Okay but what is manifesting all about? Here’s how to manifest your life

Whilst scrolling through TikTok, you’ve definitely seen videos about manifesting pop up, but I’m willing to bet you only have a vague idea of what it actually is. “Manifesting” is definitely a word that gets thrown around a lot, especially on TikTok, but how are you meant to manifest things, and what actually is it all about?

People use manifestation techniques to manifest exam results, relationships, uni places and jobs. Loads of famous people are fans of manifestation, including Oprah and Lizzo, who a couple of years ago tweeted to say she’d manifested her “life” via her new year’s resolutions.

Here’s everything you need to know about manifesting, what it is and how to manifest:

What is manifesting?

Manifesting is based on something known as the law of attraction, and is basically the idea that when we focus on something, we attract whatever it is into our lives. The mind is powerful and can turn what we think about into an actual reality.

You can then use the law of attraction to manifest specific things into your life. In short, manifestation is using your thoughts, feelings and beliefs to actually make something real happen.

If you want to learn more about the law of attraction, watch The Secret on Netflix (based on the 2006 book of the same name). This is all about the idea that your thoughts can help change your life.

How do I manifest and what do I have to do?

There are loads of different techniques for manifestation. Usually it involves focusing on a thought and feeling, and then using meditation and visualisation.

Durham student Meg has manifested things before, and says she thinks manifestation helps to “focus you”. “You have to be dead set on what you want,” she says.

Choose what you want to manifest

Obviously, you can’t manifest what you want if you don’t know what you want. Be clear with yourself about what you want, and make it specific. Focus on a thought, and the feelings, beliefs and goals behind it.

Visualise what you want to manifest

So now you know what you’re focussed on manifesting, you need to ask the universe. You can do this through meditation, visualisation (such as making a vision board), speaking your intentions out loud, or journalling. You can simply write your intentions down, such as by writing a letter, or you can use the 3, 6, 9 method which is all over TikTok.

The 3, 6, 9 method involves either writing your intention down three times in the morning, six in the day and nine at night, every day. Other people use the 3, 6, 9 method differently, and instead write out the focus three times, the intention around it six times, and the action you want to happen nine times. So if you wanted a boy to text you, his name would be the focus, him missing you would be the intention, and him texting you would be the action.

Another method you can use is where you focus on a thought for 17 seconds – you have to make sure you really believe it and feel that it’s real for the whole time.

Get rid of anything negative

You need to make sure you’re in the right mindset, and get rid of anything that’s stopping you. Let go of any negative thoughts you have (you don’t want to attract negativity to your life), along with toxic relationships, bad feelings and other limiting beliefs.

Write down any limiting beliefs you have that are stopping you, and reverse them into positive affirmations. If you think you don’t deserve something, flip it round and think of why you do deserve it.

One thing you have to be careful of is attracting the wrong thing, or the “lack” of things. Ishita, a student at a London university, was “raised on ideas of manifestation”, and uses it for “everything”. She says it’s important not to focus on the “lack” of things. Sometimes if we really want something we base our desire for it on the fact we don’t have it, so we attract “lack”. “If you tell yourself ‘I am not sad’ rather than ‘I am happy’, then you’re attracting ‘lack'”, she says.

Actually be proactive

Look, nothing’s going to happen over night. You can’t just try to manifest, then sit back and do absolutely nothing else about it and still expect it to work – you have to work, too. Take time to think about how you can actually reach your goals yourself: You’re not going to magically become Molly-Mae, but think about how you can try and boost your Insta game yourself. If it’s a job you want, try and speak with some relevant people, and practice for when you get an interview.

Nicola, another uni student, says she’s recently seen many people manifesting on social media, especially influencers. “They do it in really jarring and unrealistic ways,” she says. “It looks like they’re just relying on the concept of manifesting for their life goals rather than working for it alongside.”

Be grateful

You have to be thankful for what you manifest when it does come to you, and acknowledge everything you’re able to attract to yourself. You can use a gratitude journal to help with this (you’ve defo seen these all over your TikTok), and every day write down five things you’re grateful for.

What can manifesting be used for and does it actually work?

People use manifestation to attract pretty much anything, from a boyfriend to a university offer.

Final year Lizzy is “convinced” she manifested her A-level grades. She hasn’t revised and was “shitting” herself: “I thought the only solution was to [use the manifestation technique] where you sit with an idea and a feeling for 17 seconds, fully believing you have it. I did it for each of my A-levels and put them on a post-it note in my room. My exams went shit, like an actual disaster, but then results day came and I got the exact grades I’d manifested.”

Students Lily, Ishita and Meg all say they’ve manifested boyfriends in the past – using the same “17 seconds” technique as Lizzy, or other manifestation methods. Lily says: “I’d never spoken to him before, and then we were going out after months of manifesting. I kept telling myself we were going to get together, and working on myself to be open to receiving things that came my way.”

Livi, who is studying at a London uni, practices witchcraft, including runes, sigils and tarot. She says she believes in science behind manifesting, saying: “If you focus on positive outcomes, your mental health improves and you’re more likely to achieve them.” Livi once used manifestation to keep herself calm in a blood test, even though it’s usually her “greatest fear in the whole world”. She “made a sigil the night before, saying ‘I will be calm’. I just kept telling myself I’d be calm over and over, and I was fine, which is unheard of for me. I think saying the words and having the symbol on my arm helped me manifest the outcome I wanted”.

Call it the power of positive thinking or simply coincidence, but honestly if you’re sceptical of manifestation it’s not hurting anyone so really who cares? And if it might work and you give it a go, you really don’t have anything to lose – but lots to possibly gain.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Here’s how to find if your celebrity crush is your soulmate, using zodiac compatibility

• This is how to work out your moon sign and what it means about you

• Horoscopes can reveal what you’re like in bed, and suddenly it all makes sense