Today, we will look at how to develop a proper manifestation mindset.
In earlier articles, we talked about how to use affirmations and visualization for manifestation. But your mindset — the thoughts you think during your day-to-day life — is equally important.
A pessimistic mindset can only lead to manifestations that are, overall, undesirable. A constructive, positive mindset is the way to success.
Understanding Manifestation
To “manifest” means to turn an idea into physical reality through the power of the mind. It’s a spiritual idea that most people would be skeptical about, but something that I personally believe can be proven by oneself in practice. Regardless, even if you do not believe that mind-power can produce an external effect, manifestation practices will still have a positive effect on your behavior and motivation.
Manifestation is about working with the subconscious mind. It is the center of our being and the controlling force of our lives. Each one of us is run by the ideas we hold subconsciously, and until those ideas are changed no new results will be obtained. When we learn how to control the subconscious, we consequently learn how to break this repetitive cycle and find ourselves now equipped with the ability to direct this force toward the attainment of any goal or desire we may have. This is the grand claim of manifestation.
What is Mindset
Mindset, fundamentally, is the lens through which you view the world. This includes your beliefs, attitudes, and feelings about various aspects of life. It’s as if you were wearing a pair of glasses that color your interpretation of what you see around you.
For instance, Carol Dweck, an American psychologist, distinguished between two types of mindset: a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.
A person with a growth mindset believes that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work.
A fixed mindset holds that these traits are innate and unchangeable.
Her conclusion is that people with a growth mindset generally go on to be more successful.
Mindset and Manifestation
Just before, I mentioned that manifestation is about the subconscious mind. The thoughts (or “suggestions”) within it determine its mode of operation, and therefore the results we get. The important question is: how do we change these “suggestions?”
Perhaps the most important aspect in doing so is mindset. To be successful with manifestation, we need a “manifestation mindset” — a mindset that favors desirable, success-oriented suggestions, and that stops us from slipping into the old mode of thinking.
If our mindset is one of negativity, if we keep slipping into the old mode of thinking, we instead allow the implantation of unwanted, inhibiting suggestions that keep us stuck going nowhere. The problem is, sometimes we dwell on negative thoughts without even realizing it. This we will look at next.
“Spontaneous Suggestions” and Mindset
Have you never caught yourself in a train of thought that you didn’t intentionally initiate? The thoughts that pass through our minds daily without deliberate intention, produce an effect on the subconscious. We can call these “spontaneous suggestions.”
The nature of these spontaneously occurring thoughts — positive or negative — alters our overall state of mind. Negative thoughts like “I can’t do this,” “this will never work,” or “I’m not good enough,” when dwelled upon, embed themselves as suggestions in the subconscious and thus become realities.
The problem is that these thoughts often occur without us necessarily noticing them. They seem to pop up on their own, and we remain unaware of the damage they do. Because of this, it is important to develop the habit of monitoring our daily thinking.
How a Mindset Reinforces Itself
Another key point to remember is that our current mindset tends to reinforce itself. Our thinking determines our mindset, but our mindset also determines our thinking.
If we are already used to failure, limitation, and negativity, these are the kinds of thoughts that our mind will naturally gravitate towards. If, for instance, you feel yourself to be “a loser,” you are prone to think thoughts like “I can’t succeed,” and this further reinforces your self-perception of being a loser. Over time, this cycle becomes increasingly difficult to escape.
A Bad Mindset Hinders Manifestation
Let us assume that you want to manifest something. You understand that to manifest you must make a change in the subconscious, and to this, you set time aside each day to sit down, go into meditation, and use a manifestation method like visualization or affirmations. (I talk more about all this in, “Beginner’s Guide to Manifestation”)
These techniques are good, and will no doubt affect your subconscious. But the problem that some forget is that their daily thoughts still matter. Spontaneous thinking still produces suggestions. If you, overall, have a negative mindset and spend the rest of the day thinking “This will never work,” then you effectively revert any positive change made during visualization or affirmation. You never succeed or go anywhere, because every time you go one step forward you go one back not long after.
Every attempt to manifest a desire gets combated and neutralized by a mindset that says, “This will never work.” This, I believe, is why many stay stuck.
The Power of Faith
So, we have discovered that a bad mindset keeps one stuck. Let’s now consider the opposite: a good mindset.
You may have heard of the concept of self-efficacy. When a person believes in him or herself, the person actually performs better and is more successful. The person doesn’t turn mountains into molehills but believes challenges can be overcome.
Using our former example relating to manifestation, let’s say, instead of thinking “This will never work,” one thought “This will work.” This positive mindset would now serve to enhance and strengthen the particular manifestation intended for.
If you are able to believe that your manifestation will come to pass, that you are doing it all correctly, and trust that things will fall in line, then your ability to manifest will actually improve.
Developing a Manifestation Mindset
We have now seen that a negative mindset is destructive, whereas a positive mindset is constructive. As you begin monitoring and regulating your thinking, you will gradually begin to change your own mindset.
Below I have outlined the essential components of a good “manifestation mindset”:
1. Persistence
We must persevere when manifesting. Results may not come immediately, and if we give up, or let ourselves fall into doubt and despair quickly, we may be like the miner who gives up and goes back just before he strikes an ore of gold.
The idea of persistence will tie into the following point:
2. Accepting Failure
Accept that failure is a necessary part of learning manifestation. What I mean is that you cannot get discouraged when manifestation doesn’t seem to work. One should accept that it is a skill. It is learned through trial and error, and this leads to mastery. It is a simple fact that pertains to all other skills as well.
Furthermore, if you adopt the attitude that failure is part of the process, then you are not afraid to try. The mind plays a subtle trick on us. Manifestation is no doubt a feel-good idea. The mind would rather hold onto a comfortable, feel-good belief, even if it means not going anywhere. We must try. It is the only way to learn and the only way to reap the actual benefits of manifestation.
3. The “Growth Mindset”
This goes hand in hand with the former two. I quickly want to mention Carol Dweck’s idea of a growth mindset, as I did earlier.
Having a growth mindset means that you believe you can learn. Thinking of manifestation is a skill that must be learned. Our initial many failures to get results must be seen as a stepping stone, and as an indication that we must adjust course.
4. Conscientiousness
Though on the surface manifestation sounds like a shortcut or magic trick it actually requires discipline. For instance, in my article “How to Start Manifesting?” I recommend doing three practices a day; one in the morning, one during the middle of the day, and one at night before bed. It takes a considerable amount of discipline and motivation to follow this strategy. And the particular practices themselves must of course also be done thoroughly rather than be a boring chore to get over with quickly.
Conscientiousness is necessary because we must remain focused and do the “mental work” necessary.
4. Faith in the Subconscious
We must have a mindset of faith. As mentioned in other articles, though deep-rooted beliefs may not be eradicated easily, faith to an extent is influenced by our thoughts. Suggesting to yourself “This will work,” will increase your faith.
We must have faith that the subconscious mind will do its work, without trying to interfere or take control with our conscious mind. Our job is to impress the subconscious with the idea we want realized, and then to let go of control.
5. Dealing With Doubt
If you find it difficult to have faith, try and keep an open mind. Approach manifestation with a mindset of “I want to test this” rather than “This has to work.” The less personal it becomes, the more easily your personal doubts can be set aside. Curiously, a lot of people who do not wager their whole life into manifestation are those who succeed with it.
Also, the conscious recognition of a doubt takes power away from it. By the very recognition that you have a particular doubt and that it is controlling you in a certain way, you can decide that this doubt no longer will have influence over you. Now, of course, deep-rooted doubts and beliefs are hard to get rid of. But over time, as you begin succeeding with manifestation, many doubts will begin to dissolve on their own. It’s not so much about totally eliminating a particular doubt as it is not letting it control our mind.
Conclusion
The above summarizes the components of what I would consider to be a pretty solid manifestation mindset. But do not fear if you do not have “the perfect mindset.” Getting results with manifestation is not really as hard as it may seem, and I do not mean to leave you with the impression that it is difficult. The main thing to take away from this article is that you should monitor your thinking, and not let your mind run you into the ditches. Yes, visualization and affirmation are extremely important, but if you otherwise circulate in thoughts of failure, a counter-suggestion will be planted and progress will be either slowed or completely nullified. You must do your best to keep an open, progressive mindset and free yourself from the old circle of thinking.
I hope you found this article helpful. Feel free to send feedback, comments, or questions. Thanks for reading.
