Manifesting may seem like a new trend, but it has existed for a long time. It has been referred to under different names: The law of attraction, the law of assumption, the power of positive thinking, and visualization. All of these are examples of manifesting.
Even though the concept of manifestation has been around for a while, it is still confusing for many. Not only in what exactly manifesting is but also in how it works and how to do it. In addition, there is often skepticism about whether it even works.
If you have found this article, you probably already believe it works. At the very least, that has the potential to work. Since you are open to learning more about this practice’s possibilities, let’s begin by demystifying manifestation.
Once you have a clearer idea of what manifestation is, you can try it and decide if you believe it works.
See my post on the 12 Laws of the Universe.
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What Is Manifesting?
What is manifesting, or what does it mean to manifest? The literal definition of manifesting is the practice of using your mind to attract the things you want into your life. Essentially, it is the process of creating your reality with your thoughts.
Creating your reality through your thoughts can be used in any area of your life. Manifesting can be used to create a new job. You can manifest money, a new house, and even a relationship.
Yes, all by learning to harness the power of your mind. Seems simple enough. If it is as simple as just thinking about what you want though, why aren’t more people doing it? Moreover, why doesn’t everyone have everything they have ever wanted?
This is one of the myths around manifesting: that the only thing you need to do is think about what you want. However, while the root of manifesting is our thinking, there are other steps needed to make our thoughts our reality.
How Does Manifesting Work?
Just having the thought is not enough. To truly manifest the things you desire, you need to be willing to take steps that align with the outcome you desire. This begins by setting a clear intention, aligning with your intention, taking action, letting go, and being patient.
Create an Intention
Before you begin manifesting, it is important to make your intention clear. This includes being specific and detailed about the outcome you desire. For example, if you are embarking on a new career, imagine all the details of that new job.
What does the job look like? What does your day-to-day life at work include? Where do you go to work each day – at an office or at home? Who do you work with? Who do you work for? What time of day do you work?
Questions like these help you to get a clear vision of what you want to achieve. You can ask similar questions for anything you want to manifest. Simply think about all the details of your dream outcome.
The clearer the vision, the easier it is to manifest it into reality. In addition, the most important question for any desire is to ask why. Why do you want that outcome?
Using the example of a new career, why do you want not only a new career but the exact one you visualized? Does this new career allow you to have more time to spend with family and friends? Does it pay you more? Does it allow you to travel? In addition, how does it make you feel to have this new career?
When you identify the why it gives you an emotional connection to your desired outcome. This emotional connection is what helps you stay aligned with your intention, especially when you begin to doubt your manifestation is on its way to becoming your reality.
Ways to Set Your Intention
While you can set an intention simply by thinking about it, many people find that they have more success by adding a tangible practice to manifesting. This further supports your “why” as well because you can go into detail about all the reasons you want your manifestation to come true.
Here are some ways to set your manifesting into motion.
- Journaling: write down all the details about your desired outcome, plus your reasons why.
- Vision Board: create a visual representation of what your desired outcome looks like, such as your dream office and what you wear to work each day.
- Scripting: scripting is like journaling but is more specific with an intention – such as writing down how grateful you are to receive your manifestation, “I am grateful for my new job that allows me to…”
- Meditation: meditate on the feeling of receiving your manifestation.
- Affirmations: repeat positive affirmations that reflect your desired outcome, “I love my job and am excited to go to it every day.”
Align With Your Intention
Every manifestation has its own timeline. Therefore, while you may want it to happen overnight, it usually takes a bit more time (not always, though).
You may be wondering what you are supposed to do while you wait. To help your manifestations come true quicker, try to align with your intention in the present moment. This basically means to live as if your manifestation has already come true.
Your next question is probably how one lives as if one's manifestation has already come true. Especially if you still must keep working at your old job (using the example from earlier) while you manifest a new one. This is where the power of positive thinking really comes into play.
It is easy to think, “I want to have a new career.” Beyond planting the seed of wanting a new job (relationship, house, money, etc.), though, you must believe that it is already yours. Believing that it is already yours puts you into a mindset of abundance rather than lack.
Being in a mindset of abundance (having all the things you want) means that you are attracting more abundance. In contrast, being in a mindset of lack (not having what you want) attracts more things you don’t want.
If you remember the famous book The Secret, this is the main principle the book discusses for manifesting your dream life: like attracts like. What often gets overlooked, though, is how to actually attract “like” if you don’t already have what you want.
The answer is that you think, speak, and act as if you already have it. When you get up in the morning, tell yourself how excited and grateful you are to go to your job.
Feel how great it is to have the career of your dreams. If you can, begin dressing the way you would dress at your new job. If you drive to work, take the route to your dream job first (before heading to your current place of work).
How you think, speak, and act will vary from person to person. It will even vary depending on what you are manifesting. The goal for every situation, though, is the same - to align yourself with the energy behind what you want to manifest.
An important thing to consider when doing this is that you will not always feel aligned. Some days, you may not wake up feeling excited about your current job. This can make it difficult to want to act as if you have the job you dream of.
This is when coming back to the question of “why” is helpful. Pause and reflect on why manifesting this new job would be so amazing! This emotional connection is a great way to come back into alignment with your intention.
Take Action
As you can see, there is more to manifesting than simply having a thought. Having the thought plants a seed in your mind, but you still must align with the intention. Moreover, you must act on your intention.
Acting on your desire is what puts the thought into motion and allows the manifestation to come to fruition. Unfortunately, this is the step that sometimes keeps people from seeing their manifestations come into reality.
Taking action towards your manifestation will look different, depending on what your desired outcome is. Finding a new job may include some of the following actions:
- Tell a friend you are looking for a job and describe exactly what you want.
- Sending your resume to your dream company.
- Take a course to get the skills needed to be more competitive in your desired new career.
It may also include acting on inspiration. If you suddenly think of a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while, reach out. Maybe they have a connection you don’t know about. If you have the thought to take a different route home, take it. You may come across a sign or something that can help you move closer to your manifestation.
The idea is that you are showing the Universe (God, Spirit, Source) that you are ready for your manifestation. There is a fine balance with this. While making movements forward is important, you don’t want to force anything. Therefore, you must learn how to act and how to let go.
Let Go
Let it go, let it go. Yes, that phrase works in a lot of contexts – including manifesting. This is an important part of manifesting that many people forget because it feels contradictory to all the other steps of manifesting.
Even though it may feel contradictory, it is an important part of helping you stay aligned with your intention. Remember, being in alignment means thinking and acting as if you already have what you desire.
If you already had what you desire, you would not constantly be thinking about it. Therefore, if you are constantly worrying and wondering about when it is going to happen, you are acting out of alignment. This can slow down your manifestation.
The best thing to do is to think about letting go once you set your intention. Set your clear intention. Whether that is writing it in your journal, making a vision board, or something else. Then, let it go.
Live in alignment by thinking and acting as if it is already yours. Take action when inspired. Don’t go back and keep writing about it or making more vision boards, though. Trust that your intention has already been set. Then, be patient.
Be Patient
Being patient may be the most difficult part of manifesting. The things we want to manifest are usually of great importance to us. Therefore, we want them to happen as soon as possible.
While you get to choose when you set your intention and put it out into the world, you don’t get to choose when it arrives. You must simply set the intention, align, act, let it go, and wait.
I know. It’s not what you wanted to hear. To help ease the frustration though, think about the waiting period as a time to prepare. A time for you to put everything into place so that you are ready to fully receive your manifestation and enjoy it!
If it’s a new job, the time that it takes to manifest your new dream career may allow you to finish up last-minute goals at your current job. It may be giving you time to prepare a new bank account to welcome a higher salary or to find a new home closer to your dream job.
Whatever it is, embrace the waiting period as a time to prepare to fully welcome your new dream!
Does Manifesting Work?
Now that you know how to begin manifesting, you may be wondering if it will really work. The truth is that it is up to you. Manifesting is a personal experience for each person. It is also a practice that you can only do for yourself!
You cannot ask your friend or family member to manifest for you. You must be the one doing the work. If you are ready to do the work, the steps above you will help you manifest your desires. However, keep in mind that sometimes what we desire is not in our best interest.
If a manifestation does not come to fruition, it may not be because it didn’t work. It may simply be that your desired outcome was not in your highest good. Sometimes, our higher power knows what we need more than we do. Continue to live in alignment with your desire, but be open to the idea that something better may be waiting for you.
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