Thanks to the popular book The Secret, many people are familiar with the idea of manifesting your desires. It is connected to the idea of living an abundant life, one in which the things that are most important to you appear, or manifest.
Manifesting your wishes harnesses the power of the mind in order to create your best self and live your best life. However, not everything we think about will manifest, for a number of reasons.
The first is obvious, and rather fortunate. Just because you think of a tiger or cobra does not mean it will appear. The world would be a very dangerous place if it did!
The second main reason is that of belief. On your conscious level, you think about all the things you would like to have which define abundance on your terms. On the subconscious level, however, you might actually be sabotaging yourself from getting the very things you most desire.
In this guide, we will be looking at manifesting, the role of belief in manifesting and how your life of abundance might be sabotage by you and/or others. We will then look at some of the best ways to overcome obstacles so you can manifest your best life. Let’s start with a definition of manifesting.
What is Manifesting?
Many people constantly chase after the things that they want most, and which they feel are essential for an abundant life. They long for a nice house, a fancy car, a loving life partner, money in the bank to travel and live a life of ease, and so on. How many of us actually ever achieve all of these things, or all at the same time?
When we are growing up in the West, we are taught to work hard and be entrepreneurial in order to spin a web around ourselves of all the material goods we desire. The trouble with working long hours, however, can be no social life, rarely seeing friends and family, and little to no quality time with your spouse and kids.
The romantic partner of your dreams becomes your enemy, as both of your sets of expectations of what an abundant life means suddenly come into conflict with each other. Money issues is the number one cause of divorce in the US.
But what if it didn’t have to be like this? What if you could get your innermost desires without working yourself to exhaustion and isolation?
The truth is there IS a better way: manifesting. Studies have shown that we only use a fraction of our mental powers and abilities. What if you could tap into your hidden power and harness it to spur you to successful thoughts and actions that will help you achieve all of your life goals?
Some people will define manifesting as awakening your spiritual being, or the divine within. But you don’t have to believe in any god to manifest.
However, you do have to have a sense of your own potential and an idea of how interconnected we are in the world. The idea that the flap of a butterfly’s wings could cause a storm on the other side of the world would be one example of this interconnectedness.
Manifesting requires a shift in thought in another key way. Most of us focus on what we DON’T want. A bad grade; a parking ticket; an audit from the tax man. And guess what? We end up with all those things.
Studies have shown that what we focus on and pay attention to is what we achieve. By learning how to shift your thinking from negative to positive, you can have a calm, flexible and happy mind which will be the gateway to your most cherished hopes and dreams becoming true.
So now that we’ve defined what manifesting is and how the power of our mind can help us manifest what we choose, let’s look at why belief is so powerful.
Why is Belief So Powerful?
The Buddhists say that the mind is the creator of all. Buddhism defines itself as the “science of the mind”, so knowing your own mind and harnessing its power can help you manifest the life of your dreams.
From the moment we are born (and even before, in the womb!) our minds are registering sound, sensation, and feeling. Drop a pot lid on the floor with a loud crash and an unborn will jump in its mother’s stomach because it’s startled.
As we get older, we start to process, reason and think. We pretend and imagine a great future, such as what we want to be when we grow up. Your mind never seems to be able to switch off. It is constantly dreaming, imagining, picturing and processing in relation to your own personal reality.
You Have the Power to Manifest Your Destiny
The theory behind manifesting is that the mind gives off a certain vibrational energy and that energy can attract what you desire. There is no world outside your own mind. Your external world is therefore a product of your internal thought processes and beliefs.
Your vibrational energy is the product of your thoughts, emotions, feelings, and consciousness. Your energy levels and mental state all come into play. The more positive thoughts and feelings, the more likely you will be able to achieve your goals and manifest your dreams. Negative thoughts, on the other hand, can hold you back and bring a lot of negative things in your life that you really don’t want.
If you have underlying negative beliefs, you will also struggle to manifest your goals and live your best life. If you work to transform those self-sabotaging beliefs, then you will start to manifest your desires more quickly and easily than ever before.
So your most important belief is that you really do have the power to manifest your destiny. If you don’t believe it, you will not create the vibrational energy to achieve it.
You Deserve to Be Happy
Your second important belief is that you DESERVE to be happy. Most of us say we believe this, but do we really? Or deep down, do we actually have doubts about this? Our vibrational energy can fluctuate from day to day. But if you are consistently getting close to your goals, but then they seem to slip through your fingers, it might be your beliefs holding you back from living the life of your dreams.
The motto for manifesting should be, “Whatever your mind can conceive, and believe, it can achieve.” In other words, whatever you think, and believe in your heart, you can accomplish.
Your beliefs are both the roadmap for where you want to go and the means of getting there, provided you don’t sabotage yourself. Let’s look at this topic in the next section.
Why Do We Sabotage Ourselves?
Your mind is the most powerful tool you possess. People think computers are more powerful, but if we consider this for a moment, we will realize that the human mind invented the computer – which means there is no way it is more powerful than our mind.
It is just a question of how focused our mind is. A computer works to solve problems. Imagine what your life would be like if your mind could always be focused that intently on the things you would like to manifest most in the world?
But there are several reasons why this is not the case, and we sabotage our own manifesting efforts.
The Myth of Multitasking
The first clue is the word “focus”. We get so distracted that we don’t apply our concentration to what we want to manifest. Most people “want it all” and end up with little because they are working a little bit at a time on each one, instead of focusing on one until they achieve it and then moving on to the next item on their wish list.
It’s understandable in some ways. In addition to the societal pressure to have it all, we are made to believe that multitasking is a good thing. In actual fact, there’s no such thing at all. It is just your mind flicking back and forth between two things really quickly.
The result? Everything take twice as long. Instead of writing the report and then checking your email, you are trying to do both at the same time, meaning stopping and starting and wasting time as you mentally try to pick up the thread of where you last left off.
You would probably be amazed at just how quickly you could get the report done if you trained yourself to focus on doing one thing at a time.
- The One Thing Method – The book The One Thing can teach you how to do this. It makes you ask the same question in every situation: “What is the ONE thing I can do now that will help me achieve my goal?” Answer the question and do that one thing.
- The Pomodoro Method – The Pomodoro Method is a time management strategy in which you set a timer which looks like a tomato (“pomodoro” in Italian), and work for 25 minutes straight, take a break for 5 minutes, and then start a new Pomodoro. After four Pomodoros in a row, you get a 30-minute break.
You can do this with a regular kitchen timer or alarms on your cell phone. The important thing is that you are boosting focus and productivity, which means you can move closer and closer to your goals.
Whether you are running your own business, working for someone else, or both, people will start to take notice and you should be able to increase your earnings.
However, all the hard work in the world is not going to get you where you wish to go if you sabotage yourself.
Fear of Failure
Fear of failure is only natural, but it can paralyze some people to such an extent that they never do anything to manifest the life of their dreams.
Fear of Success
It may sound strange, but some people are so scared of success that they actually undermine their own efforts, often without even realizing it. Deep down, they know that with success can come greater responsibility, and that things will change.
For example, it’s wonderful to get a promotion and raise, but it might also mean working much longer hours, or ending up with a bad boss.
Fear of Change
It is easy to get into a comfort zone, and so it might seem as if the effort to change isn’t worth it. For example, if you want to lose weight, it might actually be easier to not make the sacrifices required and just stay chunky, compare with lots of effort but the scale barely budging.
Poor Follow Through
Some people set a goal but don’t take the action needed for it to manifest. For example, if you know you need $5,000 for a dream vacation but never save any money, unless you win the lottery, your desire isn’t going to manifest.
Impatience
Many people believe that what they want to manifest should appear instantly, when of course that is rarely the case. Sometimes it can take time, plus focus and effort.
Using the weight loss example again, if you didn’t gain the weight overnight, you are certainly not going to lose it overnight. Yet for many people, the idea of losing only 1 to 2 pounds per week is just too slow.
But here again, you have choices. You know if you cut calories and/or carbs and exercise, you will lose weight. Why then are 68% of Americans obese? The answer is because of lack of follow through, impatience, poor focus, and more.
Not Having All the Facts Needed
Sometimes you sabotage yourself because you decide to go for a goal without having all the facts. Organization and preparation can often make the difference between success and failure.
Procrastination
Another common form of self-sabotage is procrastination. You constantly put off things that you need to do, to the point where you either get into trouble at work or home. You cause a lot of stress and pressure for yourself, or you miss your deadline completely and blow it.
For example, if you want to go to a certain college but don’t apply by the stated deadline, you won’t get in. If you don’t get your son a birthday present in time for his birthday, chances are he’s going to be pretty upset.
Lack of Belief in Oneself
You might say you want to manifest X, but you might not think you can have it, deserve it, can keep it without making a mess of things, and so on. This negative self-talk and poor self-esteem can hold you back no matter how much you long for a better life.
Sometimes your friends and family can hold you back as well, either consciously or unconsciously. Let’s look at this topic in the next section.
In What Ways are We Sabotaged By Others?
Sometimes we are sabotaged by others. They don’t always know they’re doing it, but the results can be devastating.
Unspoken Fears
Using the weight loss example again, if a husband does not want his wife to lose weight because he fears she will be sexier and he might lose her, he might do or say things that have a negative impact and hold her back from manifesting her best self.
Patterns from Childhood
Patterns from childhood also rear their ugly heads. If you have always had a confrontational relationship with one or both of your parents, it can become such a habit that you can’t get them to break the cycle of negativity.
If you’re tired of being sabotaged by your mom, for example, it’s time to either stop talking to her about the things you want to manifest, or stand up for yourself.
Labels from Childhood
A relative or teacher might set a pattern that then persists. “She’s not good at science”, or “he has such a bad temper” becomes internalized. Then your family and friends react to your actions with, “You see, he is so angry all the time.”
Being Told You Are Never Good Enough
It is great for family and your partner to want you to have a great life, but if the message is that no matter what you do, you are never going to be good enough, then you will just have to ignore what they are saying and decide to manifest your best life in spite of them.
Bad Friends
In some cases, the sabotage might be the result of you spending time with people who are not good for you. They waste time, have no direction, and even encourage you to behave in a way which is not true to the life you wish to manifest for yourself.
The Naysayers
Some people will say you can NEVER do what you want. And often they will disguise the sabotage as trying to be helpful because they don’t want to see you hurt. But, it’s your life. Make the best of it, and if it doesn’t work out, at least you will have learned some valuable lessons along the way.
So what are some of the best ways to manifest your dreams? Let’s look at this in the next section.
Best Ways to Overcome Obstacles & Manifest Your Best Life
In this guide, we have given a range of examples already, but let’s look at a few of them in more detail to help get you started manifesting your desires.
Meditation
Meditation means to think. It can be about the other people in your life, or your own thoughts and beliefs. In this way, you can get rid of many of the obstacles that might be holding you back from manifesting the abundant life you want.
Mindfulness Meditation
There are two aspects to mindfulness meditation. The first is to live in the now, not the past or the future, and take the time to appreciate what you have. The second is to become aware or mindful of the power of your own mind. Observe feelings and sensations so you can harness the power of your own mind.
Visualization
Visualization is a specific form of meditation in which you picture something in order to calm you, or to use as motivation in order to achieve your goals. Sketch, cut out pictures from magazines, or find images online of what you want to manifest, and surround yourself with them. Pin them on a vision board and keep going with those goals.
Journaling
Write about your goals. Writing things down will make them more specific and concrete.
Goal Setting
Set clear goals. You will never be able to manifest your best life if you just drift along day to day.
Final Thoughts
Manifesting is an important skill if you want to become your best self and live your best life, but it is not easy to do if you lack belief in yourself and sabotage your best efforts, or allow others to.
The truth is, you are more powerful than you know. Tap into your own inner strength and you should soon be able to manifest the life of your dreams.
To your success!
