Are You Marinating Enough?

Now that the New Year is well under way, how are those resolutions working out? No matter if you have stuck to them with fervor or if they are already a distant memory, there is another way you can be in relationship with the things you desire and it’s called “marinating”.Last year I had a conversation with a client who is the leader in a mid-sized service company in Seattle. She told me how stretched thin her staff was with the boom in the real-estate market and how finding another highly specialized manager would really help. In the very next breath she explained how impossible it was going to be to find someone, because this person would need a certain level of training and experience, plus be able to work crazy hours and be great with the staff. For my client, this felt like the impossible.I explained that when we want something, especially if it feels nearly impossible, the best way to go about it is to first go inward and “marinate” in what we want, while simultaneously taking the outward actions we know to take. Marinating means to imagine, daydream, or visualize in great detail about what it would feel like (in your body) to already have what you want. We’re usually very good at the external actions to move toward the things we want, but what would it be like if we also turned that focus internally?My client did all the “external” things she knew to do such as creating a job description, talked to her network, and even hired a recruiter. Nothing was working, and she admitted she was desperate. I asked her to give the situation two more weeks before she did anything too crazy (like hire a less qualified person), and I encouraged her to marinate in what she wanted. I asked her to imagine what it would feel like (not just think, but actually feel it in her body) knowing she had the new manager in place. I asked her to feel the relief and joy knowing everyone would feel more supported by this new manager. I invited her to imagine how her staff would feel knowing they had a great manager to lean on. I even asked her to visualize how it would feel to the new manager knowing she was part of a great company. Marinating is using the power of your mind (and heart) to experience the energy of what you desire and to simply feel that energy in your system. I asked my client to marinate as often as she could and then to let go as much as she could.In less than two weeks a “perfect” candidate showed up at the office. She had just moved to Seattle from Phoenix and settled in to her new apartment. The candidate explained that she finally had the time to focus on finding a job and was excited to find my client’s posting. My client couldn’t believe how “perfect” the fit was. My client also reported that when the new manager signed the offer agreement, she noticed that she felt the exact same way she had when she was marinating. So to her, the visceral response in her body was a great data point that she was on the right track with this hire.Experiment: When you desire something to show up in your life, take the outward actions you know to take, but don’t forget the importance of marinating or daydreaming about what it would feel like to actually have what you want. In fact, I suggest starting with marinating and then allow that energy to inform the actions you take. Who knows, what you want might just make its way to you faster than you think!I created a 2 min video on Youtube that will quickly outline the power of "marinating"! It's a couple of years old, but all the information holds true.