What Is Manifesting (For Beginners)

“What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.” – Buddha 

Hello, my name is Molly Burford and I am a former manifestation skeptic. After all, manifesting sounded too passive, too good, and too simple to actually work. I mean, think good things and good things will happen as a result? As if. To me, manifesting sounded like a used car salesman promising me a 2003 Toyota would drive like a Tesla if I just *~wished~* it would. I don’t know much about cars, but I’m gonna say that’s highly unlikely!

That said, I’ve been in a rut for the past couple of years, despite many wonderful and transformative things happening around me and to me. Even though things looked great on the surface, I was still deeply unhappy. I was constantly feeling alone, lost, and anxiety-ridden. 

Something had to change. In addition to returning to therapy, I have been doing my own research about ways to ground myself and increase my contentment. Interestingly, manifesting continuously popped up during my Google searches and social media scrolls. Since what I had been doing clearly wasn’t working, I decided to dig deeper into other routes, and this included manifestation. 

As it turns out, I didn’t know much about manifesting because my ideas about the practice were completely wrong. And, not only was I misunderstanding what manifestation was, but I was also doing myself and my life a disservice. 

But as a total beginner at manifesting, I wasn’t exactly sure where to start my own manifesting journey. That’s where Victoria Jackson comes in. Jackson is a certified mindset coach and founder of The Manifestation Collective. She also has a debut book arriving on December 1st, 2022, Manifesting for Beginners. 

Read on below to learn more about manifestation for beginners as well as Jackson’s upcoming book.

What is Manifesting? 

First, a basic definition. “In the simplest of terms, manifesting is to create your reality with your thoughts,” explains Jackson. “According to the universal law of attraction, the energy we put out is the energy we receive back, and we are manifesting every second of each day. By co-creating with the universe and understanding how the law of attraction works, we can consciously manifest our dreams and desires by changing our thoughts and what we focus on.” 

That said, manifesting is not just positive thinking and hoping the universe responds by bringing your dreams into the physical world. Rather, the manifestation process is about harnessing positive energy and redirecting your thoughts to focus on the things you desire most. 

How Does Manifestation Work? 

One of the basic principles of manifesting is the law of attraction, which is based on the idea that we get back what we put into the universe. You can think of the law of attraction as a stage light. The more light you put on a specific area of the stage, the brighter that area will become and the more attention the audience will pay to that section. In other words, the more energy you put into a specific goal, the more the universe will pay attention and help you get to where you want to go.

Manifestation works by meeting the universe halfway with inspired action. You can manifest money, love, a job, a new car, a person, etc. through various manifestation techniques.

“When I first discovered manifestation, a lot of the advice on the internet was to let the universe deliver its magic and sit back and wait for it to happen,” says Jackson. “Now, as a goal-getter, that really isn’t my energy. So, I decided to see how I could put the action into the law of attraction and I found by actually taking steps towards my dreams and meeting the universe halfway, I was manifesting incredibly quickly. This is why I like to combine soul with strategy in everything I teach. That’s where the real power is.”

Manifestation Techniques 

There are a number of different manifestation techniques to utilize the law of attraction and help you manifest what you want in your future.

Create a vision board

Vision boards are a fantastic tool to help you visualize your ideal future. You can do this digitally, such as designing a board on Canva and setting it as your computer background or with good old collage methods using magazine clippings. 

In terms of what you’d put on your mood board, it should be visuals that evoke what you seek. Those interested in manifesting love, for example, might use imagery of what they imagine their ideal soulmate might look like. For those more interested in manifesting money, they may use imagery of what their money would get them such as a house, new car, etc. 

“In terms of mindset, there is real power in seeing something visually on a daily basis to help your reticular activating system filter out things that don’t align with your dream vision and help you achieve your goals quicker,” says Jackson. 

Journal

Journaling is another great way to help you manifest. However, you must be intentional about what you journal about.

“Journaling is actually my most successful and favorite form of manifesting. I like to sit and write a diary entry as my future self (this is called scripting) and I describe my day as if my desires have already come to fruition,” Jackson tells us. In other words, journal in the present tense as if you are already living your best life and watch your dreams become reality.

Learn more about scripting on Jackson’s blog post here.

Express gratitude 

Expressing gratitude is a fundamental component of the manifestation process. “Manifestation has always allowed me to see situations differently. While I don’t believe that it’s possible as humans with a range of emotions to be happy 100% of the time, I do believe we can switch our state to that of gratitude in some small way most days,” says Jackson. Keeping a gratitude journal is one way to do this along with other practices such as meditation.

How To Begin Your Manifestation Journey 

In order to start manifesting, there are a number of things Jackson recommends keeping in mind.

Get specific 

“My biggest tip for any manifesting newbie is to get specific about the life you want to live. Not a life that looks good on social media, but a life that feels good in the soul,” says Jackson. “This is why in my upcoming book, Manifesting For Beginners, I dedicate an entire chapter to soul goals, really getting to the root of what you want from life, because the moment you set the intention for what you actually want, the universe can get to work helping you bring it to fruition.”

Decide how you want your day to go 

“A second tip would be to decide how you want your day to go the moment you wake up. You can control your thoughts by waking up and saying to yourself, ‘Regardless of what comes my way today, I am going to thrive rather than just survive.’ When you do this, you allow yourself to change the trajectory of your day. I always remind my community, that while we can’t always control what happens to us, we CAN control how we react.”

Be flexible

“Don’t become overwhelmed by all of the advice online when it comes to the law of attraction. There are no hard and fast rules, the most important thing to focus on is your energy,” encourages Jackson. 

Don’t worry about making mistakes

“I don’t believe that there are any mistakes when it comes to manifestation, only lessons and blessings, but one common struggle I see time and time again is focusing too much on the how and the when,” says Jackson. “So, you have created your vision board and on there you have an image to represent your soulmate. You’ve asked the universe and set your intention to meet the love of your life. However, where you begin to strangle your desire, is by trying to control the ‘how you’ll meet them’ and the ‘when you’ll meet them.’”

Manifestation, as it turns out, is about relinquishing control as much as it is about letting go of limiting beliefs. “You see, the how and the when aren’t for us to control, this is the space where the universe works its magic. This is where we have to lean into divine timing and trust that whatever is meant for us will never pass us by,” says Jackson.

Ultimately, to manifest is to hope. It is an act of faith. It is trusting in something greater than yourself. It is about putting in the same energy you want to receive back from the universe.

What is Manifesting For Beginners?

“I’m so excited to launch my debut book, Manifesting for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide to Attracting a Life You Love!” says Jackson. “Funnily enough, I actually wrote a Facebook status back in 2017 which said “I am putting it out into the universe that I will sign a book deal”, and then in 2021 I receive an email from the team at Octopus Books that asked if I would like to write a book for them on the concept of manifestation. I manifested my book on manifesting!” 

The book itself is broken down into nine chapters, taking a look at everything from soul goals to the various ways of setting your intentions with the universe, to taking action, to releasing your grip on your desires, and so much more. 

“I wanted the book to feel light and easy, allowing you to dip in and out whenever you want to reconnect to the universe,” explains Jackson. “It’s a beautiful mix of manifestation and mindset, with spirituality thrown together with science.”

You can order Jackson’s new book on Shop Catalog now.