How to manifest: You are unlikely to become the next Beyoncé by just thinking about it

Want a boat? A husband? A singing residency in Las Vegas? All you’ve got to do is manifest it, some gurus say. It’s simply the law of attraction – think about what you want and then ask, believe and receive. If only it were that simple, says psychologist and neuroscientist Dr Brian Pennie. For manifesting to work it must involve some action from you, he says.

Action and reaction

Manifesting isn’t passive. It’s not as simple as wishing something were so. It involves changing your mindset and taking action too. “When I think of manifesting it’s about having positive thoughts and positive belief systems which then drive action,” says Pennie. “Manifesting is lost without action,” says Pennie, who is a former heroin addict.

“My narrative when I was an addict was that I can’t cope with anxiety, I need drugs to survive. So my belief of not being able to cope drove me towards addiction,” he says. Changing his belief system, however, helped to change his situation. “My belief today is that adversity doesn’t stop me, it fuels my ability to thrive. So now I lean into challenges for growth and that belief system, or you could call it a ‘manifesting thinking system’. It helps me to drive actions to get outcomes in my life.”

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Remove barriers

Sometimes the biggest thing in your way is yourself. “It’s about removing the barriers that are stopping you. If you want to bring the ideal partner into your life, but you have limiting beliefs that you are not good enough or you are not attractive enough, that belief system is going to hold you back,” says Pennie. “We need to remove these barriers or limiting beliefs to allow ourselves to manifest what we want.”

Be realistic

You are unlikely to become the next Beyoncé by changing your belief system, however. You will need to have at least some of the relevant abilities too. “Thinking positive thoughts about being Beyoncé, you can’t act towards that unless you have some of the talent,” he says.

And even talent isn’t enough – manifesting requires effort too. “Some notions of manifesting can bypass the reality of hard work. Even if you have the talent like a Michael Jordan, a Beyoncé or a Bono, you will need to put in an incredible amount of hard work,” says Pennie.

Some barriers are tough to scale so be realistic when setting goals. “If you have three or four kids at home and you need to put food on the table, it is very hard to manifest amazing things if your priorities are putting food on the table.”

Unequal opportunity

Depending on what you want, “manifesting” isn’t a level playing field either. “Some people do have unfair advantages in terms of wealth, connections, education or location,” says Pennie. In short, it’s going to be easier to manifest a yacht if that’s in your milieu.

“Someone might try to manifest something into their lives and if it doesn’t happen, they might feel a little hopeless about themselves and their “not good enough” belief system could get worse,” says Pennie. If manifesting looks like it’s easier for someone else don’t beat yourself up about it.