Manifesting an Abundant Life in the New Year
Have you heard of the recent trend of manifesting? It became popular on social media in 2020, and its popularity has been increasing ever since!
Manifesting is basically rewiring your brain to use it as a powerful tool to accomplish your goals. If that sounds like something you could easily apply to your own life, then keep reading. This post is for you!
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Table of Contents
What Is Manifesting?
You’ve probably heard the phrase “manifest it!” at least once. But what exactly does that mean, and what is manifesting?
To put it simply, manifesting is the hope of bringing something good into existence by putting positive thoughts and aspirations into the universe.
Manifesting has been a popular practice in recent years, but did you know that it can be traced back as early as the 1800s? In my opinion, manifesting must work if it has been practiced for over 200 years!
Of course, manifesting doesn’t mean that you should leave everything up to the universe. The reality is that you need to put in the hard work, rather than expecting the universe to reward you because you asked. Good things come to us because we work hard and we do our best!
In the article “I’m a Neuroscientist: Here’s Why I Believe in the Power of Manifestation,” Julia Ries begins by saying, “It’s not about asking the universe to reward you; it’s about rewiring your brain to reward itself.”
How to Manifest the Right Way
Manifesting, when done correctly, can be a powerful tool in your life.
In the article mentioned above, James R. Doty, MD says, “Manifesting, from a neuroscience perspective, is about rewiring your brain so it’s primed to subconsciously seek out something you want or the steps you need to take to reach a certain goal. When you spend a lot of time thinking about an intention, you end up convincing yourself it’s within reach. You change your mindset and, along the way, create and strengthen neural pathways that motivate your brain to make your dream come true.”
This is what I’d like to focus on throughout the rest of this post, but if you’re interested in learning more about the neuroscience behind manifesting, then I highly suggest reading the full article, as well as Dr. Doty’s book Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything.
5 Steps for Proper Manifesting
1. Come up with clear goals and intentions. The more specific you are, the better!
2. Put those goals and intentions out into the universe. This can be done by talking to a close friend or family member, saying a prayer, creating a vision board (Pinterest is great for that!), or writing them down in a notebook specifically for manifesting.
3. Come up with a plan for accomplishing these goals. Again, the more specific, the better! Writing down your plan is probably the best option for this step since writing things down can help us remember things better (true story!). AND, you’ll be able to access and/or edit your plan more easily. You could also keep a note on your phone or computer.
4. Think about the goals and the plan often. Thinking about these two things will be a sort of exercise for your brain. This exercise will help prime your brain to subconsciously seek out the things that will help you accomplish your goals, even when you aren’t necessarily focused on the goal at the time.
5. Put your plan into action, and don’t allow roadblocks to discourage you! Discouragement can be a powerful tool, too. Do your best to keep a positive attitude as you move forward with your plan, and if anything gets in your way, remind yourself that sometimes we can’t control what happens to us, but we can choose how we react to it. If this goal is truly important to you, you’ll find a way!
Manifesting the Right Way: An Example
Now that I’ve discussed how to properly manifest your goals, I thought it would be a good idea to give an example of how to use these five steps.
I’m going to use my own goal for 2025 as an example:
My clear goal and intention for 2025 is to spend more time as a family by taking vacations, setting aside specific hours in the evening to be together, planning weekend activities, and finding hobbies that we can do together. To make this example easier to understand, I’m going to focus on one of those goals: taking a family vacation.
I have discussed this goal with my husband, my friends, and other family members. Everyone that I have spoken to is aware that I’d like to save money when possible, that I’m interested in family-friendly vacations, and that I am going to do everything in my power to take one nice vacation with my family by the end of 2025.
I have created a Google Keep note on my phone that has the total amount of money I’d like to save, as well as how much flights or gas would be, different destination ideas, a list of hotel chains that have great reviews, and more. I’ve recorded how many hours I’ll need to work in order to save up X amount of money, and I’ve also come up with other ways we can save money throughout the year in order to put more money towards a vacation. I created a list of my top five dream destinations, and I have also asked my friends and family to keep their eyes open for any vacation deals or to tell me about their experiences from their own vacations. My plan is to have X amount of money saved up by June of 2025 and to start booking the vacation as soon as we have the money. The goal is to go on vacation in November of 2025 (preferably a Thanksgiving break). This gives us about four months of booking and planning our vacation before it happens.
I have already been thinking about this vacation often, and I will continue to do so. Since this is a new goal, I haven’t had a lot of time to think about it, but I can honestly say it pops into my head at least twice per day. In fact, I’ve noticed that ever since I created this goal, I’ve seen more vacation ads popping up on my Instagram, friends and family have reached out with different travel opportunities, and I’ve even overheard conversations about credit cards that help you earn points towards travel. My brain really is subconsciously thinking about this goal and is seeking out ways to make it happen, even when I’m not! I’m sure this will continue as the months go by.
My plan is already in action! In fact, I’ve accepted more responsibilities at work (this will be more money to set aside for the vacation!), and my husband and I have already changed our budget to match our priorities for 2025, including this vacation. I am excited to continue to act on the plan that I have laid out!
I hope this example makes manifesting feel a little less overwhelming, which hopefully makes it much easier to apply to your own life!
Key Takeaways
While manifesting may seem like an easy way to be rewarded with the things you desire by simply shouting it to the universe, this isn’t the case. Manifesting can play a vital role in changing the way your brain thinks, which in turn, can help you better accomplish your goals. Manifestation can also help you take accountability for your dreams and the life you desire by being more direct and strategic about the actions you take to achieve them and your daily habits and behaviors.
It’s important to remember that hard work, determination, positivity, and hope are the only ways to truly get what you want out of this life.
As you enter 2025 with new goals, keep in mind that YOU are in charge of how your year goes. Of course, things happen to us even when it isn’t our fault. That’s life, and sometimes that’s a tough pill to swallow! But in the end, we choose how we react to situations (as unfair as they are)… and when it comes to manifesting our goals, it comes down to choosing to put in the hard work and stay the course despite our circumstances.
I am manifesting that we are all blessed with a happy, healthy, thriving 2025! Happy New Year!
