There is a phrase I catch myself saying all the time: This isn’t going to work.
Sometimes I say it out loud. Sometimes I just think it. Sometimes I disguise it as being realistic. I don’t think enough people are going to sign up. I don’t think anyone is going to buy this. I don’t think I can make money doing this. I don’t think they’re going to say yes. I don’t think this is ever going to take off. I don’t think I’m going to get what I want.
And then, because I am a person who believes in manifestation while also being deeply committed to occasionally spiraling about everything, I have to remind myself: Well, babe. That’s exactly what you’re telling the universe.
How to Manifest What You Want (Without Becoming a Woo Woo Weirdo.
You are always making a case for something
I think sometimes we misunderstand manifestation as asking for what we want. We make the vision board. Write the goal in the journal. Say the affirmation. Picture the house. Imagine the business. Set the income goal.
I’ve written a lot about manifestation and what I think it actually looks like in real life, and for me, this is a huge piece of it.
And then we spend the other 23 hours and 57 minutes of the day making a very compelling case for why none of it is going to happen.
We ask the universe for abundance and then refresh the bank account six times. We say we want more clients and then decide nobody has any money right now. We launch something and three days later announce that nobody wants it. We say we want a different life while constantly explaining why changing our current one would be impossible.
I do this too. Boy, do I do this.
And I don’t think the universe is sitting somewhere with a clipboard saying, Welp, Katy had one negative thought at 10:43 this morning. Cancel the abundance.
That’s not how I think this works. I think it’s much more practical than that, because what we believe changes what we notice. What we notice changes what we do. What we do changes what becomes possible.
I Manifest Parking Spots (And What They Taught Me About Manifestation)
“This isn’t going to work” changes how you behave
This is the part of manifestation that gets left out when we make it sound like magic. Your thoughts aren’t just floating around harmlessly in your head. They affect your behavior.
If you believe something isn’t going to work, how much energy are you going to give it? How many times are you going to talk about it? How confidently are you going to sell it? How long are you willing to keep going when the evidence isn’t there yet? How likely are you to notice an opportunity that could move it forward? How quickly are you going to quit?
If I’ve already decided nobody is going to sign up for something, I show up differently than I would if I genuinely believed ten people were looking for exactly what I created. Maybe I don’t send the second email. Maybe I don’t mention it in conversation. Maybe I don’t follow up. Maybe I lower the price. Maybe I start changing the offer before I’ve even given anyone enough time to understand it. Maybe I abandon the whole thing and start something new.
And then when it doesn’t work? See? I knew it.
Except did I know it? Or did I participate in creating the exact outcome I was afraid of?
Oof.
I Manifested $10,000 in Cash (And I Still Don’t Care If You Believe Me)
We call pessimism realism
This one gets me because I can always find evidence for why something won’t work. Always.
The economy. The algorithm. My age. My experience. My lack of experience. The season. The timing. The competition. My audience isn’t big enough. People aren’t spending money. Someone else already does it better. I’ve tried something similar before. I don’t know the right people. I started too late. I started too early. Mercury is probably doing something shitty.
There will never be a shortage of reasons something might not work. And collecting those reasons can feel responsible. It can feel intelligent. It can feel like we’re protecting ourselves from disappointment.
But pessimism isn’t necessarily realism.
Sometimes it’s just fear with a spreadsheet.
What if you don’t need to believe it WILL work?
This is where manifestation advice can lose me, because sometimes jumping from this is absolutely not going to work to THIS IS DEFINITELY HAPPENING FOR ME feels ridiculous.
My nervous system is like, Ma’am. We have reviewed the available documentation and respectfully disagree.
So I don’t think we have to go that far. Maybe the next thought is simply: What if it could work?
That’s it.
Not I will absolutely make a million dollars. Just what if this could become profitable?
Not this opportunity is definitely mine. Just what if something really good comes from this?
Not everything is going exactly according to plan. Just what if I can’t see the whole plan yet?
Not I know exactly how I’m going to get there. Just what if I don’t need to know how yet?
That tiny shift creates room. And room matters because “this isn’t going to work” is a conclusion. “What if it does?” is a possibility.
One closes the door. The other leaves it cracked open.
You don’t have to lie to yourself
This is important. Manifestation isn’t pretending everything is wonderful when it isn’t. If you’re scared, you’re scared. If money is tight, money is tight. If the launch isn’t going well, the launch isn’t going well. If something hurts, it hurts.
I don’t think denying reality gets us anywhere. But there’s a difference between acknowledging what is happening right now and deciding what it means about everything that happens next.
This isn’t working yet is different from this isn’t going to work.
I don’t know where the money is coming from yet is different from I’m never going to figure this out.
I haven’t found the opportunity yet is different from there aren’t any opportunities for me.
I don’t know how is different from I can’t.
That little word yet has saved me from myself more times than I can count.
Part 7 | Manifesting a Dream House: What No One Tells You About Manifestation
Pay attention to what you’re rehearsing
I think this is one of the simplest manifestation practices there is: listen to yourself. Not so you can police every thought. Not so you can slap a positive affirmation over every uncomfortable emotion. Just notice.
What story are you rehearsing?
Are you practicing the story where nobody wants what you have? Where you’re behind? Where money is always hard? Where everything good happens for other people? Where you’re too old? Where you missed your chance? Where nothing ever works out?
Because repetition matters. The stories we repeat become familiar. Familiar starts to feel true. And what feels true influences what we’re willing to try.
So when I hear myself say this isn’t going to work, I’m trying to catch it. Not with YES IT IS, EVERYTHING IS AMAZING, I AM A MAGNET FOR MILLIONS.
Calm down.
Just: You don’t know that.
Because I don’t.
I don’t know that it won’t work. I don’t know what conversation is coming. I don’t know who’s reading. I don’t know what introduction will happen. I don’t know which idea will catch. I don’t know what I’ll think of next month that I can’t see today. I don’t know what’s quietly growing underneath something that currently looks like absolutely nothing.
And neither do you.
So maybe we stop telling the universe we’ve already decided how the story ends.
Maybe instead of this isn’t going to work, we practice:
I don’t know how this is going to work yet.
Or maybe, on the days we’re feeling particularly brave:
What if it does?
