The Rational Decision Maker Gets Into Manifestation

Read time: 5 minutes

Welcome to The Ascend Archives, a weekly newsletter where I share a story about a transformation, revelation, or change in thinking that has improved an aspect of my life.

Entrepreneurship is hard.

Solopreneurship is lonely.

Choosing the unknown is scary.

So having people in my life who inspire and support me has been essential.

My friend Jeremy is one of those people who has done both.

As one of the first readers to voluntarily subscribe to my newsletter (the first ~20 were friends and family I signed up without their permission), he has encouraged me to keep going, provided podcast/book recommendations, and helped edit some of my essays. Jeremy jumped in as one of my biggest supporters because he knew how I felt.

The feeling of hitting publish on personal thoughts, not knowing who will read it one day.

The feeling of quitting a $200k+ a year job without a clear plan for what’s next.

The feeling of knowing that there’s more to life than the traditional path we were on for the first ~20 years of our lives.

Jeremy is a few years ahead of me in forging his own path and sharing what he learns. He started experimenting with different business ideas like Consulting Case Prep, advising founders and executives, hosting retreats, and more. He took Write of Passage and found his love of writing. Now he’s in a period of exploration taking trips hiking in Switzerland, living on a farm in Peru, and doing an artist residency in Asia.

Seeing him pursue his unique path has encouraged me to keep going in finding my own. In weeks when I felt stuck last year, he was one of my first phone calls. Having someone who could relate to my struggles was huge. He didn’t have all the answers but was a sounding board to explore new angles for my business and provided validation that I was on the right path.

Jeremy continues to explore and push himself into new, exciting experiences and I love his incredibly intentional writing style (check out his substack here).

After reading my 2024 Annual Review, Jeremey hit me with a powerful question:

My 3 Year Vision

Before I could think about the answer to this question, I thought about this past year.

Would my hopes in Jan 2024 have matched what actually played out in my Dec annual review?

Luckily for me, I could answer that question pretty accurately.

As I was finishing up my Australia / New Zealand adventure in January, I wrote a 3 year vision. I imagined it was 3 years into the future (January 2027) and I wrote 3,500 words about what my life was like. I didn’t specify every detail like what street I’m living on, my exact business plan, or what my day-to-day actions are. Instead, I was specific while leaving room for ambiguity.

To summarize… In January 2027, I’m in the best shape of my life and training for a triathlon. I’m excited about being in a serious relationship and thinking about marriage and kids. I’m grateful for having a strong community and being close with family and friends. I love the work I’m doing and the people I’m doing it with. I’m stoked about continuing to travel and do cool adventures.

So when I was sitting in my room a few weeks ago, reading this vision only one year after writing it, chills went down my spine.

I’m living this life.

While I don’t have my own personal trainer 2x a week, bi-weekly massages, and a private chef…. I do attend small group training sessions, get a monthly massage, and cook healthy, organic food each week.

While I’m not thinking about marriage right now, I am in a serious relationship that I’m excited about!

While I’m still figuring out my work and who I enjoy working with, I’ve had flashes of that feeling and am setting the foundation for future growth.

So maybe I’m not quite at that ideal 3 year life but I’m certainly well on my way.

Manifestation

I don’t consider myself a very spiritual or woo-woo person.

The word manifest has never been in my vocabulary.

But after writing that vision and having a lot of it start to come true, I began to question…does this manifesting stuff actually work?

When I was sitting in New Zealand writing that vision, there were a lot of unknowns ahead of me. I didn’t know where I would live long term when I got back to the US. I had no idea how I would make money this year. And I was very much single, struggling with the dating scene.

So what helped me make progress in all those areas?

When I hear manifestation I think of hoping, dreaming, and wishing. I see the person sitting on their couch, dreaming of the perfect life with a mansion on the beach, fancy sports car, and model spouse.

But what if that’s not manifestation?

What if there is another version that includes intentionality and action?

I didn’t just write this vision and let it rot in my Google Drive. Almost every Sunday, I would re-read the vision and check in to see if I was making progress towards this life. Was I making choices that aligned with my values? Sometimes the answer was no and I would course correct. Other times the answer was yes and I’d carry on.

This year was anything but a linear path up. I struggled trying to make new friends and find my community. There were several failed first dates. I spent months trying different business ideas, working for free, losing clients, and not knowing what direction to go in. But I kept at it. I kept taking action and trying new things and staying committed to the things I knew I wanted.

I manifested an epic year not by hoping and praying but by being intentional and taking action.

Looking Ahead

So now that I know the power of this manifesting… what do I hope to accomplish this year and how do I answer Jeremy’s question?

The easy answer would be more of the flashy highlights from 2024. I could do another Half Ironman, climb another mountain, go on more fishing and golf trips, and cross off more bucket list trips around the world.

But as I thought about it some more, that didn’t feel right.

While I loved doing those things and am glad I did them, I feel myself entering a new season.

A season of simplicity and consistency.

I want to brag about how many weekends I hung out in Austin with no plans. I want to show up to the gym on days I was sore & didn’t want to. I want to have interesting conversations with people each week. I want to post on LinkedIn and build a sales engine to scale my business. I want to take cool trips but prioritize doing them with people I love over my own solo bucket list adventures.

This is my year of doubling down on the foundation I built in 2024.

I know it’s not going to be a linear path. There will be months when I don’t make much money. I might get injured. There will be difficult moments and conversations in my relationships.

But if I just stay consistent with actions that align with my values, double down on what’s working, and focus on the inputs, then I know the outputs will take care of themselves.

Thank you for reading! As always please reply and let me know what resonated, what didn’t, or what you question. I love chatting about this stuff!

Cheers,

Andrew