Every few years, there is a buzzy word that circulates around Al Gore’s internet, and then everyone becomes an expert, publishes “how to” articles, and sells a ton of workshops and courses around it.
That word right now is manifestation.
The way many people describe it, it’s like waving a magic wand by repeating a few affirmations, creating this dope vision board, and miraculously manifesting the life of your dreams.
Here’s the 411: manifestation is the culmination of visualization + action.
You can’t journal or vision board your way to your dream life, but you can certainly design a road map to get there once you become clear on your end game.
For me, that process is future journaling.
After years of making pretty vision boards with absolutely nothing on them coming true, it was at the beginning of 2018 that I discovered that future journaling is my magic manifestation sauce.
Founding a new wellness company, OMNoire, and figuring out the “next” led me to pick up a journal and write out pages and pages of all these big ideas I had for both my business and personal life, including brand partnerships, a new home in a new city, a new car (I was driving a 15-year-old Jeep Cherokee at the time), and so much more.
All of it. I mean every single thing I wrote down came true that year.
My hack: I journaled as if all of those things were already true.
I didn’t use the words “I hope,” “I wish,” or “I want.”
Instead, I used phrases such as “I am so excited to pick up the keys to my new home in Atlanta!” “Driving to my Poconos retreat in my new BMW X5 feels incredible! I deserve this!”
Future journaling is the practice of visualizing what you want, writing it down as if it is already true, calling forth the emotion of achieving that very thing you desire, and finally being intentional on accomplishing daily, weekly, and/or monthly goals (what we call incremental manifestation) in the meantime, between time.
Here’s how:
1. Visualize your desires – Be very specific. For instance, if it is a new house, does it have three or four bedrooms? What kind of neighborhood are you in? What does your kitchen look like, and what are you (and maybe your partner) doing in this gorgeous kitchen of yours with the granite island and navy blue countertops? Do you have a fireplace or a pool? Or maybe both?
2. Pick a date in the future – This can be 3, 6, or 12 months from now. Start your journal entry with this date. I.e. Today is March 18, 2021, the day I completed this article. If I am writing 6 months into the future, then I would write down September 18, 2021.
3. Write down your goals as if they are already true in present tense – This practice allows you to call forth that overwhelming sense of accomplishment. That feeling will live in your subconscious mind and therefore fuel your conscious behaviors. Which brings me to #4.
4. Get to work – On the following pages, starting today through your future journaling date, you should be writing down a plan of action to achieve these goals. Back to the new house: what are the steps you need to take to get there? Putting together a house savings plan, going out house shopping so that you can see your vision in real life, speaking your plans out loud, fixing your credit, etc.
*Bonus* – whenever there is a short-term goal I am really focused on, I write it down at the top of my to-do list every single day. This allows me to see it in real time, and most items on my daily, weekly, or monthly to-do lists reflect those smaller actions I need to check off to get to the BIG goal.
When future journaling, do not hold back. Dream big, visualize bigger, then DO the absolute most.
Happy journaling!
Christina Rice is a serial entrepreneur, energy healer, certified yoga instructor, and certified scuba diver. A former 15-year public relations and marketing executive, Christina founded OMNoire, a social wellness community for Black Womxn and Womxn of Color in March 2017. Since its inception, OMNoire has hosted wellness retreats in Barbados, Grenada, Poconos, Bali, and Arizona, and grown a digital community of 50,000+ worldwide. Follow her journey on Instagram at @christinamrice or @omnoire and be on the lookout for Future Journaling Workshops.
