If you and/or the hot girl in your life, are into crystals, yoga, and all that hippie shit, you’ve probably heard about manifesting. Whether it's through Tiktok, or for the real high-and-mighty wellness gurus amongst you, Goop editorials. But what is manifesting? Is manifesting real? And why should you be giving it a go? Luckily for you, I am literally paid to research and then write about this kind of thing, and as much as I hate to admit it I am very much a hippie dippie goop girlie, so let’s get into it...

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Q: How can you tell LJ wrote a blog?

A: When there’s a needless definition section ofc! Let’s answer question numero uno: what is manifestation?

‍Manifestation:

Spending hours scrolling through pinterest and adding photos of Bella Hadid to a board entitled ‘omg she’s just like me'. Using thoughts, feelings, intuition, and belief to turn ideas into reality.

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Manifestation was popularised by pop-psychology books like "The Secret" and "The Law of Attraction". Usually, when people refer to manifestation, they are talking about the ideas presented in books like these. Basically, psychological scientists will tell you that these books are pseudoscience, which means something that claims to be scientific and factual but is not actually based on any kind of scientific method. But, there actually is a fair amount of science behind the idea of manifestation. For example, the research on growth mindset driven by Dr. Carol Dweck clearly shows that believing you can do something makes it more likely that you actually will do that thing. So eat shit, basement dwelling bros, manifestation is real and there’s a science to it, just like in Rick and Morty, or whatever the fuck you watch.

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On a real - is it real?

There's a lot of sceptical discourse surrounding manifestation. ‘Oooh manifestation isn’t real it’s just mental illness, it’s going to make people delusional ooooh’: the standard I’m-progressive-but-only-if-it’s-scientific bullshit. Then you’ve got all these pay-per-positive-thought insta gurus who’ll tell you that manifesting is so real that they’ve just manifested £20k straight into their account and they’ll show you how to do it too for the small price of £450 a month. But from my perspective, manifestation is about collecting up your positive thoughts, getting yourself a swanky new matching positive mindset, and working towards the life you want, and to me, that’s the realest shit I’ve ever heard. Whether you believe in the magical frequencies of the universe or not, positive thinking is real, organising those thoughts is real, so therefore, manifestation is real too. No, manifesting isn’t a cure-all, but when has believing in yourself ever hurt?

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I’m sold, how do I start manifesting?

We’re simplifying this whole process today, a lil crash course on manifestation. I’ve boiled the whole process down to 5 easy steps so you can manifest your best life, girlie xo

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STEP 1: Be clear about your future goals

What is it you want in the future? What does it look like and why are you doing it? The more clear and concise, the better. I like to organise these thoughts by writing them down in a journal as affirmations - so instead of writing ‘I want to be healthier’, I write ‘I am the healthiest version of myself’.

Then, I visualise my dream life and mentality using a vision board. Hop on Pinterest and collect up images you like, save them to a specific board for your manifestations. If you’re a visual person like me, slap those piccies together into a cute collage that you can use as your wallpaper so you see that shit every single day. I’m not the authority on this stuff, but here’s what my 2023 manifestation board looks like. Such a slay, I know.

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STEP 2: Work towards your goals

When you sit down and stare at your vision board or journal full of your goals and aspirations, spend a few minutes thinking about what you need to do to make it happen. You’re not gonna see any results without actions, so build them into your routine. It can be something small like reading on your commute to broaden your knowledge, taking a hot girl walk every day to improve your fitness, leaving your phone in another room whilst you revise to sort out your studying habits.

The universe is totally a give-and-take bitch, but she’s not picky - it doesn’t matter how you’re doing shit, as long as you’re getting shit done.

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STEP 3: Be thankful for what you receive

Gratitude is key to having a good life. Even if you don’t get everything you want in the order or at the speed that you want them, you should be thankful for every good thing that happens to you, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant it is. Try writing down the things you are grateful for and anything that has brought you closer to whatever it is that you are trying to manifest. Like it doesn’t seem major but if you want to save money, getting a discount on your food shop, or finding that gorge skirt at a charity shop instead of ASOS has helped you to save some money. Be grateful for that shit.

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STEP 4: Send out positive vibes

Cheesy, I know, but, if you can manage to shift your negative energy into positive energy, then you’ll attract more positivity, and all this positivity will help you to actualise your goals. It’s not difficult to do, just focus on daily activities that help you cultivate feelings of joy and happiness. For example, getting coffee with the girls, going for a silly little walk in a cute outfit, or even just making some proper tasty scran.

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STEP 5: Let go of any limiting beliefs

To create a better future for yourself you will need to remove any limiting beliefs including fear and negative self-talk. If you think that you’re not good enough or worthy of a better life, you won’t achieve it. So, replace your negative thoughts with positive affirmations. Even if it feels like total bullshit right now, you need to manifest that shit every day until it's etched on the back of your eyelids and you believe it. Keep trusting the process. The universe has got you <3

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