The Keys to Manifesting: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Best Life
Manifesting your dream life has become a trendy topic in today’s clickbait world. But what is manifesting? And does manifesting really work? If it does, how do I do it?
Well, I may not have all the answers but I have some ideas, and I’ve seen the power of manifesting in my own life.
Manifesting is the idea that our thoughts and intentions can affect the world around us and, when harnessed, can bring our dreams into reality.
That’s my definition, anyway!
There are a few key concepts that everyone should know when they start implementing manifesting in their life.
Step 1: Get Clear on What You Want
If you don’t know what you want, you sure as heck won’t be able to get it. So, the first thing to do is sit with yourself and get clear about what you are trying to bring into your life. You can do this in many ways. Here are some of my favorites:
Taking a long walk and having a long think (with or without music)
Journaling out your thoughts
Meditation (guided or self-guided)
Talking it out with a trusted person
Have a chat with a therapist or licensed professional
Keep in mind that you can be as specific or as general as you like. The most important thing is to get clear on the core of what you’re desiring. Maybe it isn’t a specific person or thing or place — it probably is the way you believe those things will make you feel. Specifics are great as long as they give positive energy to your manifestation but don’t get too hung up on them.
Step 2: Ask for It!
Once you know what you desire (hint: it might be a feeling and not a specific situation), you can start screaming it from the rooftops! Kidding. But only a little. You know that Bible quote, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Don’t be afraid to ask for it! Here are some ways to ask:
Pray to your higher power and ask specifically
Create a vision board (can light a candle to add energy)
Conduct a ritual like writing your desires down and burning or drowning the paper as an offering
Talk out loud to your Spirit team
Do your best to keep the ask in the energy of optimism and belief that it can and will happen. The best type of ask is one that’s in the present tense. Something like, “I am buying a car that I can afford and that is reliable.” Or, “A fulfilling job with people who are good to work for is on its way to me.”
Step 3: Take Steps to Align with It
Are you doing all you can to take positive action toward the things you are asking for? Without your input, manifestations fall flat. We are not asking a divine power to swoop in and save or rescue us. We are asking for their assistance in co-creating the things that we dream of — sort of like the ultimate human/spirit team-up! Some potential next steps:
Sign up for a class, read a book, or get more education about a topic that will help
Get your finances in order
Move to the place where your manifestation can come true
Ask someone for help
The list could go on and on. The basic idea is to help the Universe help you! We aren’t over here doing the damsel in distress thing. What could YOU be doing to make your dreams happen? Are you doing all you can? I promise that there is no cheat code.
Step 4: Energetic Alchemy or “What’s in the Way?”
Here’s where we might need to dig deep and do some shadow work. It’s time to alchemize any obstacles into advantages. Where are you blocking your own manifestations? Where are you not open to receiving the thing you say you want?
We all do it.
Here’s my example. I kept saying, “I really want a happy, healthy, loving relationship!” I asked and asked for years. But in reality, I kept choosing men who were emotionally unavailable and who were not able to give me a happy, healthy, loving relationship. It’s no shade on them. It was on ME for continuing to make choices that didn’t align with my vision.
Once I was willing to do some soul-searching and get honest with myself, a beautiful partner came into my life. And it happened during a global shutdown. It would seem like it was impossible to meet someone under those circumstances, but Spirit worked with me to make it happen once I was energetically aligned with it.
Of all the steps, this is the most important one. If you do not get out of your own way, your manifestations will stall out, and you’ll get into a cycle of believing they can’t come true. It’s not that they can’t, it’s that they won’t.
Imagine choosing to wave your right hand and then trying to manifest waving your left hand but you’re continuing to wave your right hand. It isn’t that you can’t wave your left. It’s that you won’t. Spirit can’t magically change the laws of nature. It has to work with the truths of this Earth.
Similarly, if you work with the natural laws and the spiritual, you can be in better energetic flow and your manifestations will come into being easier.
Step 5: Set It and Forget It
This can be the hardest part! Once you set your intentions clearly and ask for them to come true if you’re doing your inner work and taking steps to make your dreams happen…
There’s nothing else for you to do!
At that point, you have to set it and forget it. You don’t want to become too focused on or obsessed with what you’re trying to manifest, because you could squash it with that type of frantic energy.
Manifestations are blessings that flow in unexpectedly and magically. They are supposed to feel special and surprising. Any energy of control will, at best, make the manifestation take longer and, at worst, keep it from happening at all.
That’s what can be challenging about a spiritual life. We are constantly balancing the human and the divine, the physical and the intangible, the ordinary and the extraordinary.
We must do our best to hold strong to our hopes and belief without gripping too tightly.
While you manifest, be sure to leave room for miracles! Be open to things showing up in ways you don’t expect.
Happy dreaming!