Fed up with bold claims about manifesting that don’t help you achieve your goals? Learn how to write a manifestation list that actually works – with the science to back it up!
What Are Manifestation Lists?
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A law of attraction manifestation list is a curated list of your deepest desires, compiled with the specific purpose of realising – or manifesting – your goals. It involves harnessing the positive energy we put out into the world in order to attract our dreams and achieve our goals.
In case you’re new to the theory of manifestation, let’s go back to basics and bring you up to speed on everything you need to know about the manifestation process and how it works…
Manifestation and Law of Attraction
Our energy is reflected back to us, and that’s where manifestation can be a great tool.
The concept of manifestation was born from the Laws of Attraction. LoA refers to a group of principles based around the idea that we operate on a vibrational frequency, and that the energy we put out into the world is attracted back to us.
Positive emotions or energy are said to vibrate at a high frequency, while negative energy vibrates at a low frequency. Either way, our energy is reflected back to us, and that’s where manifestation can be a great tool.
If you want to learn more you may be interested in reading The Secret, which is also now available to watch on Netflix.
By aligning the pure energy of your thoughts with the energy of your goals, your desires will be attracted to you.
How Does Manifestation Work?
According to manifestation, everything in life – including our goals and desires – functions at its own rate of vibrational energy, and manifesting taps into this idea.
The theory goes that by aligning the pure energy of your thoughts with the energy of your goals, your desires will be attracted to you.
With that in mind, by simply raising your vibration, positive things will be attracted to you and your dreams can become your physical reality. Allegedly…
Does Manifestation Really Work?
Here’s the thing – there is zero science behind LoA or manifesting.
And yet, there are actually some interesting and valid elements that are definitely worth exploring.
Which is actually the reason behind this spirituality blog…
A while ago Google clamped down on YMYL (your money or your life) sites. They had legitimate concerns that people were putting information out into the world which was sketchy at best, but also potentially fraudulent or dangerous.
You do not need empty promises of ways to manifest your desires.
But, while websites which talk about manifesting may not pose a risk to your physical health, in my opinion they can still be harmful. And yet they’ve fallen through the cracks – they’re still very much accessible.
There are a lot of charlatans out there with no integrity, writing about whatever they believe will make them money. Perhaps in some cases they even believe their own words.
Upshot: manifestation in the context of very many of the websites you’ll read about it on is nothing more than fantasy.
Why is that harmful? Because the people searching it out are often desperate or vulnerable or both.
They do not need empty promises of ways to make their desires manifest, thus attaining their best life. They need honest, valuable, authentic support.
So that’s what you’ll find on this page.
The Benefits of Manifestation Lists
In terms of the typical information you’ll find on the web, benefits are extremely limited.
LoA buzzwords may sound impressive, but are very difficult to comprehend into actionable steps.
However, I’m hopeful that what follows will guide you towards a practical activity that can actually prove useful.
The benefits will include:
- Learning to believe in yourself
- Getting a clear idea of your precise goals
- Ensuring your goals will bring you satisfaction and fulfilment
- Formulating a plan to make them happen
How to Write a Manifestation List to Attract Your Goals in 8 Simple Steps
On other sites the following points will use a lot of LoA buzzwords which may sound impressive, but are actually a lot of fluff that are very difficult to comprehend into actionable steps.
This 8 step guide will include much of the traditional manifestation method, but with science thrown in to make the steps legitimately valuable and productive.
Note: You’ll notice some overlap between the process outlined below and the guidelines typically given for writing a new manifestation list, but with some very clear differences.
Let’s get started!
1. Brainstorm Your Desires
Before you can think about manifesting your greatest wishes, the first thing you need to do is identify them.
For this first step, just jot down all the little things that come to mind. This can be as simple as a bullet point list of single words, or more elaborate if you prefer. Then spend some time thinking about what is missing in your current situation that would improve your life the most and write these in a second column.
You could create a vision board, or alternatively write out your list of manifestations so you can refer back to it later, and of course add to it at any time too.
A lot of people feel compelled to buy a separate journal to record their dream log manifestation, but this is entirely your choice. A new journal is perfectly fine, but your current one will also work perfectly well.
Note: I recommend against using manifestation journal examples for ideas. Firstly, because they will not be personal, and secondly for reasons which I will explain later.
2. Prioritise Your Manifestation List
Once you’ve compiled your list of things and it feels complete, in the second step it’s time to appraise what’s on there.
We can’t expect everything to come to us at once, it’s necessary to focus on one area at a time and make improvements bit by bit. So examine the different items you’ve written down, and prioritise them.
Be ambitious about creating your dream life, sure. But also be realistic.
Now, refine your list.
If the process feels daunting, take a deep breath and centre yourself. Keep an open mind. Consider what feels like the right direction for your life to be going in, and allow this to guide you.
What are the main things that you need to feel fulfilled? Good health? A soul mate? A comfortable home? All of these are good things to jot down; and don’t worry, next we’re going to refine your list.
3. Choose a Specific End Goal
Once you’ve got your list in order of priority, then you can take the first item on the list and work on this next step:
Get super specific.
This promotes a goal-oriented mindset.
For example, instead of better health, try hit the gym four times each week and reserve alcohol to only one day at the weekend.
At this point I’m going to move towards using language more closely associated with psychology than that inclined towards manifesting and LoA. With that in mind…
Get super specific with your end-goal.
What we’re doing here is veering away from the idea of dreams (usually out of reach fantasies), instead putting emphasis on intent, ie. an aim which you actively plan to achieve.
This is really important, because it promotes a goal-oriented mindset, which will help you to focus on working towards achieving the clearly defined objective you want for your future self.
4. Set Mini Goals and Write Them Down
Following on from the previous point, it’s vital that once you have your main goal in mind, you then set mini goals that will move you towards it.
Creating goals keeps you accountable.
Ideally, these should be SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Time-bound
The purpose behind creating goals according to each component of the SMART acronym is that they help to keep you accountable.
Research shows a strong connection between goal-setting and success.
Circling back to the example above, while improved health doesn’t tick the boxes for a SMART goal, the suggested alternative does. And being in a position to confidently say you did or did not do what you set out to achieve is powerful, compared to ambiguity around whether or not you were successful.
Setting your goals is only half the job done though. To maximise your likelihood of following through, you should write them down too. The same study also established a significant link between the act of writing out your goals and positive outcomes.
5. Take Action
This is possibly the most important step in this entire process.
You’ll usually find any manifestation technique focusing on surrendering and aligning with the vibration of your desire, and being open to receiving the thing you are manifesting.
They’re meaningless.
They will not appear on this list – what do they even mean? What would they look like, in practice?
This is exactly what I was referring to earlier when I mentioned fluffy manifesting terminology which cannot be formulated into actionable steps.
Because ultimately, they’re meaningless.
‘Advice’ that tells you what you need to achieve without telling you how to achieve it is futile and gimmicky with no merit.
If you want to try something different which is actually effective, here’s the single most valuable take away from this whole post:
If you want something to change, you have to change something.
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So, the next stage is to take action and start setting your mini goals in motion. The great thing about this bit is that with every mini goal accomplished, you’re one step closer to realising your end-goal.
6. Create Positive Affirmations
At this point, instead of ‘trusting the process’, which requires that you put your faith in something with no logical method, I’m going to suggest a course of action which has been proven to work.
Affirmations must be written and utilised in the correct way.
This one is not so much a required actionable step, as a valid method of challenging negative emotions and self-talk. Affirmations help keep your frame of mind motivated with a positive focus on working towards your end-goal.
It’s very easy to become disillusioned when something seems difficult or far off. Alongside the sense of achievement of ticking off your mini goals, another great way to remain driven and to establish or reinforce self-belief, is by practicing affirmations.
While there’s plenty of evidence supporting affirmations as a powerful tool which can help with the manifesting process (in the context of setting and smashing goals), there’s something important to note:
To make them genuinely beneficial, affirmations must be written and utilised in the correct way. Otherwise they become not only ineffective, but also potentially harmful.
Essentially, there are a few ‘rules’ for creating valuable affirmations. They should:
- Be written in the present tense.
- Be specific.
- Be positive statements, for example: instead of I won’t xyz, rewrite as I will xyz.
- Not challenge your core beliefs – a really important thing in order for affirmations to work well.
Read more in this post about how to use manifesting affirmations successfully.
Incidentally, I’ve also seen suggestions for this step to be written in the form of an appreciation list. I’m actually a huge advocate of writing gratitude lists; they’re a very worthwhile activity for lots of reasons. However, in the context of goal setting, this simple exercise is probably not useful.
That being said, they’re never a bad idea since they’re an excellent way to cultivate a more positive outlook, and that’s never a bad thing!
7. Practice Your Affirmations
Once you’ve created a selection of positive affirmations, practice them regularly.
You’ll develop a more positive mindset.
One of the easiest ways to do this is by incorporating your affirmations into your daily routine, perhaps while you shower or drive to work. Or even turn them into a part of your self-care ritual if you have one.
Over the course of a few weeks, your affirmations should begin to work their magic on your subconscious mind (just a phrase – it’s not really magic, it’s science!). As this happens, you should begin to notice your negative thoughts and limiting beliefs being replaced with positive thoughts.
As you begin to feel encouraged about your aspirations, you’ll develop a more positive mindset.
Incredibly, as this happens, you’ll start to feel generally better about life, even without yet having achieved your end-goal.
8. Assess Your Progress, Adapt, & Execute
A significant component of any plan is to be adaptable when we see something is not working.
Adjust your plan if necessary, and keep driving forwards.
With that in mind, as you follow these steps it’s worth checking in with yourself about the progress of your mini goals. If everything is going according to plan, you can happily continue.
If, however, you notice that something is not working as expected, then it’s important to adjust your plan if necessary so that you can continue to effectively work towards your end-goal.
And this is another point of contention with manifestation practice in general.
In general, when I’ve read about manifesting and its application, if you’re not receiving your desired results the consensus seems to be: you’re not trying hard enough.
It may be dressed up in softer wording, such as you’re not truly aligned / connected with your higher self, or you need to surrender and release because you’re manifesting so hard that your desperate energy is signalling a lack of trust to the universe.
The truth is, people often are desperate, and that’s why they turn to this kind of philosophy in the first place. Making the fact that some vague and subjective concept isn’t delivering mystical results for them their fault is where my problem lies with the principle of manifesting.
So, if the process is not working, yes, there will be reasons. But they may be beyond your control.
The good news is, in this last step you can evaluate, and pivot if necessary. If your end-goal is realistic, simply brainstorm different ways to bring your mini goals back on to the right track, and keep driving forward.
What’s the Best Way to Use a Manifestations List?
And the simple reality is that very few people will have the kind of luck that means a new car or a new house drops into their lap. Yet these are manifestation list examples which are frequently recommended to include.
A new job is more realistic, but even then, only within certain parameters – to acquire your dream job requires that you’re qualified for it at the very least.
For big rewards, you need to make big efforts.
If you want those things, with effort and tenacity you may well be able to achieve them. But these are the goals born of years of hard work, not a wish you can scribble down on a piece of paper and expect to arrive as if summoned by your fervent desire alone.
So what’s the best way to manifest your biggest goals?
Remember that for big rewards, you need to make big efforts. And even then there are no guarantees. But if you are driven and persistent in your pursuits, there’s every chance you can make your dreams happen by earning them.
Just follow the steps outlined above for a practical approach to going after your goals in powerful ways which you can genuinely control by your own hand, instead of relying on the goodwill of the universe.
