If the quality of our lives can be said to come down to the healthy functioning of our brain, it makes sense that anything your mind can imagine could become reality.
The IPAEN method is a simple yet amazingly effective
5-Step strategy for turning your dreams into reality.
The first step is to imagine or inspire your dreams so you can clearly define your goal, and determine whether they are aligned with your soul's purpose.
So, through various visualization exercises, you create an image of who you are and what you want. After all, if you can't "see" your goals you can't aim for them.
But first you have to loosen the grip that negative thoughts have on your unconscious in order to free up a stream of positive, life-affirming thoughts. As Ilchi Lee says in his talks about how our thoughts impact our brains, what he calls the Brain Operating System,
what you put your attention to flourishes.
It's as simple as that, and also as powerful as that. Because our negative thoughts create reality too, it's important to learn how our brains operate and to choose our thoughts wisely so they broadcast in the proper direction of our goals. While no one would intentionally envision bad outcomes and experiences for themselves, unconscious beliefs can sabotage even our sincerest desires for love, happiness and health.
Say you are a lawyer who really always wanted to be a stage actor instead, for example. Any time you see an opportunity to realize your dream of being on the stage—a flyer for an audition call, an affordable improv class, an ad for volunteer stage crew—if you secretly believe you are wrong to wish to be a stage actor because you've already chosen and committed to a different life path, the voice of your negative thoughts will overpower your intentions.
But your real self, your soul, captains its own voyage, making best use of your unique skills and talents. And it needs quiet mental space to imagine your dreams and speak your wildest ideas, free of fear of judgement and censorship by the negative thinker.
The first step is to identify your true desires. It's important that your outer goals are in alignment with your inner aspirations. In other words, your head and your heart must agree, otherwise you will be in an unconscious battle that could undermine your dreams.
Use these exercises to clear all the "yes, but," "that's impossible," "I'm silly for thinking," "my parents would die if they knew," and any other sabotaging messages out of your head, so you can hear your authentic self, your soul, talk.
Your soul has always known what it really wants for you. These exercises will help you reveal it.
I Can Be . . . Meditation
One of the most effective methods to quiet critical voices and free your imagination is through
meditation.
It can be walking meditation or quietly sitting. Whichever form helps you focus and hear your true voice is the best for fostering creativity.
I Spy to Visualize
This exercise is sort of like a reverse
creative visualization. Instead of meditating on or making a vision board of images you'd like to see manifest in your life, you will take an inventory of what already exists in your environment.
First, get out a notepad and scan whatever room you are in, whether it be in your home or work and notice what's there—they are a clue to who you already are. What is in your bookshelf, for example. Are there travel books or history books? Are the dishes in your cupboard the same color as the flowers in the vase on your dining table? What types of events, errands or people do you have on your to-do list?
The point is to notice what attracts your attention. Write down everything you notice. Which things get your heart racing and which drag your energy down?
Maybe you are using a garden tool as a paperweight by your computer. Or the music you listen to at your job is always from another country. Did you go into a highly scientific profession such as engineering but have images of opera singers all over your walls?
Keep taking notice and making notes. Put the things that energize you into one column and the things that seem to deplete your life force in another column.
This exercise isn't necessarily about identifying missed career paths or rekindling lost passions. Taking inventory of things that matter to you is a way to reconnect with your soul. Once you've done that, your mind will be free of critical voices, from within and without, because you will see who you have been to yourself all along.
If you have been living as someone you are not, denying your true desires, think how much easier it will be, and happier you'll feel, when you can change from imagining who you really are to being who you really are!
Now you are ready to apply your lists to Step Two of the IPAEN method, Plan, next up in the series.
Related Articles:
IPAEN 5-Step Strategy to Manifesting Your Dreams (Overview)
IPAEN Step 2: Plan for Achieving Your Goals