With a new year comes new, overly-ambitious resolutions that are supposed to magically turn you into your “best self,” stop you from inhaling loads of candy or force you to go to the gym more. But we all know that a new year often means the same you. Whether that is because you are incapable of resisting that bag of Sour Patch Kids you shoved in the back of your pantry in hopes that you forget it is there or because your greatest source of motivation is rooted in appeasing others rather than yourself (yes, this is about to get real).
There are many solutions to achieving your goals, like solving that writer’s block or gaining the courage to build more social relationships. But, I have recently noticed a trend in the self-improvement realm: manifestation. The concept of “manifesting” the things you truly want in life is not new. However, everyone seems to be talking about it.
So you might be wondering, what in the world is manifestation and why is it such a big deal? Manifestation, in terms of this article, is the concept that if you truly believe that something will happen, it will physically manifest in your life. In other words, the way in which you frame your goals and your ability to achieve them in your mind will affect your capacity to achieve them.
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This does not mean that if you hope and pray that the hottie from your chemistry lab will one day notice that you look super cute in lab goggles and ask you out, that it will happen. But rather, if you constantly visualize yourself acing that test, you will be able to do so by surrounding your goals with positive energy, inspiring action. In the same way, if you exert negative energy, that energy will manifest into negative outcomes. This is why that one bad morning, where you spill your coffee and nic the side of your car backing out of that tight parallel park, translates into a day filled with unfortunate circumstances.
Okay, I know it sounds insane and I am not making any promises that your life will instantly change but many people have testified to the power of manifestation. I learned this all when a late-night Netflix session ended in me watching manifestations’ most prominent (and honestly, a little creepy) documentary, The Secret. The film shares the experiences of people who used manifestation to walk again after being paralyzed or achieving exorbitant amounts of wealth. I quickly spiraled into an obsession with cracking what the film’s philosophers and quantum physicists called “The Law of Attraction” which simply suggests that we will attract into our lives the things that we think about or focus on. Whether it is greater wealth, better health, or just a generally happier life, the Law of Attraction claims that by focusing your energy on the things that you want, they will come to fruition.
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Now I understand that many people, including myself, have trouble putting faith in the abstract “universe”. So if anything, the concept of manifestation allows for the narrowing of large goals. By having a clearer and more concentrated vision of what you want to achieve, you can put greater energy towards these goals. I find that dissatisfaction is often grounded in not knowing what you want in the first place. So start becoming more conscious of what you truly want. Write it down, meditate on it. The first step to achieving your goals is setting them, no matter how ambitious or quotidian.