Nick and Liza have been “moving” for the last three years. They’ve plotted and planned. They’ve created spreadsheets of homes that fit their criteria. They’ve come up with a list of items they’re taking with them and calculated how much their move will cost, down to the last nickel. Making monthly deposits into a savings account, they’ve even let their family and friends know about possible moving dates, yet the couple is still stuck in their current location.
As they ask themselves why they keep running into relocation roadblocks despite their efforts, they look at each other in bewilderment as they sign yet another lease.
Struggling to figure out the magic formula that will allow them to realize their dream, the couple decides to change what they’re doing and how they think about their ability to move. They decide to try manifesting for good.
In this blog, you’ll learn what positive manifestation is, the ways many have chosen to use it in their lives, how to implement the most effective manifestation techniques, along with seven steps you can take to reach your dreams.
What is manifestation anyway?
Manifestation is an active wish, a doorway to realizing our hopes, and a way to give our dreams a voice. But the power of manifesting for good goes deeper than that.
With its roots firmly planted in ancient philosophies that promote the mind-body connection and its relationship to the world we live in, manifestation is about bringing good things into your life by drawing them to you and then expressing your intentions in tangible ways. Simply put, this mix of attraction and the power of positive thinking isn’t a mystic practice, but a way of zeroing in on what we want by moving from dreams to action. We manifest by doing, by being mindful, by visualizing our ultimate goals, and by letting others know about our intentions as a way of making our dreams a reality.
Manifesting is about grabbing what you want with both hands and hanging on for dear life. A far cry from making a wish, it’s about being proactive and taking control. When we use it wisely, manifestation can flood our world with possibilities and provide us with the key to living our best life.
What are some examples of positive manifestation?
Manifesting is about harnessing the energy we have within us and using it to attract the result we want. This can include anything from living a healthier lifestyle, getting the job we’ve always wanted, or finding that special someone to share our life with.
Some of the most popular uses of positive manifestation include:
- Money and Career: It’s easy to see why this one is at the top of the list. This type of manifestation can range from landing a better job to having more money in your pocket.
- Relationships: Whether you’re looking for the love of your life, searching for more fulfilling interpersonal connections, or wanting to make new friends, this is another example of how positive manifestation can help you bring good things into your life.
- Wellness: This is about seeking overall physical and mental health. It can encompass anything from losing those last 10 pounds to getting in shape or maintaining psychological balance.
- Lifestyle: Probably the category we associate most with attracting the things we want in our lives, this type of manifestation includes things like living in the kind of house you’ve always wanted or traveling to places you’ve only dreamt about.
- Growth: In addition to bolstering your physical and mental health, positive manifestation can help you feel better about who you are. It can foster belief in yourself and your abilities, giving you a renewed sense of purpose, helping you conquer your fears, and allowing you to love yourself all over again.
What are some of the most powerful manifestation techniques?
Let’s face it, manifestation is not a magic potion that causes our problems to vanish. Many of the barriers keeping us from the things we want in life are firmly rooted in reality and need to be acknowledged and addressed to the best of our ability before we can move forward.
Circumstances such as our finances, where and how we live, the prejudice we face, our emotional and physical well-being, relationships, and personality will all affect our ability to draw the things we desire into our orbit. If we constantly tell ourselves that we aren’t good enough or smart enough, we probably won’t be. The key to successful positive manifestation lies in intentionally voicing our desires and feeling empowered to act. Like Nick and Liza contemplating their move, this may seem daunting, but fortunately, there are a variety of strategies we can use to improve our ability to bring good things into our lives.
- Process your emotions: When we examine what’s going on in our heads through writing or journaling, we often discover who we are and what we want—a process that can help us move past some of the barriers that have been keeping us from reaching our goals. This is also an excellent technique for dealing with those negative messages we’ve been giving ourselves.
- List your goals: It turns out that simply writing down what we want to accomplish makes us more likely to get it done. The key to coming up with goals that work is to be specific. List not only what you want to do but when you want to do it. Write down the steps you’re going to take and how you’re going to take them.
- Affirm yourself: Affirmations are the positive things we tell ourselves about who we are and what we can accomplish. By saying things like, “I am enough” out loud or repeating them in our head, we can change the way we think about ourselves, moving from a negative space to a positive one.
- Be realistically positive: This strategy is about creating our own self-fulfilling prophecy. When we expect good things, we’re more likely to get them, and if we believe that the manifestation we practice will produce the desired result, it’s more likely to do just that. Remember, taking a positive attitude will lead to a positive outcome.
What are the seven steps to manifesting your best life?
Positive manifestation can be a daunting process that involves commitment, significant attitude shifts, the ability to process our emotions, and believing in ourselves. But if we use each of the following strategies as a jumping-off point, we’ll be more likely to reach our ultimate goals.
- Have a clear vision – This step is about taking an aerial view of your life and figuring out how you will get where you want to be. List those specific goals we talked about—not only for the next year but for the next five, or even ten years. Don’t just set goals for the little things but for your big-ticket dreams as well and then spend a significant amount of time imagining what achieving those dreams would look like. This is the time to make a vision board or start a manifestation journal.
- Jettison your fears – We get what we think we deserve. Acknowledge your self-doubt, process it, and then let it drop away. Learn to believe in yourself and your capabilities by celebrating small victories until you’re ready to believe in your ability to do big things. Start each day by telling yourself you have the capability to face any challenge that life and the pursuit of your dreams put in front of you.
- Act – Don’t just wish and wait for things to happen. Grab the initiative and do instead of dreaming. Fake it till you make it by moving past your insecurities. Act despite your fears and be willing to take a risk or two.
- Persevere – Whenever we reach for big dreams, we’re going to face big challenges. Roadblocks and rejection are all part of the game, but the key to success is in how we deal with them. Make a list of everything you learned from the latest obstacle you encountered, and you’ll be better prepared to handle it next time.
- Be Grateful – Learning to appreciate what we have puts us in a positive headspace, encouraging us to see the opportunities that populate our lives. If we focus on abundance, we’ll be more likely to draw abundance to us. Put this into practice by jotting down the things you’re grateful for every week.
- Seek Inspiration from the success of others – Instead of competing and being discouraged or intimidated by what other people accomplish, allow yourself to be encouraged to move toward your own goals. Trust your instincts and believe that you’re enough.
- Trust – Now that you’ve learned to see the good things in your life and believe in your ability to reach for your dreams, it’s time to let go and trust that things will work out for the best without the need to panic when the inevitable challenge comes up.
Conclusion
While working toward our dreams will always be a challenge, and there’s no guarantee that we’ll get what we want, there are ways to increase our chances. If we get out of our own way by dealing with the negative emotions we’re carrying around inside us, set realistic goals, face obstacles squarely, and then believe we’ve got what it takes to overcome them, we’ll set ourselves up for success. If we act despite our fears, refusing to be deterred by barriers and instead using the lessons we’ve learned from them to inform our next steps, we’ll be much more likely to realize the dreams we’ve been harboring for years, so we can get on with living our best life.
References
Maidenberg, Michelle P. Ph.D., (2024, April 11). The Key to Successful Manifesting. Psychologytoday.com. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/being-your-best-self/202404/the-key-to-successful-manifesting
Nhev, Chanpenhpunloeu., (2024, February 28). Manifesting Success: Seven Steps That Can Help Transform Your Professional Life. Chanpenhpunloeunhev.medium.com. https://chanpenhpunloeunhev.medium.com/manifesting-success-seven-steps-that-can-help-transform-your-professional-life-93db6499c039
Charles Davis is an essayist who has written for several academic publications, The Gay & Lesbian Review and The Christian Science Monitor. Mr. Davis also writes a blog on navigating loss and building a new life at: https://gayandgrieving.blog. He was a semifinalist for the 2023 Mason Jar Press 1729 Book Prize in Prose.