The "State Shift" Method: How to Replace Hustle with Flow

A simple 3-step framework I used to land a 10,000-person audience by following a single, intuitive nudge.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

First published on Medium

Let’s get straight to the point.

Most people approach manifesting backwards.

They think it’s about getting something from the outside world.

I know I did. For years, my stomach would knot with anxiety as I tried to manifest big goals. Hustle and grind would ensue. Every task felt like a heavy “have-to.” I was building my future from a place of exhaustion, and a nagging whisper followed me everywhere: “Is this ever going to actually pay off?”

Then, a single sentence from Neville Goddard’s book The Power of Awareness (affiliate link to book) changed everything:

“Manifesting is nothing but experiencing the results of your concepts of yourself in the world.”

Let that settle for a moment.

It’s not about what you do. It’s about who you are while you’re doing it.

Your problem isn’t a lack of action. It’s the state from which you’re acting.

I was acting from “Sophia who wants and struggles,” instead of “Sophia who already has and enjoys.”

The shift happened when I stopped wanting my ocean-view home and started feeling what it was like to already have it. The peace. The security. The freedom.

I bathed in that feeling for five minutes. Then I got up.

My to-do list was the same. But the energy was completely different. A task that used to drain me now felt as natural and pleasant as an ocean breeze. I was no longer building my reality; I was expressing the one I had already claimed.

This is when the magic happens. When you act from this “wish fulfilled” state, your action transforms.

• It becomes motivated by inspiration, not force.

• It becomes intelligent, guided by intuition to the most effective steps.

• It becomes magical, as a “bridge of incidents” unfolds that you could never have planned.

We needed to get our coaching program in front of thousands. The old me would have started a hustle campaign of some sorts.

The new, aligned us? Guided by intuition, we booked a yoga class.

On the community center sign-up page, we saw a link: “Apply to Become an Instructor.” We applied on a whim. Five minutes later, it was done.

48 hours after that, we were scheduled to teach our program, reaching thousands of people via the town’s Parks & Recreations newsletter and guide.

No hustle. Just ease. The path unfolded because we were already the people for whom visibility was natural.

The method is simple. We call it the “State Shift”:

1. Know What You Want. (Be specific.)

2. Identify the Core Feeling. (Why do you want it? The feeling is the real goal.)

3. Step Into the Identity. For five minutes, be the person who has it as a natural fact.

Do this three times a day. Morning, after lunch, before bed. You are reprogramming the source of your reality.

You stop rearranging the furniture and start rebuilding the foundation.

The transformation begins when you stop trying to create your reality and start experiencing it from within.

And if you’re ready to truly live this, not just understand it, our free Shift Your Identity community is where you can practice with a powerful, like-minded group.

You can join us here: https://www.simpleandaligned.com/syi

When you make the shift inwardly, the mirror of life is bound to conform.

Have You Taken a Pause That Changed Everything?

Life doesn’t slow down just because you want it to.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

First published on Medium

Let’s be honest.

Life doesn’t slow down just because you want it to.

For years, I was racing. Twelve-hour days. Screens lighting my face. Chasing the next deal, the next project, the next “win.”

I thought that’s what success looked like.

But at some point… I realized I wasn’t living. I was hustling.

Then life made me stop.

Stage 1: You feel the shift coming, but don’t know how to pause.

For me, it was a hurricane. Hurricane Helene. We had to evacuate. Nature itself paused.

And suddenly… I heard it. That quiet whisper I’d been ignoring:

“What if you stopped?”

Not just for a moment. But deeply.

I had spent years defining myself by performance. By output. By doing.

But in that pause, I realized how empty all the chasing had become.

Stage 2: You try to pause, but old habits scream.

During evacuation, a friend offered me a trading project. My reflex said yes. My people-pleaser said yes.

But my heart whispered: no.

For the first time, I actually listened. Saying no wasn’t rejecting opportunity — it was reclaiming sanity.

That was the first sacred pause I ever took.

Stage 3: You’re ready to make the pause your practice.

After that, I began experimenting. Sometimes just three minutes a day. Breathing. Sitting. Listening.

Writing. Healing. Healing through writing.

And something shifted. My life reorganized itself.

I discovered: peace doesn’t come from controlling life. It comes from being fully present. It comes from uncovering layers of conditioned habits, one at a time.

Prayer is speaking. Meditation is listening. Why not do both?

Creation becomes a conversation — a two-way flow.

The Antidote to Hustle

Every morning, I ask myself:

“What is one thing that is sacred to me today?”

It rewired my life. Turned productivity into purpose. Made peace my portfolio.

I work differently now. I show up differently. I serve from overflow instead of stress.

Your turn

Pause isn’t about stopping the world. It’s about finding your center inside it.

Take a moment today. Breathe. Ask:

What is one thing that is sacred to me today? How can I honor or protect it?

Hold it. Breathe into it. Let it guide your actions today.

If this resonates… know you’re not alone.

We’re building a space called Shift Your Identity for people who want to live from peace, not pressure; from purpose, not hustle.

It’s where we explore, reflect, and support each other in creating lives that align with our deepest truth.

Because peace isn’t a luxury. It’s your birthright. And the pause? That’s how you reclaim it.

With alignment, 
Cristof