I was quite interested to read the comments in my Facebook group, Remarkable Business Mums the other day about how people didn’t really associate what I did with manifesting.
And rightly so. It isn’t something that I advertise on my website as a major skill to business however it is something that has been instrumental in co-creating my business journey.
Maybe the word ‘manifesting’ is a little bit like the word ‘passive income’ and the true meaning of it has been drowned out however it is certainly still a very powerful tool to leverage off if we understand the true intention of it.
Manifesting isn’t about thinking positive about something and then expecting it to happen.
It is about creating and visualising the experience in our mind of what it is we want to feel and achieve – and then moving forward and actually living and believing it will happen.
The cool thing about this is research backs it up; and it is now a well-known fact that when we stimulate the same brain regions regardless of whether we are just visualising an action compared to if we actually perform that same action.
The famous ‘piano study’ is an excellent example from neuroscience. Researchers at Harvard University, led by Alvaro Pascual-Leone, compared the brains of people playing a sequence of notes on a piano with the brains of people imagining playing the notes. The region of the brain connected to the finger muscles was found to have changed to the same degree in both groups of people, regardless of whether they struck the keys physically or mentally.
Visualisation — or the act of creating compelling and vivid pictures in your mind — may be the most underutilised success tool you possess because it greatly accelerates the achievement of any success in three powerful ways.” Says Jack Canfield who is America’s leading authority on success and personal fulfilment training and is also the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul which has sold over 5 million copies.
In his other book, Success Principles he goes on to mention those three ways; activation of the subconscious mind, programming the reticular activating system of the brain, and the practice of the Law of Attraction.
What Jack should have added to that statement, and does later in his descriptions, is that along with the vivid pictures, when you get into the body-mind sensations, emotions and feelings of the picture, your brain doesn’t know the difference from reality and begins to create what you’re thinking about.
Joe Dispenza is another one to be amazed by, he is a brain scientist. He talks about neurons making new patterns of thought that lead to a new internal experience that leads to a new, familiar state of mind, that leads to a new experience and emotion. Then the body starts to respond like that experience is already happening. If you turn on your frontal lobe and contemplate those aspects of self, you will begin to make your brain work differently than your past self. As your frontal lobe (the CEO) entertains that new question, it looks out over the landscape of the rest of the brain and seamlessly combines all of your stored knowledge and experiences into a new model of thought.
Pretty awesome right? So if you want to be a successful business owner but have no clue how to actually do it, start by visualising it happening first. How it feels, how it looks, what you have as a result of your business and get excited knowing that your brain is starting to calibrate how to create this for you into reality and then be proactive from there forwards. With every single decision you need to make, ask yourself “is my answer taking me closer or further away from my dreams?” What you’ll find is people and opportunities start to come into the forefront and doors open for you.
Recently, I asked some of the members from the Business Jump Family what their experiences and thoughts were on manifesting, here is what they had to say:
Claudia – Wellfulness
I manifested every aspect of my life, intentionally. I manifest makeup items, money to start Wellfulness with Business Jump, my lifestyle, every-single-thing. Every day, I manifest a life that makes me happy (and I don’t use this word loosely) and feel at peace.
Manifesting is nothing magical or woo woo, nor exclusive for special people, intuitive or psychic ones, it is inherent to every human being. It works equally for everybody because it is enabled by the Reticular Activation System (RAS) which is the part of your brain that filters information based on your belief system as a guide to determine what’s important for you and what’s not, influencing what you focus on and impacting your behaviours and actions.
The only secret about manifesting is to be clear on what you want to achieve, recognise resistance and clear the negative beliefs or misconceptions around what you want to manifest. 99.9% of the time what stands between you and your goals is just a thought. If you are finding difficult manifesting then you need to become a detective of those thoughts and find out which ones are keeping you stuck or going in loops. One good way to know if there is any resistance is to visualise what you want to achieve and examine your thoughts and feelings about that picture.
Life is now, not when you have 1 million sitting in your bank account or when x y z happens. Life is today so if you are waiting to manifest anything, go on and make a list, start taking action, keep an eye for signs of resistance and reframe the negative thoughts.
Carmel – Path of the Phoenix
In order to manifest anything in life you first need to find your why. Why do you want to manifest it? What will it add to your life if you have it? Is is moving you closer to your overall vision or will it take you further away? You then need to get super clear on what it is that you want to manifest.
Creating a vision board is a fantastic way to do this. By finding words and pictures that represent your vision it helps to solidify it in your mind. Once you have a clear vision you need to tap into the feelings that it invokes. Emotions are energy in motion and it’s by harnessing this energy that we draw our manifestation into reality.
The final step in manifestations to let go. While this may seem a little contradictory, it’s actually the most important, yet overlooked piece of the puzzle. This is where trust in the universe comes into play. You need to believe that you are worthy of creating the life of your dreams and then let go of controlling the details. The universe has it’s own sense of perspective and timing and while you may not get exactly what you asked for, you will absolutely get what you need.
Caroline – Social Strategy Mum
So my top tip for manifesting is to be super clear about what you want, and spend time every day imagining, daydreaming, getting curious in your mind about how exactly your life is going to look when you have want you want
The power is in giving the universe clear instructions, and allowing our mind to become familiar with what we want so often it starts to forget what is real and what is imagined.
Alexandra – Alexandra Lopez
Firstly, I think manifesting works hand in hand with REALLY knowing what you want in your life. Clarity is key. I believe from personal experience, that having a big list with all my wants, doesn’t mean much if the wants aren’t attached to what I value. So that is a first step for me. What do I want and is it in alignment with my values. There is something truly magic that happens when you know what you want in life.
I recommend writing these things down and talking to a trusted family member or friend. Having someone share your joy with you and seeing the words on a page, is very affirming.
Next, it’s about placing yourself in situations where you can smell your dreams. What do I mean by that?
Well for example, why not do your exercise in the suburb of your dreams? As humans we respond to the way we feel in a situation. Drive to the suburb, park your car and power walk around the streets. Put yourself there and feel all the feels. I have found this practice really powerful for reminding me what I want in life.
For me, I have manifested my entire life right now and everything in it is by design.
Meaning I did a lot of reading and study about a decade ago, into what it means to have real wealth in life. By wealth I mean a life that is in line with what I value. That’s a long answer. But in short, everything in my life is there for a reason or to serve a goal or value I hold dear.
