I remember making a vision board in the summer of 2021. 

On this board, I put goals I wanted to achieve before the end of the year. Specifically, I set a lot of goals that I was not confident that I would achieve pre-pandemic. They seemed like an overshot. They seemed out of reach. 

But I put them on there anyway, just in case.

I wrote that I wanted a job with Fox Sports, preferably in writing or broadcasting. I set a goal to have a second internship so that I could hopefully be hired by them after graduation. I set out to achieve goals that would help me become my best self.

Almost a year later, I can say that I’ve come close to, if not achieved, all of the goals on my vision board. 

In the past year, I’ve become involved in spirituality. Specifically, I became interested in the practice of manifestations. Manifestations have become a widely popular trend on social media, but they’re also a great way to gravitate towards your goals without being too stressed about them.

Spiritual manifestations are about “flowing with” and not “forcing” your goals. It’s a matter of being clear in what you want and believing and envisioning yourself living that reality. Ways that someone might engage in manifesting is through journaling, creating a vision board or something as simple as keeping something written in your Notes app. 

You can also dive further into the ideal of spiritual manifestation through prayer and meditation, as well as other ways of “speaking things into existence.” I like to write down my manifestations so I can refer back to them. Another popular thing people like to do is carry healing crystals on their person. 

Let’s say you want to manifest a new job. You might write down specifically the organization and role you want to work. For me, I said I wanted to be a sports writer for Fox Sports. The role and organization are specific.

If your goal is to be healthier, ask yourself how? How do you want to improve your physical health? How do you want to improve your mental health? What steps do you want to take to achieve these goals? Getting to the specifics not only helps with manifestations, but it helps you break your bigger goals into smaller, more manageable ones.

By writing it down and believing in it, you’re setting yourself up for success. You can’t work toward your goals if you don’t actually believe you can achieve them. You’re only going to harm yourself by having a negative mindset.

Even though manifestations are a great way to focus on your goals without obsessing over them, you cannot rely on that alone. Finding the balance between manifestations and hard work is going to be key for making your goals become reality.

I didn’t just write down my goals and say “That’s it, let’s hope this happens.” I actively worked towards my goal. I envisioned myself living in those goals and took the steps towards how I would achieve the goals. 

In late November 2021, I sought out three opportunities that would allow me to succeed in the goals I was working towards. I applied for a writing position with Philly Voice and Sports Talk Philly, two Philadelphia news publications. I also reached out to the NFL Draft Bible on Sports Illustrated, which would soon become my second internship.

There’s no harm in reaching out to the organizations you want to work for. Likewise, there’s no harm in reaching out to smaller organizations that do the same things the bigger organizations do. 

Because it is a full-time commitment and I’m still in college, I was told to reapply for the Philly Voice writer position after graduation. I did, however, get the opportunity to intern with the NFL Draft Bible as well as write for Sports Talk Philly.

These two organizations quickly opened doors for me to succeed and put more valuable experiences on my resume.

Finding ways to work towards your goals and believing in yourself are two powerful steps you need to take to succeed. Finding a balance between manifestations and hard work is going to help you in whatever aspect of your life you want to improve.

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