Manifestation and the law of attraction are heated topics on the Internet. Every other YouTube channel discusses them, and so-called “manifestation coaches” profit significantly from their teachings.
A simple technique of how thoughts and feelings create your circumstances has been glorified in this vast industry. People are writing 400-page books, selling courses, and making it sound like manifestation is something you must master.
I’ve been guilty of reading these books and watching dozens of videos, thinking I would learn from them. However, all these resources taught me the same thing; the only differences were the terminology and techniques.
I was scrolling through my phone when I stumbled upon a podcast by Mel Robbins in which she spoke with a neurosurgeon, Dr. Jim Doty. The clip showed an interesting technique he shared about manifesting. I listened to the entire episode on Mel’s channel, where they discuss dealing with people, manifesting our desires, spirituality, and more.
Here’s what Dr. Doty says about manifestation:
With manifestation or that terminology, there is a lot of woo-woo and pseudoscience. And a lot of people take advantage of that. It turns, unfortunately, into a money-making opportunity for some people. The reality is though that actually the ability is fundamentally based in Neuroscience. There is no woo-woo. There is no magic. There is no law of attraction.
He defines manifestation as:
The ability to take an intention and embed it into your subconscious in a manner such that it has the greatest likelihood to occur or to manifest.
What fires together, wires together.
Humans are creatures of habit. We do things repeatedly, and the result of that turns us into the person we are. In other words, our habits create our personality.
Dr. Joe Dispenza famously says, “Your personality creates your personal reality.”
It means that if you can alter your daily habits, you can also alter your personality. As a result, your circumstances change. If you constantly repeat the same daily habits, all you do is manifest the same circumstances into your life.
To elaborate further, if you constantly think the same thoughts and feel the same way as you did yesterday and the day before, you will experience the same emotions. This results in the same life you are currently living.
So, in order to change your life, you need to change your habits, including how you think and feel. Your habits are not just tied to your daily actions; they also represent the way you think and feel.
Dr. Doty explains the same concept as follows:
If you create habits, this results in the creation of neural pathways and if the mere repetition of those habits actually lays down the circuitry that then gets embedded and then actually makes things happen.
When you are able to use all of your sensory organs or abilities to embed that intention and to it repeatedly that is when you’re createing these neural pathways.
Do this to manifest your desires
The first to manifest anything is to have an intention. In other words, you must know what it is that you want. Because if you don’t know that, there is no point in learning the manifestation process.
Remember, clarity is crucial in manifesting. You must know which direction you want to go and the exact circumstances you want to experience to begin the manifestation process.
Once you have an intention, Dr. Doty provides the following steps to manifest your desires:
- Step 1: Take a pencil and write down what you want to achieve. When you do that, you are doing something physical and tactile, which is crucial.
- Step 2: Read it silently first.
- Step 3: Read it aloud.
- Step 4: Visualize.
- Step 5: Repeat the above steps over and over and over again.
Doing this will embed your desire in your subconscious, activating the different cognitive brain networks. As a result, you will manifest your desires.
The power of your sensory organs
When using the manifestation process, Dr. Doty recommends using all of your sensory organs as much as possible to embed an intention.
By writing it down, reading it aloud, and visualizing it, you create a process for embedding the intent in your subconscious. These processes also use the sensory organs.
Once your desire is embedded, it activates different parts of your brain. As a result, you manifest into your reality.
Final thoughts
The podcast elaborates on the process even further and goes a bit into the technicality of neuroscience.
The most essential thing to remember is that manifestation is about reprogramming the subconscious. In simpler terms, it’s about your habits.
When starting a new habit like exercising, meditation, or reading books, you don’t go all in from the first day. It takes time for you to start and continue doing it daily. In fact, the first few days (or weeks) are difficult because you are not used to these actions. As you repeat them over and over every day, it becomes easier, and you start seeing the results.
Manifesting works the same way, as per Dr. Doty’s explanation. You must start with little wins at first. And as you get used to the process, you can go bigger in the future.
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