The Dream Phase of Manifestation

It's common to associate setting goals for the New Year in January.  That you should somehow have all your goals and resolutions already set by now and should already be getting to work on them.  But from my experience, that's not usually how it works.

If I set goals before the new year, I'm usually operating from assumptions.  Of what the year should be, or what I want it to be, rather than what it is.  Sometimes, I get lucky, and they line up.  But mostly, the way the year turns out to be is quite different than what I expected. 

So if I want to set goals that are realistic and working with the specific energies and archetypes of the new year, it would be helpful to be in that year first, right? To live it, and immerse in it, and get to know it first before I start setting goals and creating plans for manifesting and achieving them. Because if the energy/theme of a year is about breaking down old structures and paradigms, trying to build new structures and illuminate new paradigms won’t work out very well. Or if the energy is about expanding into new possibilities and exploring your full potential, trying to remain in your comfort zone and keep your self-awareness static won’t work out well either. There’s a special frequency to every year and cycle through the seasons. And when we learn how to tune into them and align with them, it increases our ability to flow through life with more clarity and confidence and to harness the energy and archetypes of the year to help us manifest and create.

Which means that the first months of the year are for getting to know the year at hand.

A time for curiosity, exploring and dreaming.  Employing our imagination to entertain new possibilities, new perspectives and new solutions without attaching to any one inspiration just yet.  Not feeling the need to bring ideas into action right away.  And instead, to enjoy opening your mind as far it can go and turning over as many stones as you like as you attune to the new year’s energies.

This is the phase of manifestion that we’re often in at the beginning of the calendar year.

Think of it like the first dates of a relationship. The excitement and giddiness. The lack of baggage and history to get in the way. Curiosity, discovery and possibility taking center stage. And there’s a sense of freedom as you begin to write your story. It could be a novel…or…it could be a limerick. Who knows? That’s what the first months of the year can be like.


And from my experience, when I take the time and truly enjoy this phase of manifestation, it sets me up for great success and more ease in the creative process when it comes to creating a plan and taking action further down the line.  Meaning that my projects and resolutions are much less likely to fizzle out or come out half-baked and that I'm much more likely to follow through on my ideas and harvest more abundantly from what I planted. So create vision boards, talk to others you trust about your ideas in an explorative way, increase your time in meditation and contemplation, journal and sketch your inspirations, prioritize your self care… These are just a few ideas of how you can optimize your engagement with the creative energies at the top of a new year.

So if you don't have all your resolutions and goals figured out by now, don't sweat it.  You don’t have to be in that phase of manifestation yet. Take this time right now to settle back, to put on your dreamer hat instead of your doer hat, and to open your mind to exploring the new horizons of what could be. And enjoy getting to know this new year, what it has in store, and how the two of you can work together in harmony.