Lu’s message to beginners? Don’t complicate it. Do what works for you.
“I am a lazy manifester, I simply do not have the time to be doing all these elaborate rituals,” Lu says. “But hey, if they work for someone, please, by all means, do it. That’s how I started, I wrote things down.”
Nikeia recommends beginning with affirmations. This could be as simple as speaking aloud your wishes as if they’ve already come true. You could even say it as if you’re talking to a friend or a family member if talking to yourself feels unnatural.
Her account is an example of manifestation in real time, she says — it’s not magic, you have to take action alongside your desires. There’s no way to reach a million followers if you never post a video.
“I can control making videos, I can control the quality of the videos, I can control the content,” Lu says. “I cannot control if people are going to like that, I can’t control if people are going to follow. So I’m doing what I can do, and I’m trusting the universe with the rest.”
But what about when things happen that are out of control? Nikeia calls those “energetic tests.” Part of manifestation is about bringing a positive mindset to negative situations.
“Is this the moment where I say I’m done, I give up? I’m not going to do these manifestations anymore?” she says. “Or is this a test that, okay, I know, this happened to me, but this is happening for me, and not to me, this is happening for my growth.”
There’s also patience — manifesting something once doesn’t mean you’ll wake up with it the next day.
“Life can turn in dramatic ways, but when we find the power in the now and find the realms of just allowing life to unfold at the right time, that is what manifestation is,” Nikeia says.
Tools and tips to help you manifest
Whether you’re looking for signs in repeated numbers (known as angel numbers ), collecting crystals or getting tarot readings on the regular, there are many tools that accompany the world of manifesting.
Lu says while these aren’t necessary, they can help us be “in a state of empowerment.”
“Sometimes we already have the answers, we know what’s up,” Lu says. “But it’s nice to be reassured, to hear something and be like, this is someone I trust, this method I trust, I’m hearing that things are going to work out, and I can sleep tonight.”
But get far enough down the manifesting rabbit hole on TikTok and you may wind up scrolling through dozens of prediction videos or “signs” from the universe.
“If you believe that you’re supposed to hear this message, then you’re watching every single video getting 1,000 messages, you’re going to be so confused,” Cameron says. “So this is why you have to trust you, you have to trust what you see, what you believe, your intuition, what you feel.”
Need guidance or reassurance?: Read daily and monthly horoscopes
Is manifestation real?
There’s no scientific evidence that manifestation automatically makes dreams come true, but some research suggests positive mindsets have equally positive outcomes.
One study found imagining a hypothetical event will land you with a better action plan for how to make the event actually happen. The concept of growth mindset says that individuals who believe their talents can grow tend to achieve more than those who don’t.
Certainly, the thought-to-action aspects of manifestation hold some ground. Some scientists have referenced manifestation’s close alignment with cognitive behavioral therapy , which is modifying unhelpful ways of thinking and behavior to cope with and prevent further psychological problems.
And yet, the “magic” of manifesting that has come into popular culture is not necessarily what many manifestation coaches actually believe.
“It’s not about bringing like that one thing or that one amount of money into your life. It’s about being a different version of yourself,” Cameron says. “It doesn’t come from thin air — it comes from your actions that you take based on the energy that you’re in.”
Manifestation, all three coaches said, is something we’re doing all the time. We wish on birthday candles, when we see the time is 11:11 or when we set a particular goal.
“You’re always running based on the beliefs you hold,” Cameron says. “Every day you’re creating the next day of your life over and over and over again, so people are manifesting but they don’t know what or how they’re doing it.”
Angel numbers: Beginner’s guide to what they are and what they (could) mean
Is manifesting dangerous?
There can be too much of a good thing.
Some research suggests the practice could be harmful for those with anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorders or who may be actively working toward unlearning harmful “thought equals reality” triggers — what manifestation holds at its core.
“You have to know yourself well enough and your mental health to understand where you are going to take your practice of manifesting,” Lu says. “If it is something that you end up being obsessive over and ends up really impeding your life, please take a step back and find a way that really works for you.”
