Manifestation is a big concept to talk about. It's related to The Law of Attraction, but it's only a part of it. It's both broader and narrower, and there are many layers to it. It's more than just wishing for money or good fortune; that's probably one of the worst ways to manifest your desires. It is, however, a daily thought practice that provides results over time.
It helps if you think of your thoughts like the ocean; to manifest, you want to create deep changes in your thoughts, as though you're shifting the true current. Manifesting will not work if you're only making splash sized changes. As I've implemented manifestation practices into my life, I've noticed a constant feeling of transformation, because I'm changing and unlearning deeply running currents of thought to attract more positivity, confidence and good fortune into my life.
I guess we'll go ahead and define the word "manifest" and then we'll unpack it a little and see what it's all about. I'm still relatively new on this journey, so I'm excited to share some of my early experiences as well as embrace the learning opportunities this discussion will bring forth. An attitude of curiosity tends to make exploring new things a lot more fun, so here we go. To "Manifest" is to bring forth a result by demonstrating an spiritual readiness and positivity surrounding your desire. It's intentional, a little mystical, and it can be really powerful, but that all seems to depend on the level of commitment you bring to the table.
Some Common Ways To Manifest:
- Vision Boards
- Visualization
- Journaling
- Displaying confidence and readiness for your desired thing (acting as though you already have it)
- Praying
- Meditation
So, manifestation can look like a lot of different things, and it can bring forth lots of different results. Some people manifest more money and wealth into their lives, others manifest less tangible things, like better relationships. In my experience, the most successful manifestation practice goes with a successful, strong meditation practice. It seems to be the cornerstone; meditation seems to be crucial to the necessary mindset to attract your desire, especially because so much of it has to do with a clear, positive mindset.
My Manifestations
In the last little while I've tried my hand at some manifestation. I'm sure I could be better at it, especially seeing as I'm not currently meditating everyday (which I've heard helps so much. Even if it's only for 10 minutes.) But, even if I don't have it completely locked down, I feel really good about where my life is at and it's definitely improved it in the specific ways I've set my intentions, so I'm counting it as a win.
I've struggled a lot with confidence in the past. I felt as though both physically and personally, that I was well below average. Too ugly to enjoy the spotlight, too stupid to have a successful career. Those thoughts were a daily occurrence, and I can recognize now how much they were holding me back. There were countless risks that I didn't take, so I missed out on great experiences as well as awesome things that might have propelled my business further. I'm talking trips, networking events, presentations, dates, dinners, etc. And while I’m happy with my life now, I knew that I had to stop holding myself back. Faking confidence has never worked for me, so now I needed to figure out how to attract it.
It wasn't a ton of work, and I'm going to talk about what I did to bring more confidence into my life. But first, I'll answer some questions: Is my confidence unshakeable? No. Did I do all of these things perfectly? No. Did I still get a good result? Yes. Can I still improve from here? Of course.
So here's what I did, for the most part. When I felt unsure or self-conscious, I made it a point to ask myself "What would I do if I was already confident?" Usually, that meant envisioning myself making decisions based on my own happiness and success, which felt super empowering. And if I asked myself that question because I needed to make a decision, it was a really easy way to take my own fear out of the equation and make a decision that's in my best interest (even if it might be a little uncomfortable at first.) This was the main way that I practiced manifestation, it was the only thing that felt like a definite step in the right direction. I journaled and meditated, and while those things definitely helped me evaluate my own progress and check in on myself, I didn't notice a direct correlation doing those things and a direct result on my manifestation. I think that journaling and meditating is part of the crucial inner work you need to do to have the right mindset. But really, it wasn't a huge inconvenience. It was pretty much centered around deciding to care enough to check in with myself and modify my thought patterns.
There were definitely things that I did to hold myself back, too. I've noticed that whenever I focused too heavily on my manifestation, that I'd become desperate and impatient. That made the process way less enjoyable, and I'd notice myself acting from a place of thirst and desperation instead of confidence. I also would visualize other things that I would want to bring forth, like fun trips, a close-knit friend group in my new city, and those things have yet to manifest. Looking back, though, I think that the visualization I was doing was more like daydreaming; it wasn't a focus in my life and I didn't really set any intention behind it. Those thoughts flitted in and out of my brain, and while I'd love for those things to have happened, they just didn't. That’s okay though, I think its simply not happening right now, because my focus and energy is better spent in other places before those things manifest.
Current Thoughts
So I was going to call this section "Final Thoughts," but the whole point of this is to share how I feel as I try new things. These thoughts are far from final, I think, but I'm going to continue to share as I discover things worth sharing about manifestation.
I truly have a lot of doubts about it. Manifesting something like confidence is not quite the same as manifesting a new fridge. I don't know how much of my confidence manifestation was simply the placebo effect. I could have just really believed that manifestation was working, so it totally could have been my own mind healing my insecurities, instead of the romantic notion that I was milking the universe's good vibes through visualization. That totally could have been how it happened, especially because the change I manifested was a mental shift, not a physical object. I'm skeptical about how it all works… was it the universe or was it just the placebo effect amplified by some positive momentum?
I don't know, and I don't really care. All I know is that I'm not constantly second guessing myself anymore. My decisions feel a lot more intentional, I rarely react from a place of panic lately. I have the patience to wait for my future successes to unfold and the peace to enjoy the smaller successes on the way. Was it the universe? Was it just dumb luck? I truly don't know, but what I do know is that I worked a lot on myself these past few months as I tried to bring forth this change, and I'm better for it in a lot of ways. I know that changing these thought patterns in myself had to have had an effect, even if it only amplified the effects of sheer chance. But, I enjoyed implementing these changes, so as I continue to live my life, I'm sure that the techniques I used will come into play again. I'm too excited about the result to ignore the methods, especially without at least trying them again.
So, I guess it comes down to this: Do I know if manifestation works? No, but I think it's worth a shot anyways. Worst case scenario, you set aside some time to meditate on your dreams and desires. How could that be bad in any way?
