How Intentions Manifest file:///E:/studies/Personal%20Devolopment/Steve%20Pavlina%20art...

How Intentions Manifest

June 3rd, 2006 by Steve Pavlina Email this article to a friend

This is a description of the general pattern I experience in manifesting intentions.

Creating the intention

First, I get clear about what I want to manifest. Through meditation I put myself
into a very relaxed state of mind, and I implant my new intention
by concentrating on it for at least 60 seconds. The meditation is nothing
complicated; I usually just do a few minutes of deep breathing and progressive
muscle relaxation.

I imagine my intention visually, so in my mind’s eye, I picture what my life will

be like once the intention has already manifested. I inject a lot of positive
emotion into these visualizations as well. If I can’t create strong positive
emotions, then I know there’s no real desire. In that case I’ll either drop or alter
the intention. Intentions without desire have very little power to manifest. If I
don’t really, really, really want it, there’s no point in intending it. For example,
intending a big screen TV for myself doesn’t work because I just don’t care
enough about that sort of thing.

Alpha reflection

Usually within 24-72 hours of putting out a new intention, I experience the alpha
reflection. I receive validation that the intention has taken hold. Normally this
takes the form of a very noticeable synchronicity. Sometimes the synchronicity
is part of manifesting the results; other times it just seems to be an
acknowledgement that the intention was received. Many Million Dollar
Experiment participants report alpha reflections within the first couple days of

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joining, like finding some extra money on the ground.

Last week I put out the intention to double my monthly income. A couple days
later, an article I wrote last year got an unexpected link from a major media
outlet, which sent me tons of new traffic. In one day I received almost $300 in
donations, not to mention a significant boost in ad revenue (more than double
my daily average). This temporary boost was congruent with my original
intention, and it’s a good example of an alpha reflection. The intention didn’t
actually manifest yet — it’s simply the universe’s way of saying, “Thanks, got
it!”

Interestingly, I’ve noticed that the more I trust and expect my intentions to
manifest, the weaker the alpha reflections are (in terms of their magnitude). I
think this is partly because I’ve grown so accustomed to working with intention-
manifestation that I don’t need to be beaten over the head with validation
anymore. I’m just able to trust it. I still see the alpha reflections, but they aren’t
normally as jolting. I don’t recall putting out an intention this year and not
seeing a clear alpha reflection within a week, so I’m pretty sure it’s always there
when the intention is properly formed. Recently I’ve put out over a dozen new
intentions, and I enjoyed seeing all the creative winks from the universe to
acknowledge their receipt.

Calm before the storm

The alpha reflection dies down pretty quickly, and then there’s a lull that can
last anywhere from several days to several weeks. This period used to frustrate
me because I thought my intentions had totally fizzled, and I know it frustrates
many Million Dollar Experiment participants too — lots of people give up during
this time. Big mistake! This is just the calm before the storm. It’s also the
period where it’s most crucial to continue holding the intention and to carefully
avoid putting out conflicting intentions. If I start harboring thoughts like, “Why

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isn’t this working?” or “I wonder if this will work,” I kill the intention. I must
know it will work. Sometimes I kill intentions on purpose during this time when I
realize I don’t really want them or if I think of something better to intend. It
took me years of practice to develop the mental discipline to control my
thoughts well enough to stay focused on what I want and not allow myself the
luxury of contemplating what I don’t want. I’m nowhere near perfect, but I’m
finally halfway decent at this now, and it makes a signficant difference.

Beta reflection

As I continue to hold the intention and faithfully expect its manifestation, I

eventually experience the beta reflection. Typically this begins more than a
week after the intention is first formed. Whereas the alpha reflection is just an
acknowledgement that the intention has been received, the beta reflection is the
substantial beginning of the real manifestation.

The beta reflection is much longer, stronger, and slower than the alpha
reflection. Imagine a thunderstorm. If the alpha reflection is a lightning flash,
the beta reflection is the rolling thunder that arrives much later. Both originated
with the same event, but they reach you at different times.

The beta reflection generally arrives in three forms: ideas, opportunities, and
resources.

First, I experience a noticeable surge in ideas related to my original intention.

These ideas may come in the form of spontaneous inspiration, or they may arrive
through other people. For example, I might get a new optimization idea that
takes only 20 minutes to implement and instantly boosts my income. Sometimes
a good idea is all I need to manifest what I want, so I can carry it to completion
on my own. But if the intention is big enough, then ideas and direct action won’t
be enough by themselves.

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The beta reflection also brings new opportunities. Often these seem to come out
of nowhere. Someone I don’t even know may bring me a juicy opportunity
related to my intention, even though I haven’t told anyone about it yet.

Lastly, the beta reflection brings new resources, which may include information,
people, money, etc. Whatever is required to manifest the intention eventually
comes into my life. Often I’ll experience three or more random people
recommending the same book to me on the same day, and that book will just
happen to contain exactly the answers I need to manifest my intention.

It’s still important to continue holding the intention during the beta reflection,
but it’s not as difficult as during the pre-beta lull because now you have some
genuine momentum. It doesn’t require as much faith to see that the intention is
starting to manifest — even the logical mind is able to see it coming
together. The main thing is to keep your logical mind from screwing it up by
trying to control the process too much.

Depending on the complexity of the intention, the beta reflection can last for
months or years. In fact, I believe our overall results in life can be interpreted as
the long-term summation of our beta reflections from a lifetime of intentions.
Whatever you imagine with enough energy will eventually manifest. If your
thoughts are clear and focused, you’ll manifest your desires relatively quickly
and easily. If your thoughts are jumbled and chaotic, you’ll manifest a
seemingly random and haphazard life for yourself.

Manifestation

With the expansion of the beta reflection, the ultimate manifestation comes
together in a fairly straightforward manner. Usually there’s some form of direct
action involved, but the actions that follow are smooth, flowing, and easy. No
tedium or struggle is required. The universe does 80-90% of the work. The final
combination of ideas, opportunities, and resources are high leverage, making it

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possible to achieve fantastic results with a minimal investment of time and

energy.

About five years ago, this intention-manifestation process was just a curiosity to
me. I remember when I first noticed, “Wow, I can create synchronicities!” I got
really good at creating alpha reflections, but that was it — no betas. At first I
was frustrated because I couldn’t manage to stay focused on my desires long
enough. I kept falling back into old thought patterns and inadvertently killed my
best intentions within a matter of days, sometimes within a matter of hours. I’d
think about building my business and then worry about how I was going to
manage it. I’d think about improving my marriage and then have thoughts about
breaking up. I’d think about moving to a nicer home and later imagine renewing
my existing lease. No results but the status quo. I found it incredibly frustrating
to be betrayed by my own thoughts.

One of the keys for me was to fully accept that staying focused on my
desires was absolutely critical, not optional. Regardless of whether I think the
universe is objective or subjective, I know that my dominant thoughts are the
key determinants of my results in life. My thoughts control my decisions, and
my decisions over time control my results. When I really understood that, I
assumed a new level of responsibility for every thought that went through my
mind. I decided to take conscious control of my thoughts no matter what. I saw
that I could no longer afford to have my mind haphazardly dwelling on things I
didn’t want.

Lately I’ve developed a tremendous respect for the power of intention. As I

keep experimenting with it, I see abundant evidence that something very
powerful is happening behind the scenes. I’m achieving my goals more easily
than ever before. I’m doing more meditation and thinking and taking a lot less
direct action. I do what feels most natural to me, and it just seems to work out
perfectly. I allow the universe to handle most of the details while I focus on the

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high-level outcomes.

I will surely continue experimenting with the power of intention. Presently I

spend about 30 minutes a day just holding my intentions and letting them swirl
around in my imagination. Then I sit back and watch my external reality shift
little by little to come into alignment with these intentions. The cumulative
effect still blows me away. If I’m right about where this is heading, we should
witness some enormously positive changes in my life over the next several
years. I don’t know how long these beta reflections will take to fully unfold, but
I’m certainly looking forward to finding out.

Use SMOG, not MOSG

When I was first learning to drive a car, my drivers education teacher taught
me the acronym SMOG, which stands for Signal, Mirror, Over the shoulder, Go.
It’s the order of actions to perform when changing lanes on the highway. Note
that the first action is to signal your intention to change lanes. Of course, what
do most people do? In practice they follow something like MOSG: Mirror, Over
the shoulder, Signal, Go. They first determine whether or not they can change
lanes by looking for an opening. If there’s no opening, they wait. They speed
up or slow down to find a spot. They’re afraid that if they signal first when
there’s no opening, they’ll look like a dolt because no one will let them in. But
the truth is that even if there isn’t an opening, many drivers will allow you an
opening if you signal first. If you don’t signal, the only way they can tell you
want to change lanes is via telepathy. The longer you signal, even when there’s
no opening at first, the more pressure you build in the other drivers to let you in.

This is a great analogy for how intention-manifestation works. You have to

signal (intend) first. Sometimes if you look before signaling, there just won’t be
an opening. But signal anyway, and you’ll create the very opening you seek.

For example, if you want a new relationship, let the universe know what you

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want. Signal! Don’t check your mirrors first to see if there’s someone available
in the next lane. You’ll miss way too many wonderful opportunities that way.

Don’t give up!

It requires significant mental discipline to manifest both the alpha and the
beta reflections of your intentions. Without the ability to stay mentally focused
on what you want, noisy and conflicting mental chatter will destroy your best
intentions before they have a chance to take root. It may take years of
practice to develop the ability to stay focused on what you want. But the time is
going to pass anyway, so you might as well put it to good use. I’ve even found it
helpful to simply intend to get better at manifesting. Don’t give up!

17 Responses to “How Intentions Manifest”

Lazy Success Says:
June 6th, 2006 at 11:00 am

Personal Manifesting Explained

You hear about manifesting principles everywhere you turn these days.

Today I’ll let Steve Pavlina (”Personal Development for Smart People”) give
a personal account of how he experiences it in his own life.

Check it out, it’s an well-written,…

Energise for Life: Health, Nutrition, Detox and Energy » Why I

am about to post my goals for the EFL Blog… Says:
June 7th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
[...] Firstly, Steve Pavlina’s post on manifestations has reminded me of how
powerful and inspiring this concept can be. [...]

Moose » Blog Archive » The Art of Manifesting Success Says:

September 13th, 2006 at 1:12 pm

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