People start manifesting this time of year. Vision boards come out. I’ve done my fair share, knowing the key to manifestation is feeling the desired feelings you’d have now, ahead of time. In other words, whatever it is you desire, assume it’s yours. You’re already there. The best of all possible worlds is your reality. How do you feel? Go ahead and give yourself permission to operate from those emotions now. That’s the key, to act as if you already have what you desire.

Wanting a future doesn’t make a future happen. Many say to create a vision board, then to set it aside. Go on with your life. “Set it, and forget it” like a rotisserie bird. “Don’t over-manifest, or you’ll crush it.” Not gonna lie, it sounds like dating. Courting the Universe. Play a little hard to get. People read their manifestation journal entries, as if they’re critiquing their online dating profiles.

Here’s what I do know. I once wrote a post, including everything I desired. I put it on display, publicly, for all to read, spelling out exactly what I desired before any of it was mine. And then, I let it go and went on with my life. Not back to my career in advertising, but I continued to blog while keeping my job in advertising. I wasn’t trying to figure out how to afford a house with stairs and dimmer light switches. I wasn’t interviewing others about how they made their dreams come true. I was simply following my bliss. It’s a Joseph Campbell thing: Follow Your Bliss.

Notice “follow” is a verb. You’re taking action. You’re not sitting on your ass, waiting for your future to arrive. It’s your bliss. Not your parents’ or society’s bliss, yours. What makes you giddy to pursue, not what you think will give you happiness, but what makes you happy in hot pursuit. It’s the pursuit, the follow, the action you put in that creates the bliss. So ask yourself, what can you spend time doing without noticing the time? Where you’re lost in time and space, in flow. Follow that.

I was writing daily, and I attended writing workshop class once a week. I was committed to a process, but I wasn’t committed to the things. I wasn’t scouring Pinterest in search of my ideal kitchen. Or was I? I probably was, but only as a means of procrastination, not manifestation. All my dreams came true. I was able to support myself through writing alone, got the house, the stairs, the French doors, and the pool. All the things happened. But in that space between wanting them and having them lived THE WORK.

The bravery. I believe we’re rewarded for our brave. For doing the things that scare us. Learning the things we’ve been resisting, opening to new ways of thinking or doing things, opening to changes that scare us and make us really uncomfortable. Fortune favors the bold, Audentes Fortuna Iuvat. You transform when you actively pursue the things that scare you, when you get vulnerable and step into the leading role of your life, despite the fear. It’s not courage without fear. You have to find what scares you and pursue it. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable.

In the coming days, I intend to explore how to create Future You. It begins with Follow Your Bliss and my motto for this year: Fortune favors the bold.