What is the secret to manifesting? In short, there is no “secret” to manifesting. But, there are some highly encouraged do’s and don’t’s that can help tip your scales in the direction of successfully manifesting all that you desire. This week, on the Do the Damn Thing Podcast, I sat down with our very first guest and manifesting expert, Haley Hoffman Smith, to discuss the process. We dove into manifesting 101 and how to go beyond the typical vision board ideation and process of repetition.

We agreed there was truly no “secret” to manifesting. However, if asked to highlight the subject with one specific “secret,” it would be this: to manifest the things you desire most, you must first do the internal work. To successfully invite that which you want into your life, you must first vibrate at an energy level consistent with happiness and abundance in your present life; fall into the process of deep self-reflection, and nurture the relationship you have with yourself. Only then will the manifestation flow into your life without cost or question.

What do I mean? Ask yourself this question: Do I feel that my manifestations will solve the current problem or situation I’m in? —Let’s break this down.

The Prerequisite to Manifesting

First and foremost, we must enter into our journey of manifesting with one core thought in mind. Receiving what we’re looking to manifest will not be the end-all-be-all of solutions to all of our issues. Manifestations serve to enhance our lives and better their trajectory. When we look to our manifestations as a solution rather than an up-level, we put it on a pedestal, therefore lowering our worthiness to receive that manifestation.

So what happens if we look at our manifestations as solutions as they come into our lives?

First, we ask questions. Did I actually earn this? Am I worthy of this? Second, we often feel disappointed by the underwhelming excitement from finally receiving the manifestation. Therefore, these results, quite obviously, lead to a very bleak manifesting process. So, we know there is no secret to manifesting; we understand there is no magic wand we can wave to change our bank statement from one hundred to one million. But, the secret to manifesting with happiness for the purpose of an up-level, is to heal the internal blocks and change past programming.

But, how does Past Programming affect Manifesting?

Well, do you remember the post I recently published answering your most asked questions on the Law of Attraction? One of the four questions asked was, “where do I begin?” I wrote a short paragraph explaining that we always begin with the internal work. But, even more people reached out after that post went live, asking me to elaborate further. So, I thought, what better opportunity to offer clear answers than to bring this question to the expert.

In the podcast, Haley and I discussed several different ways you can begin working on the past programming. As coaches, we both highly recommend working on this process with someone. Having that objective point of view, an expert on this subject can be crucial in helping us move past those blocks. We have can often have “blinders” to the deep wounds we may not be ready to heal, or even a simple lack of recognition as to what our limiting beliefs really are.

When we can pinpoint exactly what it is that’s blocking us from manifesting, feeling good, or being successful, how do we know what to work on or where to focus our energy? We have to ask ourselves the difficult and direct questions to get to the deep-rooted issues.

Common Blocks in Manifesting

There are three common things many of us are looking to manifest at any given time: abundance, love, and success. Within those subjects, the most common block often comes down to worthiness. “Am I worthy of… fill in the blank?” But when you break it down and get into the mindset of each individual, you’ll find that it has a lot to do with past programming and learned behavior where our fears arise around these “big” manifestations.

 

Abundance.

Money blocks are most often learned behavior; past programming inherited from our parents that’s taught us to have an unhealthy predisposition with money. Financial behavior is often modeled to us in one of two ways: one, we’re taught and told to save, save, save, and money is a scarcity despite how much or little we have of it; or, two: it’s spent the moment it’s received, so we see money as scarce, and we should always save and never spend. Either way, the commonality comes down to one thought: money is scarce. Therefore, there isn’t enough for me to be abundant, or if I spend too much, I’ll no longer have abundance.

Love.

Love is most often a worthiness wound or feared in the form of lack; a lack of time, lack of people, lack of experience. Often these fears or our lack of worthiness is, like abundance, programming inherited by behavior modeled to us in our past. This can be from marriages we saw growing up, separations, or divorces. We adopt the responsibilities of feeling worthy or, in this case, unworthy of a healthy relationship or “true love,” so we settle for less or nothing at all. In many cases, blocks also come from feeling in lack. These blocks often grow from a fundamental lack of self-worth that ultimately needs to be worked on and fostered first.

Success.

Success, however you define it, be it wealth, prosperity, health, abundance, happiness, etc., is a subject we all have a ceiling for. At some point, there is an amount of success that would be too much, so we stop ourselves from reaching it to stay within that much-discussed comfort zone. Success blocks are often fears around being seen–having too many eyes on you, or “out-successing” another and feeling judged for it. We see these blocks manifest themselves in our lives as insecurities that hold us back from making progress on those BIG DREAMS we so often talk about.

The Secret to Manifesting

Successful manifesting requires three things: vulnerability, honesty, and trust. Vulnerability begins immediately when we decide exactly what it is we want. It takes a lot of courage to know what end result you’re looking for and letting the Universe know you’re unwavering in that. Honesty is required with yourself and the potential coach you work with. You have to be willing to open up with yourself and travel into the depths of your subconscious to understand what it is that is keeping you from your manifestation. And finally, trust, infinite trust in yourself and in the Universe. An agreement that you’re confident in the inspired action you’re taking, and you trust in the Universe and its divine timing.