Is manifestation real?
Since the movie The Secret first came out in 2006, the idea that you can “believe” your dreams into existence has spread like wildfire.
TikTok is full of manifestation coaches, getting millions of views explaining manifestation through psychology and quantum physics.
On the other end of the spectrum, some scientists claim believing in manifestation is “dangerous.”
If manifestation is real, solopreneurs should be the first to know. In our businesses, we have the freedom to call all the shots and the time to meditate in the middle of the day, which means we should be able to manifest anything.
So let’s see if that’s possible.
Secret to Success: Manifest your dreams (if you can)
In this newsletter:
Pro manifestation.
Against manifestation.
How to use the basic principles of manifestation to achieve better results, faster (even if you don’t believe in manifesting).
Pro manifestation.
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Positive mindset — > Positive outcomes
Research by Dr. Carol Dweck shows that believing you can do something makes it more likely that you’ll successfully do it. Belief fuels your desire to do the hard work.
That means that our beliefs about our ability to learn, grow, and succeed — our growth mindset — can indeed affect whether we effectively manifest our dreams.
Focusing on what you can control.
Manifestation coach Candice Nikeia says manifestation is about focusing on what you can control and trusting that “the universe will take care of the rest.”
I can see how this is a healthy mindset. Believing that the stars will align if you do the work is better than worrying and getting distracted.
Self-fulfilling prophecies.
Research shows that our expectations, positive or negative, tend to be confirmed. This is what is known as a self-fulfilling prophecy. So if we expect to bring our idea to life or reach our goal, we’re more likely to.
If you expect something won’t work or will be too difficult, you’re more likely to engage in negative self-talk. If you expect it will work, you’ll engage in positive self-talk.
Positive self-talk boosts confidence, reduces anxiety and helps you communicate better — all important factors for achieving one’s dreams.
Bias affects your perception of manifestation.
If you think manifestation isn’t real, you’ll focus on the parts of your goals you haven’t achieved yet.
If you believe in manifestation, you’ll focus on your achievements and use them as proof for manifestation.
So why not believe and see the good?
Noticing the good in your life also makes you more optimistic, which, according to Denise Fournier, PhD, can help with longevity and better mental and physical health.
Against manifestation.
The Placebo Effect.
Most manifestation coaches use the Placebo Effect as a medical example of manifestation — but science disagrees.
While placebos can convince your body to feel better, they won’t lower your cholesterol or shrink a tumour.
“Placebos may make you feel better, but they will not cure you,” says Professor Ted Kaptchuk from Harvard Medical School. “They are most effective for conditions like pain management, stress-related insomnia, and cancer treatment side effects like fatigue and nausea.”
So if manifestation is like a placebo, it will help us feel better but not get us results.
Stop trying to be your future self.
Your attempts to “do more” to achieve a future you’ve chosen for yourself may hurt your mental and physical health.
The idea of manifesting a future self defined entirely by our current visions presents a pervasive philosophical and practical problem. Jean-Paul Sartre argues that the process of becoming our future self is an inventive one. The trouble with a self-definitional concept of the future self is that it seeks to give a concrete basis, a mold to which we’re meant to conform, but ultimately self-creation is artistic.
In other words, you don’t know what’s best for you long-term. Instead of trying to manifest the life you think would make you happy, live your best life with what you have now.
Believing in manifestation is dangerous (says research).
Okay, this research is interesting:
The analyses revealed that participants who believed in manifestation tended to perceive themselves as being more successful. They also predicted that they would be more successful in the future, even if the gap between their current and predicted level of success was wide. However, results suggested that these beliefs were misguided, as the manifesters were no more successful in terms of income or level of education compared to non-believers.
Dixon and his colleagues found that manifesters were more likely to make risky financial decisions — they were more likely to own a cryptocurrency, but no more likely to invest in the stock market, were more likely to believe that it’s possible to ‘get rich quick’, and were more likely to have been declared bankrupt.
Now, this paragraph specifically gave me chills (if you’re trying to make it on Substack, listen intently):
Manifesters were also more likely to believe that, in the future, thanks to their own most valued skill, quality or talent, they could be earning $300,000 a year from building a fanbase in excess of 100,000 individuals, while at the same time gaining respect and recognition because of their positive contribute to the lives of thousands of others. As the researchers note, this scenario was designed to represent ‘unlikely success’ based on current results and skills. This finding suggests that manifesters may be more vulnerable to believe in schemes that offer unrealistic promises of success.
Hmm…
Manifestors use science the wrong way.
While certain aspects of psychology give manifestation credibility, the way manifestation coaches use quantum physics in their arguments makes me laugh.
First of all, few scientists fully understand Quantum Physics & Quantum Mechanics, which is why we don’t have a quantum computer yet.
Yet, if you talk to manifestation coaches, you’ll find they’re all experts.
They’ll quote the Observer Effect, Quantum Entanglement, and the Multiverse theory as if they know that the brain is a quantum system (hasn’t been proven) or that the multiverse exists.
Please!
How to use the basic principles of manifestation to achieve better results, faster.
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Put pen to paper.
Clarity is powerful. Setting clear goals in writing is certainly helpful when trying to achieve anything.
Sit down, write through your ideas, and create an action plan.
This doesn’t mean things will happen exactly according to your plan, but take action and stay open to possibilities. Who knows?
Visualize (or use a vision board).
If you’re trying to achieve something you’ve never achieved or have never seen people close to you achieve, your brain finds it unfamiliar.
The problem with that is your brain loves what’s familiar. Your brain prefers familiar over good. It would rather be in situations it knows how to deal with, than in new situations, even if you perceive the new situations as better.
Visualization can help you introduce your dreams to your brain. Imagining the little details, or creating a vision board, is a step towards making your desires familiar to your brain.
This will help your Reticular Activating System (the part of your brain that filters information) filter information in a new way, which may take you down completely different paths.
Find unconscious resistance.
Most of the time, unconscious resistance is the result of trauma.
Trauma leaves us with limiting beliefs, and we reproduce their effects again and again.
To deal with this, take any aspect of your life, and find your patterns.
Once you find your patterns, it’s easy to understand them, identify them in the future, and override them with conscious behaviour.
So. What is it you do again and again, and again? If you can’t answer that through self-reflection (meditation, journaling), I strongly recommend you get help.
When you change at the core, somehow, you’ll manifest new things.
Go figure.
Really enjoyed this read, Maya! I think this is such a relevant topic because I’m beginning to see a lot of solopreneurs, especially in the wellness and self help industries, beginning to shift their businesses away from the manifestation mentality that was once incorporated. Some even speaking out against manifestation as “the cure to getting results.”
So thank you for providing such an informative essay on practical ways to use manifestation techniques to our advantage! I can definitely say journaling and vision boards have continue to do wonders for me in having clarity in what I want!
Imagine a serene, warm, sunny Spring Day with nary clouds in the sky and a hint of a breeze off the ocean. You're on a beach, and the tide is still going out. You and your bark-less Basenji are alone as far as you can see. You have all day and nowhere to go. You begin building 'sandcastles' without any plan or design in mind. The holes you dig, some the size and depth of a bathtub, source the little town square. A couple of small lakes and a few ponds are beginning to fill as the tide has already started its move back to land. You're done. Standing with a smile, knowing it will all be gone soon. A thought appears that only some life in the ponds and lakes is missing. Some fish and a few tiny turtles would do. It's not a wish, a notion, just the whimsy of an idea. Do you have it, or does it have you? At that moment, your dog barks with an urgency that has you look where he is at. He's nose into the breeze, tail wagging, barking at nothing! Suddenly, he stops, turns, smiles his sheepish grin at you, and returns to wandering the beach. You turn back to discover fish are swarming in the largest pools and turtles bobbing along in the smaller ones. You are in awe, knowing it had nothing to do with you and everything because of you. The tide is almost at the edge of the first 'castle,' seagulls have noticed the swarming small fish. It will all be gone soon, and you know someone or something pays attention to you.