Stuck, Blocked, Prevented From Manifesting Your Goal

Looking at all the external or practical ways manifesting efforts can get blocked, rather than there being some personal issue you need to work through, and what you can do to move past them.

Transcript

Stuck, Blocked, Prevented from Manifesting Your Goal?

We've all been there or you may even be there now: the frustrating place where things feel stuck, and have for a while, you feel there is a block which is keeping things from moving the way you want or at all, or it feels like you're being prevented from achieving your goals. You try the regular methods, and they don't work. Then your mind goes into problem solving mode and tries bigger solutions which may give you some results but not enough or the right kind. Then you start trying "outside the box" solutions hoping one of them will unlock things and they don't either. The time and money spent starts to add up along with frustration and exhaustion.

Each of us is unique and so are the goals, desires, and paths we work to manifest into the world. So, while I would love to say there is a "one size fits all" magic wand which will remove stuckness, there isn't. However, there are some common themes to these situations which can help us understand the situation, see where we might have missed things which need to be done, where we may need to stop doing things, or change the direction we've been heading entirely to get the resolution we need.

Order of Operations:

Much like cooking, manifesting things often takes several steps, has multiple components, and things need to be done in a certain order. Unlike cooking, manifesting doesn't usually come with an easy recipe to tell us what ingredients are needed, in what amount, what to do with them, or what order to combine them. So, things can get stuck when we end up doing things out of order. 

For example: If you are intending to move from one community to another, whether that is another city, state, or province, but you are also trying to date or find a partner, a block begins to form. This is because you are attempting to attract or find someone who is good for you, but you are not yet where you're wanting to be or living the way you want to live. So, while your intentions may say one thing, your energy field is emanating something different. 

Along with this, humans harmonize with their environment. I call this being geolocated. While your roots are retracting in order to move and your energy is transitioning to harmonize with a different place, the people you are interacting with are rooted in the area you're leaving. And starting to connect with someone when their roots are where you want to leave could create an anchor to prevent you from being able to go or making it far more difficult. Better to move first, then date as you'll meet people who match the you which is unfolding.

One of the easiest things to do to see if an order of operations problem exists is to try a thought experiment and reverse the order of the action items you have on your list. Like asking for help before you have absolutely everything in order or looking for the new job before you've moved into the area and settled in. Separating things into individual steps, items, or groupings and then arranging them in different ways can help you see the order of operations which will remove blocks and allow things to move again.

The One Thing You Know You Need to Do but Aren't:

One of the most frustrating issues for stuckness is the one which seems like self-sabotage. We want to be able to manifest our goal(s), at the same time we know we're preventing ourselves from doing it! This is often because even though our problem-solving brain wants to unfold this as part of our path and the life we want to lead, it also wants to protect us from it. 

When our problem-solving brain is wanting to know what to do and how to do it, but our internal self is resisting, this is more than likely because of an elephant in the room. The elephant could be one particular issue we don't want to face, like the fact our marriage/relationship/partner situation is over, and things need to change. It could be we tend to try and see problems as within us when they aren't because seeing the bigger picture is far too frightening and requires us to make survival/thrival level changes. The issue could be more core as we have a coping mechanism which requires us to be fully and completely in control, to wrap our head around things before we take any action, therefore we can't see the solutions which are right in front of us. If we can't set the agenda, control what we experience and how, then all of our self-protective measures come on full force at the same time our conscious mind is actively trying to push through them. Like a car where we've got the gas pedal to the floor while at the same time having the emergency brake on and the door open so we can jump out.

In these situations, awareness is the remedy. If we can allow ourselves to be aware of this, if we can accept and begin to feel how we are ignoring our internal knowing, protecting ourselves against ourselves, and working from instinctive reactions which are more relevant than any meditation or journey, then we can start to resolve the issue. Because the issue isn't really about finding a new tool, meditative technique, or skill, so much as the elephant in the room and how much we're doing to avoid it.

Restrictive Parameters:

In any situation there is a set of parameters which defines where and how something can manifest or transform. These include the resources available, the amount of time available or the deadline to meet, and the effort which is available to do the work.  However, it is not uncommon for our mindset or world view to add additional parameters or even restrictions which can prevent us from achieving our goal(s). 

For example: We ask for the money to pay off our debts, but require it to happen in hourly increments through a job via an employer. Then on top of this, our skills and our mindset don't allow us to get hired in a job which would meet our financial needs, we refuse to invest in further skills because our fears and our self-esteem hold us back, and so our logistics guide attempts everything they can to get additional funds to us which end up being paltry compared to what we need while at the same time they are trying to get the message across that without these limitations they could do so much more.

Changing our minds about something which is a fundamental belief about ourselves or how the world works isn't easy.  It's often hard to even know this is something which needs to be done as we see the world through the lens of our core beliefs.  To know if this is where things are stuck it is helpful to get advice on the situation from others who are not invested in the outcome and who can speak about it objectively.  Mentors, friends, counselors, coaches, peers, and readers of all sorts can help shine a light on the situation to point out where the current parameters of the situation can be shifted to unblock things.

It's not possible due to extenuating circumstances:

While there are a lot of teachings in spiritual community which encourage us to think we can manifest anything or achieve all of our goals if we focus our energies with the correct intention, the reality is we live in an interconnected world which is not fully in our control. We are currently experiencing this with the Ukraine conflict, various conflicts which are ongoing in the Middle East, as well as protracted war in Sudan. It is clear to anyone involved in or affected by these that each is focused and clear on the goals they wish to achieve and is putting maximum effort, both energetic and physical, in order to achieve them. Unfortunately, this hasn't been enough to stop the conflicts nor to save individuals from suffering or even death. Some things we have the ability to control or effect and others we do not.

In less dramatic ways, the same applies to each of us. To understand how this works it helps to think of manifesting as having four pillars which make up its foundation:

Pillar 1 – You 

This includes all aspects of the process each of us is bringing to the table including our intentions, energy, willpower, clarity of thought and inspiration, preparation, actions, engagement, and responses. 

Pillar 2 – The Goal to be Manifested

This can be an object, person, place, relationship, job, role, or experience. 

Pillar 3 – The Venue

The place and circumstances in which you are working to manifest the goal. These include the area where you live, the resources you have access to, the limitations being placed on you through personal and local circumstances as well as other's opinions, preferences, requirements, and abilities.

Pillar 4 – The Bigger Picture

The interconnected world which all of these reside in. Think country, state/province, geographically distinct area, continent, and organizations like NATO or the WHO or SEATO. Weather or catastrophic elemental events (lava eruptions, tsunamis, landslides, sink holes, sunspots) can disrupt not only supply chains, but also human connections. The same can be said for wars, political elections, austerity measures, legal actions, corporate takeovers and much more. 

Each pillar plays a role or roles in the manifesting process, and we have varying levels of ability to influence them. The more aware we are of them or are open to learning about them, the more effective our manifesting efforts will be.

While our natural tendency is to start with our own intentions and desires and work to create them, working outwards from us like ripples going out from a stone dropped in water, I find the opposite process, while counter intuitive, makes things flow smoother. I therefore start with Pillar 4 and work backwards. 

For example: Supply chain and economic issues in China can lead to long delay times in getting components for things such as furniture, computer chips/electronics, or craft supplies. Or if you can get them quickly, the cost is astronomical. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza are impacting the two main sources for oil and gas, Russia and the Middle East, so supplies are reduced, and prices are through the roof. This means the cost of travel is far higher than usual without hope of seeing a change any time soon. And post-Covid pressures on rents and home prices make home ownership or even renting more and more out of reach for the majority of people, which will not change for at least another decade.

These are things individuals have little to no ability to influence, but are the foundation any manifesting process will either sit on or have to work around somehow. Life finds a way, as Jurassic Park says, but not necessarily easily or elegantly and in the short term we might need to just work with the situation we're in. 

It's also helpful to remember these things are environmental and not necessarily any type of lesson or challenge being put in front of us specifically. Just because we struggle to climb a mountain doesn't mean the mountain exists in order to make us struggle or to teach us things about climbing.

Removing blocks and unsticking things which are preventing us from achieving our goals is a frustrating but normal part of embodied life. Getting insight, support, and a different perspective on things can be immensely helpful in determining what is stuck and what can or needs to be done in order to free ourselves and move things forward.