As we head into the new year, you might be asking yourself how you can get unstuck and take purposeful action toward your career goals. One helpful strategy to make this happen is to harness the power of manifestation journaling.
Yes, I’m a doctorate-level career coach who works with top executives, and I still believe in manifestation, but please bear with me.
Many of many clients, which include Silicon Valley and tech’s top leaders, have found success using manifestation to get unstuck and achieve their biggest career goals.
What Is Manifestation?
As a Type A personality and recovering workaholic, I spent many years skeptical of the concept of “manifestation,” or the “law of attraction.” I believed hard work and grit were the only ways to achieve success. While these qualities have their time and place, so do strategy, planning, and visioning.
To put it simply, manifestation is not just wishful thinking. Instead, I believe it’s about clearly articulating and aligning with your desires and intentions, then making a purposeful and deliberate effort to make them a reality.
What Is Manifestation Journaling?
This is where manifestation journaling comes into play. Regardless of your intentions, manifestation journaling can be used to help you articulate your values and goals, then transform the goals into action and reality.
As a career coach, I often encourage my coaching clients to “manifest their future” by choosing a date several weeks, months, or years in the future, then working backward to write it into reality with lots of specifics.
Importantly, you’ll want to write this “future journal entry” in the present tense, as if it’s already happened, so you can imagine it becoming a reality.
If you wanted to land a new job, for example, you could begin by writing, “It’s my first day as a [Job Title] at [Company Name]. I learned of the job from [Contact’s Name].”
Similarly, if you wanted to secure a new coaching client, you could say something along the lines of, “I am now working with [Client’s Name], and she is in my Zone of Genius. She found me through [Referral Source], and we are focusing on [Topic].”
Manifestation Journaling In Action
What’s powerful and fun about this manifestation technique is that you can use it for literally anything you want to achieve, from landing a new job, to securing a raise, to attracting coaching clients. And the list goes on.
Before a big speaking engagement, for instance, I wrote a detailed journal entry about the number of attendees that would show up at the event, how I would feel during the event, questions I would be asked throughout my workshop, and what people would say about my performance afterward.
Although there were a few small deviations from my actual journal entry, it was remarkably accurate, including word-for-word comments attendees made after the event.
Since then, I’ve used manifestation journaling to manifest dream clients, earn more revenue, and find new friends.
Manifestation Journaling Prompts
The following are several manifestation journaling prompts to guide you in getting unstuck and creating the future you desire:
- You achieved [Goal].
- What was the first step you took to make this a reality? And the step after that? And the step after that step?
- How do you feel now that you have reached your goal?
- How did you stay motivated and inspired along the way?
- What roadblocks did you overcome?
- How did you overcome those roadblocks?
- Who held you accountable along the journey?
- How did you celebrate your success?
Be as specific and detailed as possible when writing your answers. If you don’t have an answer, I encourage you to spend some time sitting with the question, rather than skipping to the next one.
Again, remember to write your responses in the present tense, as if you have already completed and celebrated reaching your goal.
Final Thoughts On Manifestation Journaling
While journaling is just a single technique to get unstuck and achieve your career goals, it can be a powerful one when used consistently and with levity. Feel free to get creative and have fun as you manifest your future reality. You’ve got this!
