By Leslie K. Hughes
Maybe it’s just my TikTok algorithm or the fact that I live in Venice, California, but talk about manifesting is more prevalent than ever.
With hot girl/hot boy summer in full swing, I figure there’s no better time than the present to share my favorite little secret on manifesting. Because as I learned the hard way, manifesting takes more than simply wishing you had something.
There’s another crucial piece that I’m excited to share that will turn your dreams into your reality.
But first, let’s start with the basics.
What is manifesting?
If you are anything like I used to be, manifesting was something you heard about from the book The Secret that took the world by storm back in 2006.
When that book first came out, I devoured it – only to call complete and utter bullshit on the whole notion of manifesting by the end.
I said “as if” to the notion that you can just think about wanting something, and *just like that,* it happens; that was a Kool-Aid I was not ready to drink.
Fast forward 17 years, and I am drinking that Kool-Aid by the gallon.
But that’s only because I realized that the real act of manifesting is more than just writing in your journal that you want something, and it magically appearing.
What The Secret and other mentions of manifesting often leave out is the key ingredient to making it all actually work.
The secret ingredient to manifesting
So what’s the secret sauce of manifesting?
It’s being delusional.
But seriously. In order to manifest what you want, you have to act like you’ve already got it; you’ve got to be delusional and embody the person who already has what you want.
What does this look like?
If you want to manifest going on a fabulous Euro summer vacation, but your bank account says otherwise, don’t worry – be delusional.
Start planning your itinerary for where you’re going to go and what you’re going to do. I’m talking details.
Restaurants you’re going to eat at, outfits you’re going to wear, photos you want to capture – you get the picture.
Act as if it were true.
And make it so that the universe has no option but to give you what you want because you truly believe it’s going to happen for you.
If you want to be more confident but aren’t sure how, start with being delusional.
Show up as someone who is already confident. Wear what the confident version of you would wear; talk like the confident version of you would talk; create a morning routine that the confident version of you would have.
It’s akin to “fake it till you make it,” but you have to really believe that you’ve already made it.
Manifesting isn’t about the wishing; it’s about the feeling and emotion that you attach to what you want.
You need to believe in mind, body, and soul that you’ve already got it before the concrete evidence shows up.
The psychology behind manifesting
If you’re someone who needs more science to back this up, I’ve got you.
Positive psychology is a branch of psychology that’s all about figuring out what brings people joy in life.
And guess what?
Research has found that positive thinking plays a major role and holds some serious power.
People who have an optimistic mindset tend to not only have stronger immune systems but also have better overall well-being.
Studies show that optimistic people also live longer and are more resilient.
When times are tough, optimistic people thrive.
We aren’t sure exactly why this happens, but some experts think it may be because optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles.
They are more apt to find solutions to problems rather than wallow in misery, which leads to better habits and avoiding behaviors that can lead them down a bad path.
Even better, studies show that believing deep down that good things can and will happen to you is connected to a more positive mindset and being open to more opportunities.
Don’t take it to toxic positivity
While I am all about lucky girl syndrome and being delusional to manifest the life of your dreams, I also want you to be cautious that you’re not delving into the world of toxic positivity.
What exactly is toxic positivity?
It’s when you don’t allow yourself to feel difficult emotions and instead force positivity on yourself at all times.
We are all human, and we are here to experience the entire spectrum of human emotions.
Sometimes this looks like being in your feels and releasing sadness, anger, frustration, stress, or other difficult emotions.
Shoving those feelings down and putting on a mask of toxic positivity will not result in you manifesting what you want.
The key is striking a balance between honoring and feeling the difficult emotions when they come up, but not getting stuck in them.
Properly releasing these emotions by feeling them is a key part of life and manifesting.
Doing so creates more space and energy for you to truly believe that you deserve (and already have!) what you want.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get delusional, baby.
