Are You a Big Dreamer Using the Law of Attraction?

I set a big dream intention many years ago to travel to at least one international destination a year, along with travels within the United States. And one way or another, I have managed to pull off a travel dream destination just about every year since.

Spain, Argentina, Cuba, Russia, India, Jordan, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Malta, Costa Rica, England, and Canada are just some of the places I’ve traveled. And I’ve gone to 40+ of the U.S. states.

I love to travel, and I’ve attracted travel opportunities, some through work, and many personal. I have family members in Argentina and Spain, so that has afforded me many chances to travel there. My discretionary spending cash tends to go towards plane tickets. It’s a high priority dream for me.

I make my travel dreams happen, and yet I feel confident that it’s happening because I commit to the vision.

It’s a dream vision I have maintained all of these years, to be that “jet-setter” type who travels often. I believe in it and live it as a lifestyle. It feels powerful. But I think it all happens because I set the intention, visualize it, and believe with all of my heart that it will come true.  I am a living, breathing example that the Law of Attraction works.

I can’t tell you how many times I have needed something to advance my career, and the right person has turned up at the right time. I’ve met producers, HR managers, someone in need of my type of coaching–just as I became available to give my time and energy to something new.

Somehow those I need on my dream path always show up. Of course, it means I have to be dedicated and committed to a goal, and to show up myself, getting out there in the world.  It’s in “getting out there” that I’ve found people who can help me to take the next step for my dream.

Ask, and You Shall Receive the Support You Need

This has also been true of my spiritual teachers, each of whom was referred to me by somebody else or who simply “showed up” in my life, just when I was seeking advice and wise counsel. This was true of my spiritual teacher from India, who I found on Facebook one day when I was feeling down.

Rather than just stew and be miserable, I decided to find something to inspire me, and I stumbled onto my spiritual teacher through a friend. He is a “happiness teacher,” and I had a somewhat nebulous goal at the time to be “joy teacher.” He was being and doing in the world just what I had intended to be and do. I knew his teachings were bringing freedom and happiness to many people.

I set a firm intention, making a wish to meet him, and as it turned out although he is based in Pune, India, he was going to be teaching in NYC one week later. Nothing could have kept me away!

This past spring, another Buddhist teacher, “found me” when a friend needed help promoting his workshop via email and Facebook. I helped and discovered that he was there to deliver just the message I needed in my life at that time.

It seems that when I put the call out using the Law of Attraction to the universe, asking for guidance from teachers, the universe always responds. It still amazes me every time how much synchronicity there is, and how much love and guidance.

We just need to ask.

Be Clear on the Vision for Your Big Dream

The first step, of course, to asking for what you want, is knowing what you want. So if your goals and dreams aren’t clear yet, taking some solo time to work on that is essential. I find that there is something magical about writing goals down and creating a vision board around a particular dream.

Putting my dreams and goals on paper makes them feel more concrete, makes you more likely to “ground them” in reality by setting a targeted deadline. It just makes it all feel more real to me (and, research shows that those who write down goals are generally more successful and more likely to achieve their goals).

The next step is called “enrolling” others in your dream. This means sharing your big dream with others and stating them aloud so that people know what you want and can help you to achieve it. This is the part of the Law of Attraction that many people tend to leave out.

In the age of social media, this could mean writing about your dream as writers do here on 8WomenDream, or posting about your vision on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with your trusted connections. Or it could just be “enrolling” people through individual conversations or having an “accountability partner” who checks in with you to see how you are progressing with your goals.

You never know what these interactions might spark in someone else, or who might be instrumental in the future in helping you to achieve a dream. That’s the fun of it: it’s an adventure and a mystery.

Set Dream Goals and Take Turtle Steps Every Day 

Martha Beck, the life coach who writes for Oprah’s “O” Magazine and co-produced her “Live Your Best Life Show,” advises her clients to take “turtle steps” or baby steps over time toward your big dream.

If you take a turtle step every day (she advises clients to create a “four-day win” by taking turtle steps four days in a row), before you know it you’ll be living your most prominent dream. It requires consistent movement, a little step every single day.

You have to help the Law of Attraction work by taking action.

I believe that when we take the first step in faith, the universe will often meet you more than halfway, and synchronistic events will occur that help you to live your dreams.

Celebrate Your Small Dream Achievements

When en route to a goal or dream, you will encounter obstacles. I find it helpful to celebrate some “mini-wins” when I reach a milestone, to remind myself that I am making progress. The “big wins,” landing a new job, getting married, buying a house, having a baby, etc. happen less often, and so it’s vital to celebrate all of your little victories on the dream path every single day.

Notice when you are doing something well, and congratulate and celebrate yourself as you make progress on your big dream.

Don’t forget that it’s about the journey, not the destination. If our happiness is dependent upon something outside of us, and upon achieving goals, then it can be taken away from us at any time. If we choose to be happy just because we are alive and creating our lives as we go, and if we enjoy the process of creation, we’re going to have much more fulfilling lives than if we postpone happiness until we “get somewhere.”

There is nowhere to “get to.” Life is now. Happiness is now.

Find one thing every day you can be grateful for and try using the Law of Attraction to help bring you the support you need to make your big dream come true.

Lisa Powell Graham