Getting what you want is more than applying the ‘law of attraction,’ a positive thinking concept popularized by the film and book “The Secret.” Achieving your dreams is also about effort and mindfulness—actually putting into action what is needed to reach your goals while being aware of and clearing what stands in the way.

Work at What You Want to Attract

Nothing worth achieving happens in a flash. Manifesting your dreams takes time, effort, and perseverance.

To develop myself as a group facilitator, healer, and writer I’ve had to put in a lot of work. In addition to acquiring communications and health education degrees and certificates and holding down full-time day jobs, I put in due diligence by 1) preparing and rehearsing talks, 2) receiving training in public speaking and performance, and 3) practicing guerilla marketing in local and national communities. My consulting work didn’t happen over night and continues to evolve as I do.

This applies beyond career, any area of your life. If you want to get into good physical shape, you need to integrate sound eating habits and physical activity into your everyday life. If you want to find a new love, you need to get out and meet people with similar interests.

According to author Malcolm Gladwell, it takes around 10,000 hours of practice in order to flourish at a particular activity. In his book “Outliers,” Gladwell refers to this principle as the “10,000-Hour Rule.”

It also takes a dose of mindfulness to catch yourself when falling back into old behaviors that block you from achieving what you want. If you slip into automatic patterns, acknowledge any underlying feelings, notice what you can change or let go of, then pick yourself up and move forward.

Find What's Easy for You -- Then Make It a Habit

To achieve personal or professional success I recommend finding practical pathways that work for you and sticking to them. For instance, to help me to write a book, I carry a portion of my manuscript with me so I can edit or write wherever I go.

To cultivate a positive mindset that supports my writing, I regularly practice energy healing self-care, meditate, exercise, eat a diet that is right for me, spend time in nature, keep a social network, and rest. While the frequency of these activities fluctuates depending on my schedule, making sure I include each one becomes easy, once an activity has become a habit.

Dealing with Stress in the Moment

It is not always easy to move from where you are today to that point in the future where productive practices have become habit.

To support moving toward your goals when you feel you can’t go on, below is a practice for staying in present moment time, letting go, and energizing.

CALM

Center — create present moment awareness so that you are neither preoccupied with the past nor the future. Focus on feeling your feet on the ground for 5 or more minutes. If your awareness drifts away, notice, without judgment, where it went, then bring your awareness back to your feet.

Assess — become an objective observer of any blocks you may have in moving toward your goals. Notice what feelings emerge as you focus your attention on each of the following, one at a time: Chest, belly, feet. Ask each part what wisdom it has to share, then move on to the next step.

Let go — detach from this block and the feelings around it so that you consciously choose your next action. To help you let go, imagine the following parts, one at a time, becoming long, loose and flexible: Head and neck, arms, chest/upper back, lower back/belly, buttocks, legs. As you let go in each area, feel that whatever you don’t need to hold on to draining into the Earth.

Move on — To help you take your next steps, imagine the following parts filling up with universal healing energy: Head and neck, arms, chest/upper back, lower back/belly, buttocks, legs. Once you feel replenished, move on to the next moment.

Continue to Center, Assess, Let go, and Move on so that you consciously go from one moment to the next in creating the life you desire.

Success Requires Work
But Doesn't Have to Feel Like Effort

While becoming successful at anything requires work, that doesn't mean it has to feel hard. You have to be doing something during your waking hours -- why not make it easy? Making what works for you a habit gets a whole lot easier when you are in the moment.