A guide to manifestation
Livia Cockerell explains how manifestation works, and how to reap the benefits of it.
I truly believe in the power of manifestation. Now, let me get one thing clear, this does not mean that I believe that I will become a millionaire, meet the love of my life and reach new levels of success in my career by simply asking the universe (trust me, I have tried). In all honesty, I think this attitude somewhat tarnishes the reputation of manifestation. The true power of manifestation is not that it does the hard-work for us, but that it can provoke a momentous shift in mindset that allows us to achieve our greatest aspirations.
As humans, we are conditioned to supress our ambitions due to a fear of failure. We will not even allow ourselves to conceive the idea that we could get that promotion or get a first in our degree because we fear that we will be unsuccessful in these endeavours. This is where the first, and I would say most powerful, step of manifesting comes into play: recognising and accepting our dreams and desires.
When we accept our goals by speaking them aloud or writing them down, we inevitably begin to visualise our success
“I am the greatest.” The famous words of heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, and a clear example of verbal intention setting, showing complete acceptance and dedication to his professional goals. Personally, I am not quite at the level in my manifestation journey where I would feel comfortable publicly shouting “I am the greatest”, and I would not particularly recommend it, but there is a lot we can learn from this public affirmation. When we accept our goals by speaking them aloud or writing them down, we inevitably begin to visualise our success making this aim more attainable in our mind and as a result, we are more likely to work towards it.
Writing down affirmations is probably one of the most common practices and was the technique I first attempted when I first tried manifesting. When manifesting in this way, we need to have the confidence to be specific with our goals and intentions. It is also recommended that you write your affirmations in the present tense and use positive language, for example, rather than writing about what you are going to avoid, write about what you are going to attract. Once you have written these affirmations, the rest is all about positive reinforcement. A popular method for this is the ‘369 Technique’ which suggests writing out your affirmation 3 times in the morning, 6 times at midday and 9 times at night.
Ultimately, manifestation is all about conditioning positive self-talk
Personally, I find manifesting in this way a pretty big commitment, but it is something that I plan to dedicate more time to. However, for the time being, I have found vision boards a particularly effective method. I made my first board at the start of January 2021 for which I gathered any images answering the question: what do I want my life to look like this year? The completed board has been above my bed ever since and, for me, this has been an effective form of visual reinforcement; I did not need to do anything each day other than look at it for encouragement and inspiration to achieve my aspirations. I know people are often so sceptical when it comes to believing things like this, but genuinely it has worked wonders – I have even signed up to the gym!! The beauty of a vision board is that you can choose the time frame, and it also gives you the opportunity to get creative and really visualise those future dreams and plans.
Ultimately, manifestation is all about conditioning positive self-talk. It encourages us to accept, visualise and subsequently attract our greatest desires. No, manifesting is not an alternative to hard graft, but it is an alternative mindset that makes our success more attainable.
