

How to Visualize Your New Reality

[freddy]

How do you keep from seeing the problems that may accompany your manifestation? Like if I suddenly was giving a million dollars, I would be worried about tax issues or how to put it into banks to keep it insured under the 250 thousand dollar limit. And other problems as well. So how do you eliminate those thoughts from coming in as you visulize?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by freddy

How do you keep from seeing the problems that may accompany your manifestation? Like if I suddenly was giving a million dollars, I would be worried about tax issues or how to put it into banks to keep it insured under the 250 thousand dollar limit. And other problems as well. So how do you eliminate those thoughts from coming in as you visulize?

Why would you try to eliminate those thoughts? They can actually help you get there.

I don't know too many wealthy people who don't have a hate-hate relationship with the IRS, for example.

On the other hand, if you're seeing negative emotions come up, perhaps what you're visualizing isn't really what you want. A lot of people think they want more money, but that isn't their true desire.

In my case I don't need a million dollars in the bank because to me that would mean giving too much of my power away to money, at least at my current level of expenses. I think about abundance more in terms of flow. I want to be strong enough in myself to know I can create whatever experiences I desire... with or without money.

Ultimately I want to enjoy such a flow of abundance that I don't even need money to have the best life imaginable and to make things happen.

[Melchior]

@freddy: Well, you could always just visualize yourself handling the negatives that come up gracefully along with settling in nicely with the positives in an effort to keep it 'real' for you. That or just see a reality without it instead of 'rejecting' one with it, there's a difference there.

A comment/response to the blog post: It's interesting that every day I wake up and feel the world as a little bit different, carry myself differently, interact differently, and go about my day in generally different manner than the previous day, however subtle. Although I've not specifically seen Sliders or the Quantum Leap, I've been exposed to the ideas involved and the day to day changes certainly feels as though I'm sliding among realities. Moreover, I've attempted to guide where I end up as well. Speaking of which, I also have a target reality I'm headed toward.

[N64]

Firstly, good post.

A lot of visualization/LOA articles talk about detaching from the outcome to manifest it. But I haven't seen it in any of your articles. After visualizing ( and internalizing) do you detach yourself of the outcome?

After beginning to internalize your new outcome, have you experienced completely odd synchronicities? like visualizing having a lot of friends and you get an invitation to a party out of nowhere?

How much ( timewise) should you spend on this?

[James81]

My question is this....

I'm the type of person who is more "down to earth" in the way I view the world, and, as such, the idea of intention-manifestation, to me, seems like a load of bunk (to put it bluntly ).

Thing is, I WANT to believe in it, and as such I'd love to try the suggestions you've given in both your videos and this article.

But, being the realist that I am, I imagine this is something that will only work if you take it 100% seriously and believe it works.

So, my question then, is how do you get over the initial hurdle of disbelief? Or is that even necessary?

[Savage]

Originally Posted by N64

Firstly, good post.

A lot of visualization/LOA articles talk about detaching from the outcome to manifest it. But I haven't seen it in any of your articles. After visualizing ( and internalizing) do you detach yourself of the outcome?

After beginning to internalize your new outcome, have you experienced completely odd synchronicities? like visualizing having a lot of friends and you get an invitation to a party out of nowhere?

How much ( timewise) should you spend on this?

I do my best to detach myself from how the outcome manifests (i.e. the specific manifestation), but I remain desirous of the outcome (i.e. the general intention). That works well for me.

As for the synchronicities, yes, they happen quickly in most cases. Look up my article "How Intentions Manifest" in the Archives for details.

How much time do I spend on this? At least an hour or more per day on average because it's such an ingrained habit now. Whenever I have some mental downtime, I tend do it automatically, like when I'm out for a walk, exercising at the gym, driving, making food, taking a shower, soaking in the jacuzzi, etc. My mind automatically starts thinking about what I desire, partly because it feels so good to do so. It would be harder not to do it.

Even when I'm on the phone talking to a friend, I start imagining all the cool possibilities of how our connection may develop over time. Will we travel together someday? Maybe do a project together? Make some raw food recipes together? Then I'll toss out those things to discuss with my friend to see if the feeling is mutual -- and it almost always is. This immediately brings the connection to a new level and gets both of us thinking about future possibilities together and holding joint intentions.

If a friend of mine has a cool hobby that looks interesting to me, for example, I'll often say, "That sounds like fun. I've always wanted to learn how to do that. Will you teach me?" Usually my friend starts giving me some basic instruction right over the phone to get me started.

My relationship with the universe is much the same.

[Melchior]

@James81: Test it out for yourself, preferably with an open mind. You're allowed to be curious, right? After all, doesn't a realist want to know what the 'real' world is like? Luckily, this particular experiment is relatively simple to perform and repeat. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work, at least you don't have to 'die' first before you can get your answer.

[jasonkostempski]

What do you use for a Journal on your Mac? "The Journal" that you recommended in the past doesn't seem to have a Mac version.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by James81

I'm the type of person who is more "down to earth" in the way I view the world, and, as such, the idea of intention-manifestation, to me, seems like a load of bunk (to put it bluntly ).

We LoAers refer to such folks as muggles.

So, my question then, is how do you get over the initial hurdle of disbelief? Or is that even necessary?

I can relate to where you are b/c I used to be in the same place mentally. I got annoyed with people who told me I was stuck in my head and missing out on so much cool stuff in life... an easier way to get things done... blah blah blah.

But then I got curious. I asked, "How can I be certain they're wrong if I've never entered their reality. Obviously they believe in this stuff strongly. Why? Some of them seem like very intelligent people. Are they just being fooled?"

I realized that in order to be certain, I had to loosen my grip on disbelief and move to a state of skeptical doubt. I had to start doubting my disbelief since I saw the possibility that I very well could be wrong. If my own disbelief was creating my reality and limiting my experience, how would I ever know? In fact, I would never know unless I shifted beyond that disbelief and entered a new reality, if only for the purpose of exploration and comparison.

So I did that. I began to doubt my disbelief and open my mind to other possibilities. I did not believe in anything. I merely doubted my disbelief, realizing I could be wrong. Then I asked the universe to show me evidence of how reality really worked. And it did. And it freaked me out for a few years. And then I kept going with it.

And in the long run, life became much easier and more fulfilling, and I grew a lot happier. And from an external perspective, everything in my life looks pretty good these days. I get to do what I love, enjoy abundant freedom, have plenty of time for friends and relationships, etc.

It's okay to live as a muggle if that's what you really want, but there's a lot more to life beyond the physical world if you care to explore.

It's obvious to me that you emit a "stuck in your head" vibe (you can't help but transmit that whenever you post), and you'll never see evidence that the LoA is real because your vibe is going to attract only the densest, slowest physical manifestations that you can attribute to physical world effects. Your vibe is very different from the vibes put out by people who are really good at manifesting. Your vibe actually reminds me a lot of the vibe I had when I was an atheist. I couldn't manifest squat back then.

It takes a lot of courage to enter a reality where the LoA is real. At first you may feel like you broke your reality. It's very disconcerting to step into that kind of universe. You will feel a hefty weight of responsibility for the vibes you're putting out because you will see what you're manifesting and know that you caused it. That is not an easy thing to accept, but it spawns a tremendous amount of growth.

[James81]

Originally Posted by Melchior

@James81: Test it out for yourself, preferably with an open mind. You're allowed to be curious, right? After all, doesn't a realist want to know what the 'real' world is like? Luckily, this particular experiment is relatively simple to perform and repeat. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work, at least you don't have to 'die' first before you can get your answer.

Thing is, testing it out when you have doubt that it will work is sort of like taking a bite of food you've never tasted that you are sure isn't going to taste good...so you crinkle your nose and start to gag before the food even touches your lips.

In other words, if one has made a decision about something, then testing it out will be biased towards proving the decision you've made to be right, instead of approaching it with an open mind.

And I'm trying to figure out how to open my mind to something like this (that doesn't seem to fit my worldview) so that I CAN test it out.

[Rose of Cairo]

Hey, what a cool post.

I'm currently working on creating financial abundance. I found that taking energetically strategic actions works wonderfully. However, I have a hell of a hard time visualizing. I never know what I want as the big picture. I know about some details that I want (partial visualizations), but I have absolutely no clue what the big picture would look like!

For example, I know that I want to emigrate again - but I don't know where I want to live. Norway, or maybe the Netherlands? Or some English speaking country. Or... Also, I don't know who will be in my life in the future. Engaging in relationships and letting go of them is flexible for me, it depends on how well I resonate with people and how well they are aligned with my destination energy. Same for hobbies. And so on.

Basically, what I know very well is what energy I want to create in my life. But what that will look like concretely, I have no clue.

What to do in such a case?

[James81]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

It's obvious to me that you emit a "stuck in your head" vibe (you can't help but transmit that whenever you post), and you'll never see evidence that the LoA is real because your vibe is going to attract only the densest, slowest physical manifestations that you can attribute to physical world effects. Your vibe is very different from the vibes put out by people who are really good at manifesting. Your vibe actually reminds me a lot of the vibe I had when I was an atheist. I couldn't manifest squat back then.

It's interesting that you talk about atheism, because, given my intensely religious background, you'd think that LoA would be something I'd eat up. I've always related intention-manifestation with prayer, and even label it as "religion for those who don't want to be religious" lol.

I think the idea relates to the fact that the spiritual side of me has been left dormant for quite some time, left in the past where I associate a lot of pain with the experience. Religion and the religious have tended to let me down more often than not, and, as such, I remain a person who WANTS to believe in God/spirituality/whatever, but I am held back from purusing it due to negative experiences.

[Melchior]

Originally Posted by James81

Thing is, testing it out when you have doubt that it will work is sort of like taking a bite of food you've never tasted that you are sure isn't going to taste good...so you crinkle your nose and start to gag before the food even touches your lips.

Be more optimistic, it seems as though you are uncomfortable with the unknown...

In other words, if one has made a decision about something, then testing it out will be biased towards proving the decision you've made to be right, instead of approaching it with an open mind.

Yeah, that's called confirmation bias. Keep pushing forward.
(Also, excuses, excuses... )

And I'm trying to figure out how to open my mind to something like this (that doesn't seem to fit my worldview) so that I CAN test it out.

I thought you were a realist, I think you should be well aware that what you know about the world (i.e. your worldview) isn't all that there is. Try this: want it. want to figure out how to get an open mind, want an open mind, also, don't be afraid of what having an open mind will get you. That's one of the reasons why you asked, right? Let this be one of the first things that LoA brings to you.

[stevo75]

I'm a little confused about the partial vs. total visualization thing. I thought the whole point of visualization is to create the vibration of abundance (or whatever vibration you're trying to create), as opposed to thinking all the right things so that they will manifest. If thinking about something that's unrealistic shifts your vibration, or the way you feel, isn't it accomplishing the goal? Does it really matter what the thoughts are, or whether or not you're fully associated vs 3rd person in the visualization?

[James81]

Originally Posted by Melchior

it seems as though you are uncomfortable with the unknown...


......don't be afraid of what having an open mind will get you. .....

Yeah, definately. I've realized this about myself before, but it definately applies here as well.

[Daffy Duck]

There's that tricky balance, right James? You want to be open minded, but at the same time you don't want "your brains to fall out."

And it's a good thought to have, I think. I feel like some of the stuff I've heard from the LoA crowd is a load of crap, but of course, I feel the same about some of the things "Realists" say as well.

I think the nice thing about something like this is that it's not too hard to believe in. LoA isn't suggesting that there are aliens coming to the planet, hidden behind a comet, and you need to commit suicide for them to save your soul. LoA practitioners are suggesting you start off by spending 20-30 minutes a day visualizing. No biggie. If you try an "alternate reality" for a while and find it doesn't work for you, then you can always go back to your old reality.

Edit: Btw, I don't pay much attention to the 11:11 stuff, but of course I just looked at my clock now and I see it. Oh boy.

[Tanja]

Originally Posted by James81

testing it out when you have doubt that it will work
And I'm trying to figure out how to open my mind to something like this (that doesn't seem to fit my worldview) so that I CAN test it out.

How about just testing, or maybe the better word would be trying it? Without the part of proving or disproving it works.
You do a 15 or 30 day visualization trial? Just to see how you feel about it. Not expecting any outcome.
If this makes any sense to you

[James81]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

There's that tricky balance, right James? You want to be open minded, but at the same time you don't want "your brains to fall out."

Ah, the rub. Yeah, you nailed it. In fact, I was actually thinking this as I typed up my posts here in this thread.

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

I think the nice thing about something like this is that it's not too hard to believe in. LoA isn't suggesting that there are aliens coming to the planet, hidden behind a comet, and you need to commit suicide for them to save your soul. LoA practitioners are suggesting you start off by spending 20-30 minutes a day visualizing. No biggie. If you try an "alternate reality" for a while and find it doesn't work for you, then you can always go back to your old reality.

True enough. In thinking about this, I discovered something else that might be holding me back. As I said, I tend to think of the LoA crowd is loopy and beyond reality (and even a bit lazy in that I believe that a lot of people do this because they don't want to put in the grunt work to get what they want).

And part of the "fear" for me is that I try this, it works, and suddenly others think the same thing about me. Mesa no liek when people think negative thoughts about me.

But I DO realize that that is a tell for myself. I fear the judgement that I myself am eminating towards others. Which is a hard pill to swallow.

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

Edit: Btw, I don't pay much attention to the 11:11 stuff, but of course I just looked at my clock now and I see it. Oh boy.

Ha ha, that 11:11 **** is the bane of my existance these days.

Oh, and the number 23 too, even since I watched that damn movie.

[yoopersmith]

I like the movie "Ground Hog Day" for this kinda of training.

Life is like ground hog day...esp when you have a job like me

But when you really "be the change" you want to see in your world, then the world around you responds a new ways.

The main character goes through some real growth and in the end changes into a completely new and different and more caring and helpful person...one might even say passionately unreasonably...like STEVE .

...the song "I got you babe" gets a little tired though...

[cacheborn]

Good post.

Things are much clearer now. I was not able to piece together different pieces of PD with LOA but now looks like they are falling into place. Like, first you have to face the truth of your situation. When your current situation is clear, then you can think about what you would like it to be. here, it helps if you have a purpose so that your intentions will be congruent with it. Then, you also need courage/confidence to accept the new reality.

I need to work on my visualizations. I cannot wait to enter Hogwarts.

[allen080105]

Originally Posted by James81

So, my question then, is how do you get over the initial hurdle of disbelief? Or is that even necessary?

I was closed to doing anything like this before. Reaching a breaking point forced me to open up to it though. I looked at my life and said "uh....this isn't working, so I'm open to suggestions anyone has on how to make my situation better".

I don't think you have to reach that point though. Like others have said in this thread, I think you just have to be curious.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by James81

And part of the "fear" for me is that I try this, it works, and suddenly others think the same thing about me. Mesa no liek when people think negative thoughts about me.

But I DO realize that that is a tell for myself. I fear the judgement that I myself am eminating towards others. Which is a hard pill to swallow.

Wow James. I would like to take my hat off and wave it circularly as I bow low before you. I have the utmost respect for your genuine honesty and your authentic commitment to your own growth.

You might have had negative experiences with religious people in the past, but spirituality is not the same as religion. And the title of your website contains the word "soul", so don't come up with a too rationalistic atheist discourse, you wouldn't be credible!

If you want to try out using the LoA consciously, using visualizations is not the only way you could do that. There are other methods like for example taking energetically strategic action. I learned that from Andrea Hess and got surprisingly quick and spectacular results with it. It's about identifying the energy of your desired outcome and then taking action, but energetically meaningful action, not necessarily action that is very logical in a linear way. It's still loopy and out-there, but since you seem to love working your *ss off to get what you want, maybe you would like this approach.

Love.

[BeetrootChessElf]

James,

Like Steve, I was once where you are (also like Steve atheistic at the time as it happened), so I thought I'd make a rare contribution.

It has taken many years for me to come to a point where my faith in LOA is sufficient for me to commit to regular visualisation knowing that I'm not fighting against doubts any more. For me it took a series of small breakthroughs, but in almost all cases my visualisations were for playful things. One such experiment that I particularly enjoyed engaging in was the "blue feather" visualisation. I believe the idea comes from a Richard Bach (he of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull fame) book - not sure which one. I found out about it here:

Huna Trainer .com – Rediscover Ancient Wisdom » JediTrainer.com Show #1: Your Thoughts Create Your Reality

My response on that page (number 14), briefly outlines my results. The key was doing the visualisation playfully - I wasn't thinking "will this happen? won't this happen" at all (so doubts weren't there to sabotage results) as it was fun just to try and imagine having a blue feather (I don't really "visualise" as such - just think about things and enjoy imagining the accompanying feelings).

Oh. And you mentioned 11:11 and the number 23. Why not adopt a favourite number (I have a 3-digit favourite which I began by daring the universe to manifest - I now can't escape it! This after I decided my 2-digit number was so commonplace anyway it might just be random chance...)

Best wishes,

[BeetrootChessElf]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

Wow James. I would like to take my hat off and wave it circularly as I bow low before you. I have the utmost respect for your genuine honesty and your authentic commitment to your own growth.

I should have said that too! (-:

[James81]

So, first of all thanks for the support to those who've given me advice about this.

Secondly, what's it mean when I just sat down and wrote a 2000 word post surrounding my thoughts on this subject and how all the signs are pointing me towards delving deeper into this area, all posted to my blog, only to hit "Save Draft" and have the login screen for wordpress come up, to realize that I lost all of it. lol It's not anywhere in my saved drafts or in my history.

lol Talk about frustrating.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by James81

So, first of all thanks for the support to those who've given me advice about this.

Secondly, what's it mean when I just sat down and wrote a 2000 word post surrounding my thoughts on this subject and how all the signs are pointing me towards delving deeper into this area, all posted to my blog, only to hit "Save Draft" and have the login screen for wordpress come up, to realize that I lost all of it. lol It's not anywhere in my saved drafts or in my history.

lol Talk about frustrating.

Similar stuff has happened to me before.

I think it's because my writing about it was really a form of delay. What I needed to be doing was more direct experimenting, not pondering and pontificating.

I had some of the most amazing LoA breakthroughs (including perhaps the biggest of my life this far, which I can't even talk about yet) during the time when two of my computers broke down and it wasn't convenient to access certain files for a while.

[cylon]

James for what it's worth I rarely talk about this stuff in "real life" because I used to seriously despise people who had "spiritual beliefs". Why? Because growing up I had serious, traumatic experiences regarding family and religion and spent YEARS trying to recover, and the only way I could recover was by flat out rejecting the entire idea of anything not proven by science. (And if I started talking about LOA to my family, all they would do is remember how much I rebelled against Christianity and they would figure, Satan's got a hold of me with his black magic.)

Somehow I got over most of that pain and became open minded again. Learned to forgive the bible thumpers of my past. But it's not something I will talk about in the real world though. Probably because I haven't attracted friends who believe in this stuff yet. Wonder what that would be like.

[James81]

Originally Posted by cylon

Learned to forgive the bible thumpers of my past.

This is something I *feel* like I've done. I can think of all the people who've hurt me from my church-going days and I don't feel any negative feelings toward them or anything.

I think it's more of a case where my spirituality has been left dormant for so long that if feels a little....yucky?....to try and pick it up again.

Sort of like if you have a barrel of apples that you don't touch and forget about, and then, when you go to use that barrel again, you open it up and they are all rotted and nasty cause they've just been sitting there forever, so you have an aversion to reaching in and scooping out the nastiness and cleaning it so that you can put fresh apples in there (or whatever you would like to put in said barrel ).

That's the kind of aversion to spirituality I have.

[Daffy Duck]

Originally Posted by James81

Secondly, what's it mean when I just sat down and wrote a 2000 word post surrounding my thoughts on this subject and how all the signs are pointing me towards delving deeper into this area, all posted to my blog, only to hit "Save Draft" and have the login screen for wordpress come up, to realize that I lost all of it. lol It's not anywhere in my saved drafts or in my history.

LOL, oh man, ALWAYS do "Select All + Copy" before pasting a form. I do it even for short posts on here. It's a good habit to have.

Ctrl + A, then Ctrl + C.