Okay, let me start off by saying that this isn’t for everyone, though it totally should be. But look, I get that the Law of Attraction and manifestation is a little woo-woo, so if this isn’t your bag then I completely understand. However, you are totally missing out!
For the uninitiated: there’s this “law” that many people follow called the Law of Attraction. A high-level definition is that whatever you think about the Universe provides. Which sounds great, right? But there are some rules that I feel don’t get explained very often that I wanted to talk about.
For the record, I was not a believer in manifestation/Law of Attraction (LoA). To me, it sounded like a waste of effort and time, especially since I’m not a religious person. I did not believe that I could “will” the Universe, God, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster (ramen) to offer up the things I wanted. No, my belief was that I had to work for what I wanted, and the fruits of my effort would be the things I wanted.
Until I read “Your Money or Your Life” which has nothing to do with manifestation whatsoever but stick with me here.
Finishing that book set me on a path that completely opened my eyes to the realization that I was paying to work for other people. With the cost of gas, maintenance for my car, work clothes, lunches, and the money I spent decompressing from my crappy job (aka punching stuff in kickboxing classes), I realized that half of my income was spent on work-related things.
And you guys, I hated that job so much. Every day was a slog where I got more frustrated by the way the business was run on a daily basis. Realizing that I spent nearly $40,000 USD a year just to work at a place I hated was insane to me. INSANE.
But there was a freedom in it, too. By realizing that half of my income was dedicated solely to work things I knew that I didn’t actually need to make that much money to live. No, the life and the comforts I already had meant I didn’t need to earn my “work” income, but instead only needed to earn half of that. Which was way easier to do! If I could make ~$32k a year, then I could be self-employed. That was such a liberating moment!
But I was afraid to let go of the job. Our health insurance, my 401k, the bi-weekly regular income, those things are hard to let go of! But I knew that my life was meant for other things and there had to be something to force my hand if I couldn’t let go. So every morning on the way to work, I would ask the Universe to get me fired.
Such a weird thing to admit!
But I would BEG something, anything, to make it so that my work fired me so I could move on. I still went to work and did my job, but the frustrations that never went away only helped further my wishes. And I would daydream about being back in my home office, writing and helping you, making a living doing what I loved. I could see myself and what I was wearing. How I was talking to my husband (who’s also self-employed and works from home). I saw what my days looked like and I imagined what I would speak about at conferences as a Marketing Guru. Most importantly, I imagined the income and how much happier I was. Then it’d be 5 pm and I’d get back in my car and wish so hard that I would have that life.
And then on a super cold March morning, I was brought into an office and told my team was “going in another direction.” I tell you how cold it was so that you know I would have skipped the whole way back to my car if it hadn’t been icy. That was when I realized manifestation was a thing and I needed to know more about what I was doing with it.
After I got fired, I started meditating daily because I heard it was a good thing to do and, you know, I had the time. I’m not good at clearing my mind and sitting in silence, so I ended up finding guided meditations on YouTube. I began looking for money ones because I had to find a way to earn money on my own, and I stumbled onto Abraham Hicks meditations. For some reason, their meditations resonated with me far more than the others I had come across, but I couldnâ’t figure out why.
Until I started researching it further. And look, I know this is a lot of backstory so I’ll cut to the chase:
I began to realize that I had put my wish to get fired out into the Universe and backed it up with detailed visualizations which had manifested the thing I truly wanted. Did I just do a shitty job at work? I don’t think I did, but I also didn’t hide my frustrations very well, which was probably the catalyst. Either way, I had gotten exactly what I wanted and was so happy and grateful.
Now I’m a believer. I’ve since seen the LoA and manifestation work numerous times in my life. I’ve been able to manifest:
- Being full-time self-employed
- Two speaking gigs in my first year of trying
- Traveling first class around the world
- Paying off credit card debt
- Losing weight and getting my blood pressure into a normal range
- Keeping my marriage healthy
- Keeping my mentality healthy
A Crash Course in Manifesting
Here’s how I do it and how I recommend understanding the LoA:
How to Manifest What You Want
1. Actually realize what it is you want
Do you want to be rich? Or skinny? Or happy? Manifestation won’t work for you simply because you have not defined your goal. What does it mean to be “rich?” Is there a specific amount of money in your bank account? What does it mean to be “skinny?” If you lost 1lb since last week, you are officially skinnier than you were before. Set clear, specific intentions.
2. Back it up with visuals
If you’re not good at meditation or visualization, get a vision board going. You can find those puffy fabric boards with ribbons easily at any thrift store. Cut out images or phrases that are what you want your life to be and look at them regularly. Imagine yourself in that world with those things.
3. Frame it correctly
This is where words matter. You have to be careful with how you set your intentions. Manifestation works best with positive emotions and not negative connotations. Things like “I want to get rid of my debt” aren’t effective because you are focusing on the negative. Instead, frame it as “I am enjoying my life and my abundance of money.”
4. See it as true now
This is clutch. Manifestation doesn’t work until you stop using weak words and see it as happening in the present. Instead of “I want” say “I am.” Invoke your imagination and visualize what it is you want as if it’s already here.
5. Understand how the Universe works
I think the biggest misconception is that people think the Law of Attraction means you sit around, do nothing, and $1 million shows up in your lap. In my experience, that is not the case. I use manifestation as a guiding principle instead. When I wanted to land speaking gigs, I set that as my goal and then visualized what speaking at a conference would look like for me. Then I started looking for conferences where I would find people I wanted to speak to. I didn’t wait for opportunities to fall in my lap; I went and got them but used the LoA to bring me the outcomes I wanted.
6. Allow yourself to let go
To me, this is the hardest part. For manifestation to work, you have to let yourself believe in it. Being skeptical (which I understand!) puts up a wall that you’ll have to keep knocking down. The way I got past this was thinking “what’s it going to hurt to let myself believe, even if for a little while?” It;s sort of like dating: you give it a shot and see what happens.
At the end of the day, what does it hurt to try? If you really want something in your life, wouldn’t you give any possibility to make it happen a shot? Give manifestation a try and see what doors open up!