“Manifesting” can be legit – if you “do” it in a mindful and practical way

Does manifesting really work? (Credit: Meta AI)

Manifesting is such a horribly woo-woo, vague, New Age-y term that I cringe whenever I hear it. It hasn’t been proven to scientifically work, but it feels good (and trendy) to say that you’re manifesting something. Clearly, I don’t believe it.

So why am I even suggesting that you try it? Why am I even condoning the idea that it could be legit?

Because the idea behind it bears some merit.

Now, before you write me off as a woo-woo weirdo, I’m not saying you should manifest. Rather, I’m proposing using the intention behind it and combining it with psychological theories to create a more feasible, scoped, and effective form of “manifesting”.

Think it into being. (Credit: Pixabay)

What is “manifesting”?

According to Vox, manifesting is “the practice of thinking aspirational thoughts with the purpose of making them real”. Another definition of manifesting, according to a psychologist, is “the act or process of taking something hoped for and bringing it to life.”

I’d say that the basic idea is that you think something you want into existence. It’s like wishing or praying (if you’re religious).

It has its roots in the New Age belief of the law of attraction, which is that like attracts like. Positive thoughts attract positive outcomes, whereas negative thoughts attractive negative outcomes.

If you’re old enough, then it’s the same idea as The Secret, a book about the law of attraction. Don’t need to read it, you’ve gotten the gist of it from here already.

Clearly, just wishing or thinking about something won’t bring it into existence.

Wait, what? (Credit: Pexels)

But then you’re saying that the idea behind it bears some merit?

A little bit.

The thing about “manifesting” is that it usually requires you to thinking about it every day. To recite some sort of mantra, to reaffirm what you want daily, to set that intention every day.

And that’s the two aspects of “manifesting” that I think are useful:

• setting the intention
• daily reminder

Know what you want. (Credit: Meta AI)

Setting the intention

To set an intention means you need to know what the intention is. It means you need to get clear about what you want, and why you want it.

It means to consciously and deliberately think about what you want – and then working towards that objective.

To that end, “manifesting” something like “I want to be rich” isn’t going to work. Neither will “manifesting $10,000” – because how exactly are you going to get that $10,000? Through crime? Why do you want that $10,000? Just because it’s a nice round number?

But setting an intention to “be able to buy a 3-room condominium in town” is a little clearer, although it could be more explicit. It contains implications that convenience, a home, and some level of privacy are desired. Setting the intention to “earn enough to buy a house in a convenient location with some privacy” is even clearer – you know how you’re going to do it, and why you’re doing it.

The why is important. It’s important to get real with your motivations. It’s fine to have shallow motivations (like a competitive streak, or petty revenge) – as long as you’re honest about it. It’s not about the depth or sophistication of the motivation – it’s about how strong it is. The strongest motivations can come from the smallest of things, things we might be embarrassed to admit. Leverage on that motivation.

So if you’re thinking of “manifesting” – sure. Set your intention first, and think about the following:

• what exactly you want (the more specific, the better)
• why exactly you want it (the more honest, the better)
• how exactly you’re going to do it (the more specific, the better)

If you like acronyms, it’s like a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goal with motivations added to it.

Consistency is key. (Credit: Pexels)

Daily reminders

 “Manifesting” also often entails a daily recital of sorts. Some chant, mantra, or magic phrase.

And the “daily” aspect of it is what is really useful.

It’s a daily reminder of what you want to achieve. It actively helps you to combat forgetting your intention. Saying it daily slowly makes it part of your identity.

It’s akin to creating a new habit. Do it often enough, and it becomes second nature. Set your intention often enough, and it becomes ingrained in your subconscious. It becomes something on your mind, even when you’re not thinking about it.

You’re basically tricking your mind into thinking about it all the time, so that it influences and steers your decisions in that direction. When it becomes subconscious, it requires less effort – which is why it seems like “the universe answered your prayers”.

It’s more a matter of “you consciously and subconsciously put in effort into it, which is why you’re seeing the results now”.

Psychology. (Credit: Pixabay)

The psychological theories behind it

Two psychological theories are also at play to help you think and act on your intentions subconsciously.

The Frequency Illusion. Also known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, it’s when you start noticing something more after being aware about it. Being more aware of your intentions means you start noticing more possibilities to fulfill it, as a result of the frequency illusion.

Confirmation Bias. This is about our tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information that supports our beliefs, and downplay information that doesn’t. In the context of your intention, this means that you start to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information that helps with your intention.

While these are usually raised as fallacies in thinking and interpretation, it raises your awareness of your intention – something that you want to think about more often.

Make it a habit. (Credit: Pexels)

Set your intentions daily

So it’s not so much about “manifesting” – it’s about setting your intentions daily and going about life in a mindful way. It’s really more about mindfulness in your everyday actions, with an eye towards achieving the goals you want.

The key is to be honest about your motivations when setting your intention, and to spend more time on setting the intention well.

“Manifesting” can be legit, if you look at it from a mindfulness perspective, rather than from the lens of woo-woo magic.

Manifest your happiness – how?

If you’re looking to increase your wellbeing, you might want to set your intention to be happy and be mindful about being happy.

But how do you be mindful about being happy? By knowing what are the factors that can lead to permanent and sustained happiness – the PERMA model of wellbeing.