Can You Really Manifest The Life You Want?

I'm all about the Woo these days, and highly recommend

Manifestation [Man-uh-fist-station] “refers to various pseudoscientific self-help strategies intended to bring about a personal goal, primarily by focusing one's thoughts upon the desired outcome.”

Greetings Ladies.

I’m going to hop right to it. Manifesting is where it’s at right now, and possibly forever.

If you’re in a place where something in your life feels “off,” or you are longing for a certain piece of the puzzle to fit already, grab your favorite cocktail, sit yourself down on something cushy, and give this a read. Because it’s a good one.

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Manifestation expert (yes that’s a thing) Kathrin Zenkina encourages women to live the life they want via the power of manifestation. Advising us to do things like conduct our own “One-Year Experiments” — committing to one year of living life like everything is always working out for you — it’s easy to see why people are becoming more and more obsessed with the concept of manifestation. Hint: Because it works.

First off, it is of UTMOST IMPORTANCE to understand there is more depth to manifestation than simply saying what you want out loud, and then, POOF! receiving it.

There are critical steps that must be taken, and thanks to a heap of research conducted by yours truly, science confirms that manifestation is not all hippy dippy and magic woo dust. It is, in essence, a science whereas new neurological pathways can be formed when it comes to…wait for it…manifesting our dreamiest of dream pursuits — may they be professional, personal, other, or all of the above.

How To Manifest Something You Really Want

Psychotherapist Rachel Astarte explained the art of manifestation so impeccably in this SHAPE piece, I had to utilize her words to clearly explain. A keen takeaway? The world presents itself as you see it.

Rachel says:

“Essentially, you have the power to manifest what you want simply by thinking about it in such a way that it becomes true.”

However…

“You need to start thinking more consciously and behaving in accordance because when you make a conscious shift, you'll naturally start changing your beliefs.”

Take this example that Rachel gives:

“If you believe that you're beautiful, and you walk into a room and turn heads, you're going to believe that it's because of your beauty. So you'll act with confidence, which may attract people to you.”

On the other hand…

“If you're insecure and walk into a room and turn heads, you may believe that everyone around you is noticing your self-proclaimed flaws. So you'll distance yourself and, as a result, you won't be as approachable. It'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy, even though it's only true in your own mind.”

I think we can all relate to that. Whether we’ve glided into a cocktail party feeling hot and fabulous or sauntered into a networking event feeling stupid and out of place, we are what we believe we are.

How Manifestation Works

According to the brilliant Rachel Astarte (again), there are 3 steps to manifesting what you want — be it a Range Rover, food freedom, or a better relationship with your partner — you can get it.

(1) Staying Present

She encourages us to make note of what we want (mentally or in a journal), and bring ourselves back to the present moment, the place where we have full control of what happens next.

(2) Trying Tactical Exercises

Like practicing a specific journaling technique where you speak with conviction versus “I want” or “I wish” speak.

Example: Writing “I am an advice columnist for The New York Times,” versus “I want to be an advice columnist for The New York Times.”

(3) Taking Concrete Steps

Thinking about what you want every day in a positive manner will absolutely help in getting to where you want to be in life, but nothing will manifest unless you actually take action.

Basically, you have to act like your desired future is your present, changing your behaviors to match the outcome that you want.

Example: If you desire to be the go-to yoga instructor in your town, you need to set the scene in your mind of what that looks like and how it makes you feel — Who are you surrounded by? What are you wearing? What does your studio look like? How are your yogis responding to you?

Perhaps you start dressing like a yoga instructor every day, filling your free time with everything yoga, from learning the craft to becoming certified to hosting yoga sessions with your friends. Repetition of this will turn into personal evolvement which will result in you believing you are the best yoga instructor in your zip code, which will THEN, you guessed it, manifest.

As always, thank you for reading.

Be you. A more manifested you.

Xo, Ash