People have scoffed at me when I’ve spoken about “manifesting” your dream career or dream business, but it’s only because they’re more familiar with its other names:
Mindset. Positive Thinking. Risk-taking. Leaps of Faith. Saying, “Fuck It” and Doing it Anyway. Working Like You Don’t Need the Money. YOLO. And plenty more!
All of that is manifestation work.
Because at its core, manifestation is the magic that happens when you align your conscious and subconscious beliefs with brand-new, inspired actions. THAT’S IT.
And I’ve seen this play out SO many times in my life and the lives of my friends, family, and clients.
Today I want to tell you about the two times in my life when the results of my efforts were predominantly dictated by manifestation—one in career and the other in business.
How I Manifested My Dream Career
Back in the summer of 2015, I went through a brutal breakup—the worst I had experienced in my life.
The reason it was so bad was because I built my entire life around him.
I moved to a city I hated. I stayed at a job that didn’t meet my needs. I maintained relationships that didn’t serve me.
So, when he left, I looked around at my life and realized I had nothing that brought me joy.
And so began my first foray into manifesting the life of my dreams.
I won’t get into the long story (I’m saving that for the live workshop in 6-Figure Career Queens on the foundation of job hunting), but what I wound up doing was taking a lot of big, terrifying steps. That looked like:
- Quitting my job without a backup plan—and only about $2k in savings;
- Buying a one-way ticket to my dream city, Washington, DC;
- Selling all my furniture and my car;
- Temporarily placing my cat with my sister and her roommate; and
- Sleeping on a cot in my brother’s hallway for a month.
And guess what? I wound up getting my dream job!
The result was getting my then dream job working for Bloomberg Law as a criminal justice reporter. It literally doubled my salary from $40k to $81k!
Yet I didn’t know that would be the result of my efforts then.
Where I Started
All I knew is that I was sick of waiting for my dream life to happen. I decided to MAKE it happen instead. Because, clearly, what I had been doing WASN’T working.
I knew I wanted to get back into journalism and move to DC. That was enough for me to start.
I started by asking my existing network for contacts in DC. After a few conversations with them, I realized I would need to move first and get a job later because that’s how the DC job market works.
Funnily enough, I was selected for a phone interview and writing test for Bloomberg Law about a month before I left. I hadn’t expected to hear from them. The call was in response to a “fuck it” application I sent in pre-breakup.
The position asked for 7-10 years of experience. I only had two.
But when faced with that interview and writing test, I once again said, “fuck it,” and did my best.
No “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” For Me!
Without waiting for a response, I continued planning out my networking strategy. By the time I left, I was fully booked.
I scheduled 14 days of 1:1 networking dates, social events, volunteer opportunities, and lunch-and-learns.
I was tired before I even got on the plane.
However, I knew that if I wanted a different result, I needed different actions.
Once again, I got lucky! A week before I left, I learned I passed the writing test for Bloomberg. They invited to interview in person my first week in town.
I felt like I nailed it, but I kept myself busy. Following my networking calendar became a way of not worrying over whether I got the job.
And then the following Monday, I had an offer.
It’s Not Crazy if it Works!
Eventually I went on to have three of the best years of my career.
I attended Supreme Court hearings. My Twitter became famous for my coverage of the Adnan Syed post-conviction hearing. The company sent me to attend the Congressional Correspondents Dinner. And all that on top of writing hundreds of articles and traveling the world.
Three years later when I decided I wanted a change of pace, I didn’t send in a single job application. I landed my next gig through a referral in my network.
So, did I get that Bloomberg job from a cold application? Yes, technically.
Do I also think I manifested it? Absolutely.
Trust in Your Divine Path
I wouldn’t have had the right mindset to nail the interviews and the writing test if I didn’t take the risks I had up until then. They increased my confidence.
Pursuing other opportunities kept me unattached to the result of that interview. If I hadn’t scheduled all those dates, I might have come off desperate for the job.
Had the interview had come before my breakup, I would have been so worried about whether I had the knowledge to back up the gap in my years of experience. The breakup made me SO determined to curate my life that I didn’t give that gap a second thought.
All the risks and mindset shifts I made up until then allowed me to become a match for the opportunity.
THAT is manifestation. And it’s what I’m teaching this week in 6-Figure Career Queens! Finding your dream job at a dream company for dream pay STARTS with the right set of beliefs.
Once you have that, any job is possible.
Join the group here: www.6figurecareerqueens.com
And if you want to know the exact steps I used to make this career leap, make sure to take advantage of my Black Friday sale for Manifest Your Dream Career.
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