manifest your destiny: four stages of development

The other day, I picked up a new book. I’m a big fan of Dr. Wayne Dyer and his perspective, so I jumped at the opportunity to read Manifest Your Destiny: The Nine Spiritual Principles for Getting Everything You Want. The title may be a mouthful (or two), but the book is concise and powerful – and its message resonates deeply with my own views.

As I make my way through the chapters and uncover Dr. Dyer’s wisdom, I thought it would be nice to share some of my favorite morsels with you. Together, we’ll gain a deeper understanding for manifesting the world of our dreams. Today’s discovery was the four phases of life. The four phases were derived from Carl Jung’s book titled Modern Man in Search of a Soul.

Some people progress quickly through the four phases. Some people progress slowly. Some people never escape the first phase. Some live nearly their entire lives in the fourth stage. I don’t think that the four stages represent a hierarchy of worst to best, but rather that the four stages are merely different perspectives with differing degrees of awareness.

Stage 1: The athlete. The primary identification is with your physical body. In phase one you are fixated with how you look, dress, and the shape and size of your body, etc. In stage one you can not actively manifest your desires.

Stage 2: The warrior. This stage is dominated by the ego; and thus, an attachment to the physical world is still overwhelming. Trophies, awards, status, titles and promotions are of great value in this phase, as all of these things massage the ego. According to Dr. Dyer, someone in this phase might adopt the motto, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” or “If I don’t get mine, someone else will.” The warrior phase is all about conquering and defeating at all costs. If you spend most of your time in this level, you will be unable to manifest with awareness.

Stage 3: The Statesperson. The ego is tamed here and our awareness is enlarged. A statesperson realizes that their purpose is to serve to the world, and they begin to work towards this goal. Being the most attractive person or having an important title is no longer paramount. In this phase, you begin to recognize your connection with everyone and everything else in the world.

Stage 4: The Spirit. In this stage you recognize and celebrate your higher self. This is the stage of the manifester. Here, you realize that you are “limitless, immortal, universal and eternal energy temporarily residing in a body.” You see that energy is always changing and shifting, and that nothing dies. You become an observer and practice detachment. There is a strong identification with the spirit.

Most of what we have been taught by our friends and family contradicts the perspective of the spirit phase. Dr. Dyer, speaking from this fourth stage of development, makes a statement so outrageous (but dare I say true!) that it contradicts most of what we have ever been taught: I have the diving ability to manifest and attract what I need or desire. Dr. Dyer believes that you do have this ability. And so do I.

From time to time, over the next month or two, I’ll share some of the nine principals with you. I look forward to exploring this perspective with you and discovering where you and I are in our journey.