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9 Powerful Tools for Manifesting Your Future





Zanna Keithley


20–25 minutes


Want to become the author of your life story? You already have everything you need inside of you to make it happen. In this post, I share nine powerful tools for manifesting your future. And the best part? They’re all completely free.


Pin this for later! 9 Powerful Tools for Manifesting Your Future


What does your dream life look like?


Does it involve living in a beautiful home surrounded by a loving family? Or are you more of the vanlife type, wanting nothing more than to travel the country on four wheels? Is there a dream career you’ve always envisioned for yourself? Or maybe it’s not a specific “thing” you’re looking for. Maybe it’s a feeling: freedom, peace, joy, abundance, passion, love.

Whatever it is, there is no right or wrong answer. The “dream life” looks different for everyone.

For me, it’s always meant being a writer. For years, when people asked me what I did for a living, I politely and passionlessly spoke about my comfortable office job while internally wishing I could say, “I’m a writer.


You see, I’ve had a dream of being a writer since I was seven years old, but for the past decade, I worked in jobs that left me feeling empty and unfulfilled because I didn’t believe I was worthy of living the life of my dreams. I knew I wanted to make a change, but I didn’t know how. That’s when I started learning about the Law of Attraction.


It seemed . . . interesting.


I liked the idea, but my inner skeptic had a louder voice than my inner believer, so it took some time for me to go all in. But as I slowly released the skepticism and doubt, I began practicing the concepts I learned about. And on this journey, I discovered the tools to help me quit my day job and start living the life I truly dreamed of—a life where I knew I was worthy of anything and everything I desired.


And the best part?


I already had every single one of these tools inside me. I just had to learn how to use them.

Below, I share nine powerful tools for manifesting your future. These are the practices I used for discovering my inner worthiness and creating my dream life. While you don’t have to do every single item on this list daily, I encourage you to keep an open heart and an open mind as you embark on this journey to manifest the life of your dreams.


Tool #1: Visualization


To create the life you desire, you first have to know what you want.


If there were no limits or constrictions, what would you be doing in your dream life? Where would you live? Who would be surrounding you? What primary emotions would you feel? What does your highest and most authentic self look like?


Perhaps there’s no greater example of the power of visualization than how it’s helped Michael Phelps to achieve Olympic glory. It’s no secret that Phelps put in many long hours of practice, sometimes without a single day off for years at a time. But what you may not know is his commitment to practicing visualization.


For months before a big event, Phelps spends two hours a day undergoing mental rehearsal to prepare for an upcoming race. He visualizes both the good and the bad, and he sees himself overcoming obstacles to win the race. By the time he actually dives into the pool the day of the race, he’s already swum it hundreds of times in his mind.


So why do elite athletes and performers commit so much time to visualization? It may have something to do with the way our brains work. You see, your brain can’t actually tell the difference between the powerful visualization and reality; it has the same activity whether you’re physically doing the action or envisioning it in your mind.


How to Visualize

You don’t need to be a world champion athlete to utilize visualization to enhance your life. Set aside ten minutes every day to close your eyes, and visualize yourself achieving your goals. What does it feel like? Joyful? Peaceful? Freeing? Feel those emotions. Utilize all your senses. See yourself living that dream life. Listen, touch, taste, smell. Like Phelps, you can even imagine some worst-case scenarios and visualize yourself overcoming these obstacles.


Once you start this daily practice, you’ll be amazed at the transformative effects it has on your life.

To illustrate the power of visualization, watch this Tedx talk by Ashanti Johnson on how her daily practice of visualization changed not only her life but ultimately the lives of her community through her work.



Tool #2: Gratitude


I used to have a lot of “bad” days.


You know the ones: those days where you come home from work feeling completely drained and defeated. Every single bit of your mental energy is consumed by running through the terrible things that happened. And then you might even make up imaginary conversations between yourself and your boss or colleagues, just to upset yourself even more.


It was exhausting.


Thankfully, I found a powerful tool to help me get past this negative mindset and release my bad days:


Gratitude.


I learned to re-frame my default perspective from one of frustration and negativity to one of appreciation.


How to Practice Gratitude


The best thing about a gratitude practice is that you can literally do it anywhere and at anytime. You can have a gratitude journal if you want, or you can commit to finding things in your current experience to feel grateful for.


I don’t always succeed, but I try practice gratitude first thing when I wake up. It might look something like this:


Every morning, I wake up in a warm and safe bed with a healthy body. I have working lungs and a strong heart. I have the privilege of experiencing this world with all of my senses. I’m surrounded by family and friends who really love me. I have food in the pantry. My car runs. The air I breathe is clean. The water I drink is pure. I have a safe home.


Every single day, I can create an endless list of things to feel grateful for just by opening my eyes.


It sounds nice, doesn’t it? Choosing gratitude over suffering. But I’m here to tell you, it’s more than just nice. It’s life transforming. My daily practice of gratitude has become more than just a way to reframe my perspective.


The truly incredible thing is, I’ve found that the more I feel grateful, the more things flow into my life to feel grateful for.


When I look around me now, I don’t see things that are breaking; I see everything coming together. Even when something doesn’t go my way, I can instantly recognize it as an opportunity. Ten times out of ten, it just means my path is leading me to somewhere better.


Living the life of your dreams doesn’t start with external world around you. It starts internally. By changing your perspective and viewing your life through a lens of inherent appreciation and gratitude, you open yourself up to receiving even more opportunities, experiences, people, and things to feel grateful for. 


If you want to start a gratitude practice in your daily routine, check out these 40 gratitude affirmations to love this moment right now.


Tool #3: Giving


All the good you put out into the world always comes back to you. 


This is the concept that first made me want to learn more about the Law of Attraction. I’ve always believed in karma, though I usually associated it with the negative i.e. if you do something bad, it’ll come back to haunt you. I never really flipped that statement on its head and thought that the good stuff could come back to me, too.


It’s important to know that you don’t just have to give money, which is likely the first thing a lot of us think about when we hear the word giving. However, giving isn’t solely about finances.


When you think about what you can give, think about things that make you feel good. 

Sometimes, the best thing you can give to another person is simply your presence. You want to know where I started?


With my smile.


I’m an avid runner, and I love running through the beautiful Boise parks. I used to never run without a baseball cap and sunglasses, even on a cloudy day. My sole mission was to avoid contact with people at every corner. One day, though, I consciously decided to take off the sunglasses and let myself be seen. When I crossed paths with another runner or a group of walkers or a family, I’d glance over, and if we locked eyes, I’d offer a smile. And you know what happened?


People smiled back.


Sometimes, they smiled first. Kids offered high fives and cheers. Other runners would share motivation and encouragement, and I’d share it back. I truly felt like I was part of a community, and it felt really good. The more I put out there, the more I got back, and this has extended to all facets of my life.


How to Practice Giving


Give what you can. Give what you want to give. Give what makes you feel good. And watch in awestruck wonder as all of the wonderful things you’ve given come back to you in magical and miraculous ways.


Tool #4: Affirmations


When’s the last time you told yourself you were worthy of something? When’s the last time you said, “I deserve ________”? That blank can be filled with anything: I deserve love. I deserve joy. I deserve to live the life of my dreams.


Does it feel kind of weird to say you deserve something?


I know it did for me. I felt like it was somehow the “wrong” thing to say, like I wasn’t being humble enough. In fact, in order to get over the icky feelings, I had to reframe it through the lens of people I cared about. It was easy for me to say that my best friend deserves joy or that my nieces and nephews deserve unconditional love. If I could say all these good things about people I loved, why couldn’t I say them about me?


How to Practice Affirmations


Affirmations are unbelievably powerful. For me, affirmations began as a conscious daily practice. I read through different affirmations and found the ones that resonated most with me. Then, I dedicated myself to repeating those affirmations in the car or while I was getting ready in the morning.


Affirmations are a way to reprogram the subconscious mind, so with time, we truly become the things we’re affirming. The key is always to use the present tense. It’s not, “When I get the [job/partner/opportunity] of my dreams, I’ll be worthy.” You are worthy. Right now. You don’t have to wait to affirm your worth. It’s the best and easiest thing you can do for yourself in this moment right now.


If you want help getting started on incorporating affirmations into your life, you can check out my free ebook, 400 Powerful Affirmations to Uplift, Inspire, and Empower Your Highest Self. You can also check out the Affirmations section in my blog. I’d also recommend starting with this blog post on how to use affirmations so they actually work.


More Manifestation Resources

Tool #5: Meditation

You don’t have to meditate to create the life you desire. But for me, meditation has transformed my view of myself and the world in a way that I don’t think would’ve ever happened if I hadn’t started meditating.


Beginning a daily practice of meditation taught me how to accept and receive love, slow down, appreciate the seemingly negative experiences, affirm my worthiness, and witness and understand my own thoughts in a way I never had before. If you haven’t meditated before, I know it can seem intimidating at first. It was for me. Just remember, the goal of meditation isn’t to clear or suppress your thoughts. 


All you have to do is sit, observe, and be present. One day at a time. One minute at a time. One breath at a time. Nothing more. Nothing less.


You don’t have to do or become anything when you meditate. You don’t have to try. All you have to do is just be.


To learn more about how to do a meditation specifically for manifesting your dreams, click here.


Awesome Meditation Apps

Tool #6: Habits


While it’s definitely possible to make big transformations and start living your dream life in a very short amount of time, the most transformative long-term shifts come when you cultivate daily habits. 


When discussing major shifts and transformations, we tend to discuss that “one big thing” that happened and often gloss over the small, consistent improvements we make on a daily basis. But in his book Atomic Habits, James Clear writes, “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement . . . They seem to make little difference on any given day and yet the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous. It is only when looking back two, five, or perhaps ten years later that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent.


How to Begin Cultivating New Habits


When you want to build a new habit, start small. The easier you make it, the more likely it will stick. When I started meditating, I committed to just ten minutes in the mornings before work. With many of the other practices on this list, I actually found ways to combine them with things I was already doing in my daily life. For instance, I’d repeat positive affirmations while getting ready in the morning or driving to the grocery store. Same with my gratitude practice. It was nothing big or overly complicated—just subtle but powerful shifts in my conscious thinking.


You don’t have to wait for a big, life-changing event to start incorporating these practices in your life. As Clear writes, “If you want to predict where you’ll end up in life, all you have to do is follow the curve of tiny gains or tiny losses, and see how your daily choices will compound ten or twenty years down the line.


Tool #7: An Abundance Mentality


In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey characterizes an abundance mentality as the belief that there are enough resources for everyone to share.


This is opposed to the scarcity mindset, which is rooted in the belief that we’re all competing for a limited amount of resources.


A person with an abundance mindset will celebrate and rejoice in the successes of others, while a person with a scarcity mindset will feel bitter and resentful toward another’s accomplishments because they believe this decreases their own opportunities for success.

When you view resources as being limited, the feeling of competition arises. Because there seemingly isn’t enough to go around, you become reluctant to share your resources or knowledge to another for fear that someone else’s success means you will have less opportunities. When you see someone succeed, you see that slice of the pie getting smaller, and instead of feeling happy for their success, you feel resentful and envious.


It doesn’t sound pleasant, and it doesn’t feel very good either.


And there’s a reason it doesn’t feel good: because these negative feelings of scarcity aren’t aligned with who you really are. You are not a resentful, envious, bitter person. But this scarcity mindset has become so ingrained in our culture, it sometimes feels like it’s all we’ve ever known.


How I Developed an Abundance Mentality


By recognizing the limiting beliefs I’ve held around scarcity and gently releasing them from my consciousness, I’ve been able to cultivate a mindset of abundance and find true joy in other’s successes. I’ve learned that nobody else’s abundance can take from my own, and my abundance can’t take from anyone else. There’s true joy and freedom in living a life where resources are infinite and abundant rather than constantly trying to compete for what we perceive as a small cut of the pie.


To quote Covey, “When people are genuinely happy at the successes of others, the pie gets larger.



Tool #8: A Prosperity Mindset


Also could be called An Abundance Mindset, Part Two.


Okay, maybe that’s cheating, but I wanted to differentiate a Prosperity Mindset from an Abundance Mindset for a couple reasons. I view an abundance mentality as the belief there are enough resources for everyone while a prosperity mindset is a personal, strongly held belief you have toward yourself.


A prosperity mindset is the story you tell yourself about your own wealth and ability to create anything you want in your life.


A prosperity mindset is the belief that you are abundant now. 


Developing a Prosperity Mindset


How do you develop a prosperity mindset? By not waiting for “one day” to get here. To be abundant, you have to feel abundant. Feel it now. Don’t wait until you get that promotion or job offer. Don’t wait until you have a million dollars in your bank account. Stop waiting for something to happen. Feel abundant today. Feel successful today. Feel joyful today. Feel peaceful, calm, free, lighthearted, exuberant, wealthy. . . whatever it is you’re working toward, feel it right now. That’s how you develop a prosperity mentality. Feel the feelings of having everything you want and believe you are that person.


Tool #9: Compassion


Honestly, I don’t think most people lack compassion. Humans are innately compassionate beings. We’re compassionate toward our loved ones and our pets. We’re compassionate toward other suffering beings. We’re compassionate toward this earth.


But when was the last time you were compassionate with yourself?


Finding the grace to be compassionate with myself has been one of my longest and bumpiest journeys. When I first learned about the Law of Attraction, I focused on perfecting all the tools I had learned about. I visualized. I cultivated a positive mindset. I made sure I had good thoughts and felt good feelings so all that positivity would come back to me. I was certain I was going to be an A+ student.


So what happened when I had a bad day or when a negative thought (or a stream of negativity) overtook my brain?


I became a mess.


I felt like a failure. I felt like I was now opening up a Pandora’s Box of terrible things to happen to me.


You see, my problem was that I was trying too hard to be perfect. I had dove straight into the water without a life vest, so I had nothing to keep me afloat when things went wrong. Eventually, I discovered that the life vest I needed was self-compassion. Self-compassion is allowing for and accepting your imperfections. Self-compassion is speaking to yourself with loving kindness, even when you don’t feel particularly good. Self-compassion is accepting and receiving love from yourself and others right now, just as you are, and knowing you don’t need to do or achieve anything to deserve that love.


You are always deserving.


Are You Ready to Start Manifesting?


While these nine tools for manifesting will help you to bring your dream into your reality, I want to highlight the most important link between all of thee practices:

Mindset.


Before anything else, you must believe you are worthy, deserving, and capable of living the life of your dreams.


And if you don’t get it 100% perfect all of the time, that’s okay. Be gentle with yourself. Go slow. Don’t try to pile everything into one day and be the “best” at everything. Allow yourself to enjoy the journey. Recognize that the seemingly bad moments are truly just opportunities to learn and grow and appreciate.


To be honest, I mess up a lot. Negative thoughts sometimes slip into my consciousness. I sometimes choose frustration over gratitude. And in these moments, #9 becomes even more important. Be deeply compassionate with yourself. Instead of repressing the bad and pretending it doesn’t exist in order to fit a false idea of perfection, recognize when you have a negative thought, gently probe its roots, and as you realize the thought no longer serves you, kindly release it from service.


And remember, none of us are doing this alone. Find your tribe, and if you don’t feel like you have anyone you can talk to, you have me. I’m here. I’m listening. I will be that voice of loving kindness and compassion on days you can’t find it within yourself.


I know it isn’t always easy, but never forget, you are worthy and deserving of living the life of your dreams.


For more resources on spirituality, meditation, manifestation, and all things self-love, be sure to connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest, where I’m posting positive affirmations and empowering quotes daily.


And to learn more about manifesting your dreams and desires, check out these posts!

Pin this for later! 9 Powerful Tools for Manifesting Your Future


Zanna Keithley is an author, poet, and social media content creator who writes short prose dedicated to inspiring readers to follow their dreams, trust their intuition, and create beautiful and fulfilling lives. You can find her original writing on Instagram @zannakeithley.

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