AS I SEE IT
BY MARIANNE HERON
It used to be a fairy godmother who would grant your wishes or a genie who appeared with the rub of a magic lamp. Now it seems, we possess the power ourselves to make the good stuff come true, at least that is the word according to Barry Keoghan.
In place of a magic wand actor Keoghan uses the word manifesting and his meteoric rise to stellar celebrity with films like ‘Saltburn’ and “The Banshees of Inisherin’ is proof that the theory works for him. With his bad boy looks and hooded eyes, Keoghan, born in Summerhill, Dublin, succeeded in realising his dreams despite a difficult background where he was taken into care aged five with his brother, experiencing 13 foster homes before his granny and his older sister raised him from age 10, his mum having died when he was 12.
There’s something very heartening about hearing a positive story where self-reliance has paid off in the midst of all the bad news about negative stuff from wars to racism. In psychological terms, to manifest means turning an idea into reality, a bit like turning metaphorical water into wine. It involves using mind power to achieve a goal. Unlike some ‘how to’ self- improvement books, manifesting is soundly rooted in established thinking ranging from the sports coaching of ‘ Inner Game of Tennis’ author Timothy Gallwey topositive psychology theory popularised by Martin Seligman,
But where do you even start when it comes to achieving what must, in Keoghan’s case, have seemed an impossible dream, when sometimes he didn’t even have the bus fare to get to acting class? Part of the secret is to be authentic, to be in tune with who you are: using your skill set in tune with your values and do something that you love doing.
Keoghan found his passion for acting watching films with actors like James Dean and Marlon Brando and when he answered a casting call in a shop window and auditioned for the crime drama ‘Between The Canals’. Minor parts followed and in 2017 he was cast as a boat hand in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dunkirk’.
Passion found, the next step in manifesting is to be absolutely clear about that you want – members of a certain political might party might benefit from learning this kind of lesson following the results of the local and European elections – then plan your priorities and what you need to do to realise them.
Two of the important things to do as well are to visualise what achieving them will look like and to write the goals down – sounds deceptively simple but you are more likely to achieve them if you do. Sports coaches have found, for instance, that mentally rehearsing an athletic feat can be as effective as physically practising for the event. The same can be true for everyday life, thanks to neuroscience and what is now known about the brain’s plasticity: the way our minds are sculpted by our thoughts, learning and experiences.
Of course, there is more to it than that: talent is a big part of the picture and focus plays an important part too. ‘Emotional Intelligence’ author Daniel Goleman went on to write about focus, pointing out that the mind trains itself to notice what we focus on so that improvements become hardwired in our brains.
Sometimes goal-setting can be a bit like chasing the end of a rainbow; no sooner do you appear to be getting where you want to be than the focus shifts off into the distance to a new goal to be achieved.
In a recent interview with GQ magazine Keoghan talked about how he believes in manifesting because it has worked for him. He admits to keeping ‘to do’ lists , even down to the names of directors he has wanted to work with and appearing on the front cover of GQ magazine. “It’s a massive moment,” he said. “I wrote this down in my to-do list — to be onna cover of GQ. I’m not even shittin’ you.”
Given what he had achieved, when he was asked if he had trouble finding new goals Geoghegan said: “No, I don’t want to get to a place of fulfilment, weirdly. I want to keep chasing this f**king thing, whatever it is.”
Wise guy, success like happiness isn’t a destination – it’s scenery on an ongoing journey.
