How Great Things happen

Making Great Things happen is essentially what Manifesting can be called.

I kick off my workshops with a seemingly innocent question, “How do great things happen?”

Without fail, the responses come in strong and familiar: The things you’d expect: passion, vision, belief, joy, confidence, focus, and purpose—among others. What’s striking is that no matter the group, the same core ideas emerge.

So, we already know the raw ingredients for making great things happen.

So it must be that we ignore them? Skip some? We think they don’t apply to us, or we get caught in excuses: “It’s too hard,” or “That’s for someone else, not me.” But the truth is, these principles are universal, available to anyone willing to use them. And essential for Making Great Things Happen.

Let’s break down some of the most important ones.

Passion. Belief. Joy. Imagination. Vision. Purpose. Faith. Collaboration. Focus. Clarity. Inspired Action. Luck. (Hard Work). Commitment.

Simple enough. But as Great Things are not everyday occurrences and seem to occur in some people’s lives more than others, there must be some misapplication or shortage to these ingredients.

Let’s review some:

Joy

Most people think joy comes after achieving something great. But joy is actually a key driver of the process. The sheer act of engaging in something meaningful—with no attachment to the outcome—fuels the momentum of greatness. Without joy, the journey becomes mechanical, and greatness might be delayed or avoided altogether.

Imagination

Imagination often gets skipped over in favor of vision, but it’s a mistake to neglect it. Imagination broadens the possibilities; literally sets the foundation for Vision. It helps us define what “great” even looks like in the context of our lives and desires. It allows us to dream freely, without the constraints of what we or society currently believe is possible.

Vision

Vision is one of the most universally agreed-upon elements of greatness. You can’t create something without first having a Vision for it— But wait as already mentioned it is spawned by imagination and also ideeply connected to belief. The stronger our belief and the broader our imagination, the clearer and more compelling our vision becomes.

Belief

Here’s where everything starts—and sometimes stops. Belief shapes what we think is possible, and even more importantly, what we think isn’t. Our limiting beliefs often hold us back more than anything else. More than we know. In fact often, we have no idea the opaque filter our limiting beliefs put on our vision for what we think is possible.

But here’s the good news: you don’t have to eradicate all your limiting beliefs to move forward. Simply becoming willing to challenge them can begin to shift the scales. That is great news because Great things happen when we tip the balance in favor of empowering beliefs over limiting ones.

Hard Work vs. Flow

Hard work gets debated—some see it as the foundation of success, while others point to the “law of least effort.” The truth is, both can coexist. Greatness doesn’t always require grinding, but it does demand focus, persistence, and a willingness to fine-tune your mission along the way.

The Secret to Great Things

We already have the tools for greatness: passion, belief, joy, imagination, and vision, to name a few. The real challenge is in remembering that they are essential.

Great things don’t happen by chance. They happen when we bring these ingredients together and let them work through us, with faith and intention.

And the best part? It’s so much simpler than we think. You’ve been making great things happen your whole life. Wake up to the knowledge that you can do it even more!