If You Do This, You May Be Manifesting The Wrong Way

By Sarah Jeanne Browne— 

“It’s our intention. Our intention is everything. Nothing happens on this planet without it. Not one single thing has ever been accomplished without intention.” – Jim Carrey

Manifesting is attracting what you want and altering your reality with intention. It is a popular practice. It seems easy enough to do. There’s that book, The Secret, about the Law of Attraction. There’s karma, reaping what you sow. There’s the hustle culture where they say work hard and no pain no gain. There’s positive thinking which tells you to just think happy thoughts and you will succeed. The list goes on…

What do all of these have in common? You are the one with the power to make it happen. Manifesting is about making things move in your favor. It’s a tool that anyone can use, but not everyone gets it right.

What if I told you everything you know about manifesting is wrong?

Wrong? Yes. Wrong. Have you ever posted a picture to your vision board—perhaps your dream house—and felt it was too out of reach? Did you feel tempted to quit? According to motivational speaker, Mel Robbins in her course, Simple Steps to an Incredible Year, having just a picture of the final product in your vision board may actually make you:

• Constantly compare yourself to the you of your dreams
• Tempted to quit when you don’t get anywhere close to it
• Forgo an actionable plan needed to get there because you want to jump from Point A to Point B
• Unrealistic
• Not adaptable or flexible especially when setbacks or detours come up which may change the final vision of your dream
• Settle because you may not be thinking big enough
• Unappreciative of where you are and how far you’ve come
• Miss the things that matter most because you’re not living in the moment

If you keep comparing your life to that picture you put up, your dreams aren’t going to do you any favors. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t see the destination. Focus on the journey and put all your effort into that.

It’s wonderful to have dreams. But goals, the smaller steps, are what should also be on your vision board. Instead of having a fancy mansion that you strive for at the end of your journey towards success, start by putting up all the moments that will cause you to get there.

Decide what actions you will take when things get hard and put that on your vision board. For example, maybe you start that business you always wanted to start and become your own boss. Well, that will take research and time. So, put that on your vision board. Show yourself studying, learning, trying out your ideas, wearing multiple hats as an entrepreneur usually does. Show yourself grinding, doing the work. That is what you should look at in your office to encourage you that you are doing everything right.

Feeling like giving up at a certain point? Well, if you do your vision board right, you will have a plan in place for when you do. Mel Robbins puts up an image of her running in the rain, because that is when she’ll need motivation to keep going.

Sadhguru discusses in his talk, Organize Your Mind and Anything You Wish Will Happen, that “Every stage of our life we tend to think, If this one thing happens everything will be fine with my life. You reach there and you realize that it’s not it, and you postpone it to something else and something else. This is goal one. The first and foremost thing is you must be clear what it is you really want. All you have to do is commit yourself to creating it to create a peaceful, joyful and loving world for yourself and everybody around you.”

Sadhguru goes on to say that if you start the morning with the simple thought or intention of wanting to create these things, you organize your mind, body and soul so you can create and manifest what you want. You may think something is impossible based on prior experiences. But possibility is not your business. Sadhguru says it is nature’s business. It could be possible now even if not before. Don’t worry about the how. Don’t let that block your beliefs. Don’t limit yourself. 

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m possible.” ~Audrey Hepburn

You can create what you want. But it may not always look like what you expect.

Gabby Berntein says to not “expect exactly what you want to just drop in your lap.” Your timeline and schedule may not be the right way for something to happen. Those people you want to pull into your life may not be the best for you. That opportunity you want may not be the right one. That idea may not be big enough. 

Be open to the twists and turns of life. If you can do well where you are—then use that to your advantage. The truth is that there is no magic genie lamp that creates your desires for you. That’s the greatest misconception about manifestation. You have to allow what is meant to be to be, while putting forth all your energy to make the most out of what does. That is how to truly manifest. 

Be specific in what you want. Don’t conjure up a vague idea of it. Write it out. Develop the idea. Do your research. Put in time to feel out the different options you have. Realize that your ideas about life and yourself are going to evolve. So will the things you want to manifest. It’s okay to grow and change and one day want different things as long as you stay authentic. What shouldn’t change are your values. Let those guide your mantras. Then, act as if. Say affirmations or “I am” statements declaring what will happen, what energy you will allow and what you will release. 

Manifesting isn’t just a vision board and a couple of affirmations. It’s becoming who you are meant to be. It’s having an idea in your head that you don’t know how you’ll get there, but you’ll do the work to make it happen. It’s not putting off the idea or saying, “Someday.” It’s mindfulness, using this moment, right now to make it happen.

Many people merely think, “I want to be successful one day with a lot of money.” Oftentimes, that goal itself can be detrimental to achievement. That is because it’s not only general, it’s self-serving. The true goal of manifestation is being. Who are you being right now? Who are you becoming? What is the difference between the two? If you want to find peace, be peaceful. And if you want to reach your full potential, ask yourself this question: “What will I do with my success?” Who will you help? Who will reap the benefits? Because it’s one thing to have an end goal. It’s another to have an achievement of altruism. As the true purpose of manifestation is not to get but to give. 

Will your manifestation cure cancer? Stop world hunger? Create everlasting peace? Make that ex of yours regret losing you? Bring someone back into your life who is not there? Manage your expectations when you manifest. It won’t all get better right away. But if that good that you bring to the table affects just one life—the ripple effect may be unseen, but it is there.

There’s also the misconception about positive thinking i.e. toxic positivity. You don’t have to be positive all the time to get what you want. A positive thought won’t stop that bad situation from happening. What will happen is that you will be given the tools and wisdom to adapt to whatever will be. You just have to set an intention. An intention could be a happy thought, a goal in mind, a feeling you want to have, a purpose you want to set and anything that gives meaning to your life.

At the end of the day, there is no “right way” to manifest. Many believe that if something comes into your life that you manifested it by simply setting an intention. If you suffer from a mental illness, it does not mean that if you have a negative thought pattern, you will attract negative things. It does not work so simplistically as a thought attraction. If you suddenly think negative thoughts, you don’t whisk all positive things from coming your way. But what you can do is affect your experience of things with your mindset. If you are thinking good thoughts, yes, you will feel good. Sometimes, though, things happen unexpectedly that you do not plan. A good thing may come your way completely unannounced. That is called serendipity. And sometimes the bigger part of manifestation is seeking not to seek at all. Deepak Chopra calls this the Law of Least Effort. Put your intention out there, and allow what comes to come. Don’t hold onto it. Surrender so you can succeed. Don’t just live through your ideas of the future. Live now, and then you will always have what you need because this moment provides everything. This moment is all there truly is. That’s where you make it happen. So, remember that when you manifest.

Sarah Jeanne Browne is a speaker, writer and activist who has been published on Lifehack, Tiny Buddha, Thrive Global and more. See @sarahjbrowne.