Manifestation–all the vogue in popular culture–is often associated with spirituality and mysticism. Still, it can also be an integral part of a structured process for working toward personal and professional objectives. This is because manifestation entails more than just wishing for a positive outcome; it is a process of visualizing that outcome and then identifying and taking steps toward it.
Manifesting an outcome requires practices that one can often find both in a mediation exercise at a yoga studio and in a strategic planning exercise at a board meeting, including mindfulness, freeform brainstorming without being inhibited by present realities, distillation of one’s desired vision into a brief affirmation, mantra, or aspirational statement, and concrete steps forward that involve both mind and body.
The Intersection of Spirituality and Practicality
Many struggle to turn dreams into actionable plans in life or business. Manifestation and goal-setting – though we think of manifestation and goal-setting as belonging to separate worlds (the spiritual and the practical), they share core principles and analogous processes. They both involve visualizing, planning, and taking action. For example, consider these steps:
1. Visualizing
“Seeing” the desired outcome isn’t just about imagining it, though that is important; people who intend to manifest their dreams must permit themselves to daydream. Yet visualization requires more than just a fantasy. Visualization needs to be concrete. It needs to include specifics—even specific numbers that define success. And it needs to be written if it is to be made real.
People hoping to manifest a dream might consider writing down at least four things: a description of the dream they have visualized, a one-sentence mantra, slogan, or summation of that aspiration, which can function as both a statement of purpose to direct one’s efforts and daily encouragement and reminder; a timeline for achieving it; and a metric–a measure that, if reached, will let them know they have manifested that goal.
2. Planning
Once there is a written vision, purpose statement, timeline, and metrics for success, the next step is to imagine the steps to get there and anticipate possible obstacles. The steps need to be concrete and achievable. Breaking significant goals down into smaller, manageable increments makes success attainable. Lao Tzu wrote, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Planning is a matter of defining a series of single steps.
It is also a matter of anticipating obstacles. One visualizing exercise that can help is to imagine that the project has failed and the dream has not been reached. Then, interview oneself: Why wasn’t it reached? What got in the way? Then, write down those things and how to stop them from barring the way.
This exercise called a “pre-mortem” (examination of a body before death), applies the power of visualization to define not only the goal (as in the previous step) but also to define and mitigate the obstacles.
3. Taking Action
As business leaders like to say, “Plan the work and work the plan.” This is where manifestation and project management meet. Tracking projects toward clear, incremental objectives is how to turn aspirations into reality. Project management tools like Asana, Monday, and ClickUp can help structure the day-to-day manifestation work.
Tiffany Antoine, the founder of Meditating Human and the designer of a course called Project Manage Your Manifestations, emphasizes the importance of keeping manifestation both aspirational and grounded in the day-to-day work needed to achieve it.
“Don’t worry about trying to manifest,” she says. You’re already doing it. All I help with is organizing it and putting it into real-world language so you can turn your desires into tangible results.”
Not Just About Belief
Manifestation is more than firmly believing something. It is a positive, affirming, and active process that requires structure, planning, and daily effort. It requires a resilient, forward-thinking mindset and the tools to manage daily labor. With that mindset and those tools, people—whether spiritually inclined or not—can bridge the gap between dreaming and achieving.
