“What can I do now to have what I want later?”
All spirituality/ self-improvement/ magick emphasizes future intention.
No one is seriously trying to alter their past. We work on ourselves and take actions to consciously materialize what happens on the pointy side of the arrow of time.
We have two ways of expressing future tense in English.
I am going to… and I will…
The first one implies movement in space. “I am going to eat dinner” images that the speaker is traveling from the current dinner-less moment to a dinner-ful one.
The second implies the speaker’s deliberate or fixed desire. “I will eat dinner” implies a declaration. It is the speaker’s will such that dinner be eaten. The speaker pulls forth the circumstances of her dinner-eating. So shall it be done.
As a writer I’ve always preferred the latter expression of future tense. “I will” is both pithier and punchier. But beyond simply word-nerding, there are implications to this use of the word “Will.”
Your Will is your intended effect on future reality.
To say “I will…” is to both state your desire and make a promise to whatever is out there. Anything you conjure starts with those two words in mind.
But materializing your Will doesn’t end with simply saying “I will…”. The statement is but Step 1.
That so many people implicitly believe that’s where it ends. They will set an intention, it doesn’t materialize, so they start to doubt their power.
Either they give up on themselves entirely, or indulge in totally groundless delusions about how the Universe will come around eventually.
Many Law of Attraction folk talk about how your words have power.
Do they really? In many cases they certainly do not. How often do you prelude a statement with “I will___” and that ___ doesn’t happen?
The truth is your words COULD have power. (It depends…)
The strength of your words depends on how valuable you’ve made them. You make your word valuable by backing it with action, commonly known as “walking the talk.”
If your actions don’t match your declarations, your subconscious Instinct, that part of your that actually makes things happen, won’t believe you.
It might say, “Really? You think we’re going to manifest $10,000 just because you wrote it on a vision board? You didn’t even take out the trash when you said you would…”
Every time you keep a promise (to others or to yourself) your Will has more power. Every time you break a promise (to others or yourself) your will loses power.
If you want to empower your word, then it’s important to actually do what you say.
Yes, I know sometimes you change your mind. Creative types especially find their feelings change day to day.
The way to unify your will with intention-setting is to anticipate your own future feelings and intend accordingly. Just like in a healthy relationship, your inner masculine needs to anticipate the feelings of your inner feminine.
On the mundane level this can mean make smaller intentions, then gradually grow them.
You know how good it feels to cross something off a ToDo List. Why? Even minute tasks are an intention. They are micro-intentions that feed your ability to materialize what you intend.
Making grandiose intentions when you constantly break small promises is like trying to lift 500lbs when you give up on 5.
Intention is like a muscle. Start with small matters and it will be easier to lift the big ones.
So let’s practice with a 1lb intention right now.
Say “I will touch my nose.”
Touch it.
I know that seems super silly. And it is. (I am curious as to how many people will actually touch their nose.) And it is an example of materializing an intention. It just happens to be one fully within your control that you can’t fail at.
What makes bigger intentions bigger is when it goes beyond your apparent realm of control.
Most people set intentions when it may hit up against our internal fears and resistances (i.e. New Years Resolutions.)
The ambitious may set intentions that are beyond our own personal actions (i.e. manifesting a circumstance that requires “luck.”)
But they are all on the same continuum of intention. “You” are everything you experience.
There is no major difference between a small intention and a big intention other than your level belief.
You train your belief in yourself by doing what you say.
People commonly call this “Integrity.” That word has become such a moral abstraction that we forget it’s literal meaning: intact. Keeping your word is an opportunity to integrate with reality, to become whole and undivided.
Materializing 1 million dollars is small to an investor who has realized 100 million before. Materializing a 1000 word essay may be huge for a writer who doesn’t believe she can conjure up a decent paragraph.
When I work with clients on materializing the future we always start to very small materializations that are fully in the client’s control. The common term for this is “baby steps.”
After even the smallest victory, your subconscious says “Hey, you actually do what you say. Ok, let’s make that __(insert grandiose intention here)___ happen.”
You create your own game, so rig to rules for you to win. Make only the promises you will keep. The Universe is listening.
What will you do? What do you will?
