When I think of manifestation, I think of actively working towards a goal through my intentions. However, I’ve recently discovered that so much of what we manifest in life starts with how we live daily. It shows through our subconscious thoughts and desires. Sometimes we invite, accept, and create what we expect to come back to us—whether good or bad. Often, this manifestation isn’t done intentionally. I strongly feel that we create the world we live in, fully and completely. If you are looking to be unhappy or you see the bad in everything, you will likely project that into your daily life. But if you look to see the good and work towards living your best life, I feel that you will invite that in, too.

Something taught at the Monroe Institute through MC Squared and SyncCreation is the idea that your desire to want something has to outweigh your fears of not attaining it. If you’re focusing on how terrible it will be if it doesn’t work out, you lose the confidence to “know” whatever is best will come to you and you begin to see the negative everywhere. When you start preparing for the worst, you tend to project it and set yourself up for failure. But if you face the world with confidence, excitement, and a desire to live your life as you see fit, you can begin planting seeds of creation through your actions. This includes knowing that if you don’t get something you want, it’s because the universe is sending you something even better. This is why all of my manifestation exercises end with the mantra, “This or something even better will come to me.”

Recently I’ve noticed just how much the universe responds to my small daily actions, reminding me how everything we do plants seeds of creation. Over the last year, my life has felt pretty stagnant. I haven’t been focusing on manifestation as I once had. I’m not actively doing any manifestation meditations or exercises. Instead, I occasionally stop and daydream for a few minutes throughout the day (many times by accident). So, I was surprised to find little things I used to work so hard towards, things I hadn’t forgotten but hadn’t given much energy, appearing seemingly like magic over the last month or so. From little things that don’t seem to matter much in the big scheme, like wonderful moments with my partner, to big things that do matter, like speaking at large conventions that were once only a dream, the universe has been sending me the fruits of my labor when I seem to not be looking for them. But as they appear, I remember, “Oh, I was thinking about that casually the other day.”

Something taught at the Monroe Institute through MC Squared and SyncCreation is the idea that your desire to want something has to outweigh your fears of not attaining it.

It seems as though it’s partly the seeds I planted last year in my focus meditation exercises finally coming to fruition. But it also seems as though it’s partly the small visualizations I’ve had sneaking into my life unexpectedly. This has been a nice reminder that we do, in fact, plant the seeds of creation daily. It’s a great reminder of the importance of being mindful of what we say, do, feel, and visualize on any given day. We can subconsciously invite fear and negativity, or, on the contrary, success and positivity. So, here’s how we can plant seeds of creation throughout our daily actions.

First and foremost, come from a place of gratitude in everything you do. The happier and more grateful you are, the more you can cultivate joy, and the more you will see the good in the world. Seeing goodness all around you makes for a happier and more confident mindset that’s ripe to manifest what you need at any given time. Studies conducted at the Carnegie Foundation say that 85 percent of a person’s success is due to their attitude. If we choose to be miserable in life, we will be. It’s that simple. Whereas if we make the effort to be happy and grateful, we will feel happier and more grateful. I try to start each day with an exercise to cultivate gratitude, which in turn helps me build joy. It’s helped me to make the most out of my life.

It can be easy to build negativity by taking in the bad things and holding on to them. Instead, why not pause and breathe out any of the badness that comes along? The more you can remember to breathe, take the time to process negativity, and then release it, the easier it will be to accept the good and plant seeds of creation for all you want to grow in the garden of your life.

It may seem easier said than done, but I hope you accept this gentle reminder to be attentive not only to your mindset but also to what you want to experience and achieve.