Non-woo-woo manifesting. Is that a thing?
Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
I live with the president of the sceptic’s society, and despite his constant cynicism about anything not scientifically tested, I still dabble in the woo-woo. I’ve made vision boards, written affirmations, and even seen a psychic medium. This year, I started investigating manifestation. Not the “put it out to the universe” hogwash or the “just think positive” toxic bullshit but the actual science behind the idea of manifestation. The possibility of rewiring our brains to think big, I guess you could say.
According to Dr. Kinga Mnich (Doctor in Social Psychology): “Manifestation is a holistic approach to goal setting through adapting your mindset and behaviors. It means bringing your dreams into reality by ‘living’ your goals.” She is confident that if we repeat what we want, visually or verbally, our brains create “new neural pathways that will increase your ability to succeed with your intentions.”
Neuroplasticity is a known process in the brain. Evident in people after traumatic head injuries, brain cells can form new electrical pathways that power brain activity. So, manifestation shouldn’t be too far removed from that idea, right?
Do they give you cult leader vibes?
I heard about a podcast called To Be Magnetic (TBM) so I gave it a listen.
It was full of interesting concepts and LOTS of jargon. They claim their “unique manifestation process is backed by neuroscience, psychology, EMDR, epigenetics, and energetics with a little spirituality sprinkled on top.”
A lot of it makes common sense, they just label it with their own branding.
“Deep Imaginings” (hypnosis to identify your limiting subconscious beliefs);
“Unblocking your inner child” (dealing with past trauma that stops you doing stuff);
“Expanding through expanders” (people who are already succeeding at what you want—real life inspiration);
“Aligned action” (do the work required to achieve your goals).
Self-worth and healthy boundaries are at the core of it, so while I wouldn’t say it’s woo-woo, after listening for a while, it felt like a cult leader trying to convince you to invest. The founder talks a lot about “the brand” which I was kind of on the nose. This Reddit thread gave me great amusement and insight into the TBM way.
I decided that perhaps rather than manifesting and rewiring my brain for success, I just needed to take the time to sit down and really dig deep about what I wanted to achieve and what actions that would require.
I put it out to my newsletter subscribers and got some interesting replies. Author, writing coach and podcaster, Jodi Gibson says she sets goals each year, rather than “manifesting” as such. Here are her tips:
Brainstorm wildly all the things you would love to achieve in 2024.
Separate them into writing, business/work, personal, family
Slowly work through each section and prioritise, then whittle away until you only have three or four most important goals in each list making sure they are actionable, realistic, and measurable. This way you will be able to focus on these and everything else is a bonus.
If you like, you can also make yourself a ‘dream’ list. This is for goals that are actually dreams and mostly out of your control e.g. be a bestseller, hit the NY times list, win the lotto…
Since 2020 author Cassy Polimeni watches the same short video series specifically geared to writers that promise “12 days of illumination, inspiration, and optimism”. The videos run for four minutes followed by a short reflection. The idea is to prompt you to think about your achievements including ones you forgot about or discounted. It also aims at reframing your disappointments and planning for the year ahead. I watched these videos and although dated now, the messages are useful: reflect over the surprises, successes, and challenges of the previous year, move aside the self-doubt and invited gratitude into your goal setting. Be specific about what resources you need to achieve your goals. Again, less manifesting and more specific planning.
Mel Robbins and her workbook for 2024 goal setting.
I turned to Mel Robbins who I find refreshing with her no crap approach and printed out her Best Year Workbook. This is far removed from manifesting and well into the world of goal setting. It was a useful exercise, particularly scrolling through my phone and reminding myself of all the joyful things that happened each month that I’d dismissed or forgotten about. It also highlighted the challenges. Clarity came in realising that many of the obstacles were out of my control. It taught me some things about how I define situations. Making a plan for the year ahead was easier once I understood the parts of myself I needed to learn from and why the goals matter to me. Specifics about how I would achieve the goals including resources and timeframes really put me under the pump but the result what actionable steps rather than vague and lofty dreams that I send out into the universe and hope the law of attraction will somehow make them happen.
I do think there is space for manifesting what we want, but I think it’s about mindset and planning rather than woo-woo. This article was great at comparing the difference (with a nifty video too).
Do you believe in manifesting? What steps do you take to achieve goals and define your own success? Reply to my post on Substack with your thoughts.
Kx
