Manifestation: Using simple methods to achieve your goals

If you believe you can, you can. This type of encouragement has gained popularity as an idea known as manifesting. Manifestation assumes you can think your dreams into reality. 

But we know that thinking or even chanting about our desires is unlikely to ensure we achieve our goals. Still, we tend to move in the direction of our focus. 

Our mindset shapes our thoughts, and our thoughts influence our behaviors. In this way, the power of manifestation is no joke. It creates a direct link between our thinking and how we experience life. 

Mastering the art of manifesting your dreams is the first step toward turning your goals into reality.

What is manifestation?

Manifestation is the belief that self-talk, visualizing success, and acting as if you’ve already achieved your desires will help you attain your goals. It’s based on the idea that you can attract the things you want to manifest by aligning your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors with your preferred outcomes.

Research published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin found that roughly 33% of 1,023 participants endorsed a belief in manifestation. They felt more successful than the other participants but were also more prone to making risky financial decisions in reality, indicating manifestation could lead to overconfidence.

For example, say you’re in an entry-level role but want to be a chief executive officer (CEO) within 10 years. To manifest this goal, you start to visualize and adopt the habits and mindset of an executive. You might imagine leading meetings and making C-level decisions. Or, you might start dressing in professional attire, networking in upscale settings, and even making strategic investments, such as buying some high-risk stock.

How to manifest anything you want

The aforementioned study from the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin suggests the techniques that make manifestation work have roots in the psychology of belief, though they may have different results for different people. For many, manifestation techniques boost self-confidence and motivation, while for others, they could distort real-world limitations. 

• Clarify your goal: Be specific about your desires, but consider that overly ambitious goals can sometimes lead to unrealistic expectations. For example, imagining a promotion might keep you focused, but aiming to get a promotion in less than a year might not be realistic, no matter your actions.
• Use visualization: Visualize your goals to stay motivated. For instance, you could be a student and find that picturing yourself graduating motivates you to do well on exams. But, those visualizations could create a false sense of preparedness if you rely on them in place of a study plan.
• Act as if you’ve achieved it: Act like your desires are already a reality to reinforce behaviors that help achieve your goal. For example, you might be a writer who structures your day as if a publishing house has already accepted your work because it motivates you to sit down and write.
• Maintain positivity: Use positive self-talk to give yourself the same energy you want to receive, as long as that self-talk doesn’t override real-world limitations. For example, if you want to improve your marriage, you might focus on behaving lovingly and openly to create a supportive and warm atmosphere with your partner.
• Embrace gratitude: To foster a positive mindset, practice gratitude for your current progress, no matter how small. For instance, if you’re working to improve your fitness level, setting specific goals and giving yourself credit each time you work toward them can help you manifest a healthier version of yourself. 
• Trust cosmic forces: Many manifesters believe in “partnering with cosmic or universal forces.” They view their journey as a collaborative process with the universe, which can reinforce faith in their path but could foster overconfidence. Trusting in cosmic guidance from the universe might help you buy a home if your belief in your ability to save for a down payment motivates you to actually put the money away.

Once you’ve chosen the techniques you think will help you when manifesting, you want to make them a part of your regular routine. The most effective manifestation methods are tangible, daily habits that remind you to align your actions and thoughts with your goals.

8 manifestation methods and techniques

Sometimes it can be hard to look ahead, especially when daily life demands that you deal with work, bills, family, and limiting beliefs. But planning for the future and getting excited about it is beneficial for your mental health. When the world seems unpredictable, keep your vision flexible and be ready for change. 

Fortunately, many effective manifestation techniques help you focus your thoughts, feelings, and actions on what you need to successfully manifest your goals. Here are some manifestation methods and techniques to get you started aligning your beliefs with your efforts.

1. Make a vision board

Piecing together your goals with images and words on a vision board is a visualization technique that creates a tangible picture of what’s in your imagination. Hang your board somewhere you’ll see it every day. Seeing your vision board is a great reminder to keep going and will help you believe your goals are possible. Use your vision board as a part of your broader life planning strategy.

2. Start journaling

Journaling gives you a safe space to record your negative thoughts, worries, limiting beliefs, and goals without judgment. You can keep a gratitude journal, where you remember what you’re thankful for, or a manifestation journal to focus on what you’re hoping to achieve. 

Scripting is another journal-type manifestation practice. This method tricks your brain into thinking you’ve already accomplished your goals. One example of a manifestation journal script could be starting from the point of view of your future self. Describe how you feel imagining you landed your dream job, realized your desires, met your soulmate, or earned a six-figure salary. 

When scripting, it’s important to keep the following practices in mind:

• Stay in the present: Visualize your dream life as if it’s happening right now. Write about what you want to attract in the present tense as if you already have it. Be as detailed as possible to make the practice more convincing. Think about all the senses: what do you see, feel, smell, hear, and taste? 

• Manifest love and gratitude: Don’t think only about what you want to attract. Dedicate positive energy to being grateful for what you already have. Try meditation to reflect on what you’re thankful for to promote positive thinking. It can be as small as appreciating a weekly check-in with a good friend or intentions as big as owning your own home.
• Leave what you don’t want behind: Successful manifestation focuses on positive thoughts. Scripting helps you visualize what you want to happen, which means thinking about what you want and not self-doubt. For example, if you want a new job, don’t consider why you want to leave your old one. Think about how you’ll feel walking into the new one.

• Connect to your emotions: When you visualize getting what you want, focus on your feelings and beliefs. Letting yourself be happy will motivate you to attract your desires.

3. Say positive affirmations

Have you ever heard of the Wonder Woman pose? It’s when you stand in a superhero position and chant positive things you believe in yourself. It may sound hokey, but according to the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, people who struggle with self-criticism and automatic negative thoughts can use positive affirmations to retrain their brains and thought patterns.

Examples of positive affirmations include:

• “I’ve got this.”
• “I’m worthy of my dreams.” 
• “I’m continually learning. I will succeed.” 

Whether you’re in the superhero position or not, using positive self-talk trains your mindset to become more positive. It can help build self-confidence in your intentions and enable you to believe more in yourself. Practice repeating positive affirmations every morning or before stressful events like tests, interviews, presentations, or difficult conversations. 

4. Consider your dreams before bed

Contemplating or writing down your intentions before bed plays into the theory that the last thoughts of the day modify your subconscious beliefs gradually but profoundly. Your dreams can improve your mindset, and you might wake up feeling better.

5. Go outside the box

There’s nothing wrong with staying in our comfort zones. But by practicing intellectual curiosity and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, you’ll grow, learn, and attract new opportunities. 

Take action with small steps at first, then work up to larger ones. As Thomas Jefferson said, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” These words ring true. Taking action ensures progress.

6. Surround yourself with positivity

Being around like-minded and supportive people can help you maintain a healthy mindset when manifesting. When you experience failure or make a mistake, you’ll have a safety net ready to catch you with open, loving arms. 

While a positive support system is great, forced positivity isn’t helpful. Toxic positivity is when people force their desires for you to have an upbeat attitude and refuse to see any negatives or downsides regardless of what is happening in reality. 

Real life has ups and downs. Some days, you will attract emotions like fear or sadness. Unexpected obstacles and setbacks will happen. Surround yourself with people who can be there for you and help you find your way back up.

7. Practice the 369 manifestation method

This numerology method is popular and easy. You simply write down what you want to happen or the desires you want to manifest. You’ll do this: 

• 3 times in the morning 
• 6 times during the day 
• 9 times in the evening 

If you believe in numerology, use this simple trick to take action. Inventor Nikola Tesla believed these numbers were divine and could unlock the universe’s secrets, and therefore, your desires.

For everyone else, the 369 method is a reminder to touch base with the power of your intentions and purpose throughout the day. Consistently writing down what matters to you can help solidify your sense of purpose and direction.

8. Try the whisper method

The whisper method is a manifestation technique popularized on social media. It uses intentions, visualization, and positive affirmations to focus the mind. 

To do it, you set a clear goal, visualize yourself whispering your intention to a specific person, and then release attachment to whether or not it will happen. You let go of control regarding the outcome because you trust it will unfold as it should. 

The whisper method is grounded in psychology, using techniques like priming and self-efficacy to build confidence. It offers a structured but flexible way to use intention, positive thinking, affirmations, and mental focus to pursue desires.

How does manifestation work?

According to a study published in Sage Journals, manifestation taps into cognitive biases like thought-action fusion. This bias suggests that thoughts can make goals feel more achievable and that visualization will make you more likely to pursue them.

In simpler terms, manifesting works because, psychologically, the mind can make imagined goals feel real. The following is a list of psychological components that can help manifestation work:

• Law of attraction: One of the 12 universal laws of hermetic philosophy popularized by Rhonda Byrne’s self-help book “The Secret,” the law of attraction suggests that a clear mental image of success has power. Psychologically, it primes the mind to notice what will bring you toward your goal. If you want to be more organized, imagining yourself organized could make you more likely to notice tools, tips, and routines when scrolling through a social media feed.
• Positive thinking and visualization: Visualizing and thinking positively works psychologically because you mentally envision your intentions and actions. You build confidence in your mindset and ability to get rid of your limiting beliefs.
• Self-fulfilling prophecies: Self-fulfilling prophecy goes beyond just focusing on a goal or noticing cues. It’s about how belief in success influences behavior. If you believe you’ll succeed, you’ll adjust your actions, attitudes, and responses, making success more likely.
• Symbolic actions: If you act as if you’ve already achieved your goals, you psychologically create a behavioral pattern of success-oriented habits. This alignment of belief and action increases confidence and helps form routines that make achieving goals more likely.
• Magical thinking and cosmic collaboration: Belief in external, often spiritual forces of the universe provides psychological comfort and can reinforce resilience after a setback. Some feel it’s easier to try again after an obstacle when they believe that universal forces are helping them along. 

You might consider the structured support a psychologist, therapist, or professional coach could provide to help you apply manifestation techniques like the laws of attraction or magical thinking effectively. They can aid you in developing a plan that genuinely integrates these practices into your daily life.

Start manifestation alongside additional support

How you think and feel impacts what you do. Manifesting may be challenging some days, but that’s OK. Keep going, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you can dream it and put in the hard work necessary to achieve it, you can succeed.

Manifesting your dream is an effective way to start building the life you want. It doesn’t matter which method you choose. What matters is that you have the conviction to follow through. 

Consider working with a BetterUp Coach to guide you in building a sustainable, personalized approach to reaching your goals.