Very Smart Girls (tm) » Manifesting

Intention Series: The Secret Sauce of Intentions

Jo-Ann Downey — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:31:04 +0000

Intentions have a secret sauce. Can you guess what it is? Can you think of a word that evokes something that is absolutely true, clear, complete, peaceful, natural, and harmonious?

The Secret Sauce of Intentions

As discussed in “How to Create Powerful Intentions” there are eight (8) essential ingredients needed to create powerful intentions. The secret sauce that propels these ingredients into manifestation is purity.

According to Dictionary.com, pure means:

-          Free from anything of a different, or inferior, or contaminating kind
-          Simple or homogeneous
-          Free from foreign or inappropriate elements
-          Clear
-          Straightforward; unaffected
-          Being that and nothing else

What is a Pure Intention?

A pure intention taps into divine energy (versus ego energy), it is for the highest good, and it is non-competing.

For example, you may have an intention to joyfully have a dinner party for your friends. You might also have an intention related to peace and quiet. Do you see that these are competing intentions? You cannot joyfully manifest the dinner party when a part of you wants peace and quiet. One intention is not better than another; however, you will need to choose and/or work with the parts of yourself that are not in harmony.

If you find that your intentions are not being fulfilled, you might have competing intentions to work on. Often, competing intentions related to what you physically want (dinner party) versus underlying fears (my house might be very noisy).

Manifesting Pure Intentions

Pure intentions are infused with an unconditional and clear knowing that the fulfillment of it will have a positive learning, growing and/or healing outcome for you and for all those involved, it is your next best step (or direction) towards a more fulfilling life, and that you are worthy to receive what you want to manifest

Once you create an intention, check in with yourself and see if it feels pure. Is it clear? Is it something you can put on a bumper sticker and be proud of? Do your other intentions support it? Do you feel there is a divine reason for the intention (versus ego reason)? Is it for the highest good of all concerned? Does it feel peaceful and relaxing?

Very Smart Girls create Pure Intentions.

You may also want to read “Intention Series: What is an Intention? Why are Intentions Important?”

Comments and intentions welcome! The name you type in the comment section (for example, Jo-Ann, Jo-Ann Downey or Jo-Ann from Boston) will appear on the site. Your email address will NOT appear. If you provide a website URL (for example, your business or your blog URL), it will be linked to your name so others can learn more about you.

photo credit: denise carbonell

Intention Series: How to Create Powerful Intentions

Jo-Ann Downey — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:57:18 +0000

To bake a great cake you need the correct ingredients and sufficient baking time. The process is similar with intentions. To create powerful intentions you need the correct ingredients and ample time.

Intentions can be general or very specific and they can be on any level- physical, financial, social, mental, emotional, etc. Examples include being naturally in harmony with others, gracefully taking your vitamins every day, or easily manifesting a new career – the list is infinite.

My intention is to gracefully write an inspiring article about how to create powerful intentions.

How to Create an Intention

Below are 8 essential elements, or ingredients, to create powerful intentions:

1) Meaningful to You
Intentions are what you want to manifest. Authentic and powerful intentions do not try to manipulate or control others or their behavior. Nor do they wish for something to be different than the way it is. You accept what is and step into the opportunity to create what you want! Your intention is YOUR call to action- “I am…”, “My intention is…”. “I now..”, etc.

A meaningful intention is sincere and promotes well-being.

2) Present Tense of the End Result
An intention is represented in the end result you want to achieve- the present tense of what you want today, and your future, to look like. It is not a “to do” list. An intention is complete and directs your choices and your energy.

You may wonder if this is not being truthful to yourself because you are not there yet, however, an intention is an acknowledgement that what you want to manifest starts with a thought. As shared in “Choose Your Thoughts Well”, thoughts precede every action, and action determines results.

3) Expansive
Since you do not know how good it can be, do not limit yourself to what you can receive! During the process of setting an intention set aside any limiting thoughts or beliefs. For example, “I am meeting my financial obligations” (limiting) versus “I am easily and gracefully experiencing financial prosperity.” Go for it- allow for miracles in your life.

4) Achievable & Believable to You
You should feel that your intention is achievable and believable. A stretch is good, however, too much of a stretch is self-defeating. You may experience some emotional resistance (especially in the beginning), however, this is usually your ego getting in your way! Remember, change is hard for most of us.

You need to believe, feel, and/or experience that the manifestation of your intention can really be true for you. Can you feel, or perhaps visualize, having the experience you want to have?

5) Positive
An intention is stated in the positive, or what you want, versus what you don’t want. It is a new, or fresh, idea and not a redo of the past. It is a positive mental image of what you want to manifest. For example, “I am easily and joyfully maintaining a my ideal body weight” versus “I am not overweight.”

6) Being versus Doing- Call in Grace and Ease
Intentions include how you want to receive the manifestation of your intention. How will you be with yourself, others, and the universe during the process of manifesting your intention? How, energetically, will your intention manifest? You will be best served to use words like easily, gracefully, peacefully, naturally, joyfully, harmoniously, etc. Why not?

7) Empowering Words
Since your intention is 100% believable to you, do not use the words “always” or “never” because that is unrealistic. Also, avoid the word “should” because it has an obligatory essence versus and expansive energy. As shared in “What is an Intention? Why are Intentions Important?”, the process of setting and working towards your intentions declares to yourself, others, and the universe that you are serious about your dreams and goals. Use empowering thoughts and language.

8) Clear and Concise
Clarity is important. Exactly what do you want your experience to look and feel like? The shorter, the better. Long intentions tend to get, and keep you, in your head. The best intentions are clear and concise. And being brief has a natural way of keeping space open for surprises!

So how long does it take to formulate an intention? In my experience, intentions take several hours, often over several days, to formulate. I will start with an idea, write it down, try it on for size, modify it, try it on for size, etc. You will know when you have your perfect intention because each word, and the sum of the words, will feel perfect to you. Your intention will feel expansive, light, uplifting, freeing, joyful, and peaceful.

And don’t forget, use intentions for both personal and professional aspirations.

You may also want to read “The Secret Sauce of Intentions”.

photo credit: inkyhack

Intention Series: What is an Intention? Why are Intentions Important?

Jo-Ann Downey — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:58:25 +0000

If you do not know where you are going, how do you do your best to get there? Do you have the desire, willingness, and confidence to enrich your personal and professional life experience? Do you know what you truly want? Are you ready to allow your dreams to come true?

“Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts.” Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

What is an Intention?

TheFreeDictionary.com defines intention as a course of action that one intends to follow, an aim that guides action, an objective.

Merriam-Webster.com defines intention as a determination to act in a certain way.

As shared in “When your Relationships are Good, your Life is Good”, an intention is a clear and positive statement of an outcome you want to experience. An intention is a goal, or vision, that guides your activities, thoughts, attitudes, and choices. Hence, your intentions influence your actual experiences.

You can set an intention in any area of your life- physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. Although intentions start with a mental picture of your goal, intentions require focus, action, and positive energy to manifest.

Why are Intentions Important?

Intentions provide a framework for you to set priorities, use your time wisely, and align yourself with the resources you need to manifest your goals. The process of setting and working towards your intentions declares to yourself, others, and the universe that you are serious about your dreams and goals.

A strong, positive, and energized intention is likely to repel that which is not in alignment with it. The opposite is also true. A strong, positive, and energized intention will attract the essence of what it is.

Intentions and Results

As discussed in “Choose Your Thoughts Well”, since thoughts precede every action, and action determines results…choose your thoughts (“and intentions”) well.

When you set a clear and personally compelling intention you will tend to act in ways, respond to situations, create supportive opportunities, and make choices in harmony with your intention. Essentially, you will have a tendency to have the experience that you consciously determine is important to you.

Setting clear intentions also helps you to course-correct and be more balanced if difficulties arise.

“Difficulties indeed sometimes arise; but common sense and honest intentions will generally steer through them.” Thomas Jefferson (1762-1826)

Setting intentions is key to manifesting personal and professional goals.

Very Smart Girls choose their intentions well.

You might also want to read “Intention Series: How to Create Powerful Intentions” and “The Secret Sauce of Intentions”.

Comments welcome! The name you type in the comment section (for example, Jo-Ann, Jo-Ann Downey or Jo-Ann from Boston) will appear on the site. Your email address will NOT appear. If you provide a website URL (for example, your business or your blog URL), it will be linked to your name so others can learn more about you.

photo credit: inkyhack

Time Management & Time Consciousness

Jo-Ann Downey — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:55:04 +0000

Ugh…who wants to talk about time management? I do because time is limited and one day each of us will take our last breath, so let’s use our time wisely…and joyfully. What do you do, and don’t do, with your time? Do you manifest your goals and dreams? Do you try to squeeze as much into one day as you can without looking at the bigger picture?

Importance of Time Management

To manifest what you want, especially in the physical world, knowing where you want to go and being organized is important. This is especially true in the workplace. It is important for you to be on time for work, to be on time for meetings and to deliver your promises on time. Period.

Consistently meeting your commitments, on time, is self-honoring and builds trust within yourself and with others. And since trust is the foundation to successful personal and professional relationships, to be true to your word and to fulfill your commitments is essential.

Definition of Time Management

Wikipedia has a good definition of time management, “Time management refers to a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals. This set encompasses a wide scope of activities, and these include planning, allocating, setting goals, delegation, analysis of time spent, monitoring, organizing, scheduling and prioritizing.”

Take note that the definition does not say “doing, doing, doing.” Your goal may be to relax and do nothing! Or to have more fun. What are your personal and professional priorities? Do they intersect? Do you have a personal mission statement?

Time Management Resources

You can find many resources and tips on time management- you can have lists, create a project plan, avoid distractions like television or drop-in visitors, allocate a specific amount of time for a task and set clear intentions on what you want to accomplish in that timeframe, learn to respectfully say “no”, get a good night’s sleep and communicate your commitments to others.

As shared in “Take a Hike…Really!”, physical movement is important to overall wellness and you need positive energy to achieve your goals and dreams.

Time Consciousness Marble Exercise

Many years ago I read about a method to remind us to use our time wisely. You put marbles into a jar (or pebbles, or whatever you like!). The number of marbles you put in your jar reflects how long you expect to live times the frequency that you want to pull a marble from the jar and reflect. Let’s say you are 25 years old, you expect to live to be 100 years old, and you want to look at your goals and how you spend your time once per year. You would put 75 marbles into your jar and pull out one marble per year.

I suggest that you put your marble jar in a place where you can see it each day.

“Do not squander time for that is the stuff that life is made of.” Benjamin Franklin.

Time Proceeds Anyway

In reality, you cannot manage or control time. You can only manage yourself and what you do with your time. Time proceeds with or without you having a personal or professional vision or intention. Although, as shared in “When your Relationships are Good, Your Life is Good”, your intentions guide your thoughts, attitude and actions; therefore, your intentions influence the outcome of your desired experience.

The intention of this article is to heighten awareness about the importance of time and what you do, or don’t do, with your time. How did I do?

photo credit: Brit.

Practice When it’s Easy

Jo-Ann Downey — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:55:31 +0000

Do you want to manifest something in your life and need a jump-start? Do you want to set yourself up for success? Practice When it’s Easy and build from there.

Why Practice When it’s Easy?

The reason to Practice When it’s Easy is because you want to experience success. When you achieve a desired goal you feel energized, empowered and confident; this positive energy fuels your continued success. You define what success is for you and try to feel, to experience, success as often as you can.

“Success breeds success.” Mia Hamm

Set Yourself up for Success

Proactively do your best to create favorable conditions to practice and succeed. It’s easier for you to succeed if you develop or maximize as many of the following success factors as you can:

- Support system (friends, family, associates, mentors)
- Positive environment
- Commitment & accountability
- Willingness & a positive attitude
- Fun!
- Openness & a process to receive feedback
- Flexibility
- Patience
- Time for repetition & integration

Refer to “2 Essential Guidelines to Create a New Habit” for more information about the importance of repetition and how to set goals.

Practice Works with Feelings too

If you want to manifest certain feelings in your life, you can also Practice When it’s Easy. Let’s say you want to feel more compassion towards others. The next time you see a beloved friend or family member, be aware of the compassion you already have for them. Stay with that feeling for as long as you can.

If you have a favorite pet, you can practice feeling compassion for your pet. You may want to look at a photograph that brings forward feelings of compassion within you. Be creative and do what works for you.

If you Practice When it’s Easy, when you want to bring forward compassion in more difficult situations you’ll have practice, experience and success to assist you. Very Smart Girls Practice When it’s Easy.

Give it a whirl, and go easy on yourself. What is easy today may not be easy tomorrow.

I’m interested in your thoughts- comments welcome. The name you type in the comment section (for example, Jo-Ann, Jo-Ann Downey or Jo-Ann from Boston) will appear on the site. Your email address will NOT appear. If you provide a website URL (for example, your business or your blog URL), it will be linked to your name so others can learn more about you.

photo credit: rimantux

2 Essential Guidelines to Create a New Habit

2 Essential Guidelines to Create a New Habit

Jo-Ann Downey — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:18:34 +0000

Do you want to be happier? Do you have ideas on what could make you happier, but are unable to start doing them? Do you feel like you are in a rut? If you focus on what you truly want, you can create new habits that you do automatically.

What is a Habit?

Habits are behaviors we repeat over time. You are responsible for your behaviors and for your habits. Think about it. Be very conscious that you are personally empowered to establish new habits. Habits are created by doing the same thing over and over again; repetition is very powerful.

Creating a New Habit Guideline #1: Make it Personal

Create a specific, achievable and measurable goal (the standard stuff) and make your goal positive and personal. A positive goal states what you want versus what you do not want. A personal goal is unique to you, where you are today. It is non-conflicting and reasonable/achievable for you.

Let’s say you want to manifest the habit of drinking a certain volume of water each day. We’ll start with the standard 64 ounces of water per day concept. If something inside of you believes that 64 ounces of water is too much, then you have a conflict with your goal and you are setting yourself up for failure.

If you drink 32 ounces of water per day, 64 ounces is a real stretch and likely unreasonable. For you, for now, this goal does not pass your personal test. You could see how 40 ounces feels for you. A stretch is good; too much of a stretch is not good.

As a bonus, add how you want to feel as you focus on your goal!

Examples:

Room for improvement: I don’t want to drink so much soda

Input: not specific; not measurable; states the goal from a negative perspective, or what you do not want versus the positive, or what you do want

Better: I am drinking my target amount of water each day

Input: not specific; not measurable

Even Better: I am drinking 64 ounces of water each day

Input: very good

Best: I am joyfully drinking 64 ounces of water each day

Input: awesome because of adding how you want to feel (joyful)

Creating a New Habit Guideline #2: Repetition for 33 Consecutive Days

To manifest a new habit, or change your behavior, you need to practice the new habit over a period of time. Even if you learn and adapt very quickly, practicing over a period of time will allow you to master the habit.

Some experts say that it takes between 21-45 days to change a habit; others say 30-45 days. I split the difference and suggest a 33-day process. Specifically, practice and experience the new habit for 33 consecutive days. If you miss a day, start the 33-day process again.

Creating a New Habit Summary

Step #1: Clarify your goal- make it specific, achievable, measurable, positive, and personal (non-conflicting and reasonable for you)

Step #2: Take out your calendar every night and put a mark, such as a star, on each day you achieve your goal. If you miss a day, then start the 33 consecutive day process again.

P.S. Feel free to extend, or repeat, your 33-day process. I often do.

photo credit: Andreanna