Episode 126 – This One Shift Will Change The Way You Manifest Forever

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Note: This blog post serves as an accompaniment to the corresponding podcast episode of A Changed Mind, where we’ll distill down the core ideas of this week’s theme, along with additional distinctions and insights. If you haven’t listened to the episode yet, you can go here to do so.  Enjoy.

We’ve been told to visualize harder. To feel it more. To script it. To act as if. To live in the wish fulfilled. But let’s be real—most of that is, well, total nonsense. Not because visualization doesn’t work, but because people are skipping the real work. Everyone wants the shortcut, but no one wants to deal with their limiting beliefs, past trauma, or the deeper healing required for true transformation. And that’s why most people get manifestation completely wrong.

Let’s get one thing straight: if you’re meditating all day, listening to Law of Attraction audios, and trying to “think positive” while avoiding your deep-rooted fears and resistance—you’re not manifesting success, abundance, or joy. You’re manifesting more of the same pain, just dressed up as something else. More money that amplifies your anxiety. More relationships filled with the same old patterns. More achievements that feel empty the moment you reach them. That’s not creation—that’s avoidance.

The truth is, manifestation isn’t about forcing yourself to think happy thoughts while your subconscious is working against you. Real transformation leads to effortless manifestation as a byproduct, not as a goal. The problem is, most people are learning manifestation from sources that aren’t truly integrated with what they teach. If you scroll through Instagram or YouTube, you’ll find manifestation advice from people who are still trapped in their own performance. Their teachings are often theoretical at best and misleading at worst.

So let’s ask a deeper question: Are you learning from someone who has actually walked through their own darkness and emerged on the other side? Because manifestation, when done right, isn’t about avoiding reality. It’s about facing it, understanding how it works, and shifting your belief system at the deepest level.

I know this firsthand. A decade ago, I was digging through a dumpster looking for weed. I was an alcoholic, a drug addict, and a sex addict with a failing business. My life was a mess. But something changed—not through surface-level visualization, but through deep, honest work. And in this article, I’m going to break down how the system actually works. I’ll show you why traditional manifestation advice is flawed, and more importantly, how to shift your mindset in a way that truly creates lasting change.

The Hidden Trap of Surface-Level Manifestation

Most people don’t realize that the very way they approach manifestation is what’s keeping them stuck. They focus on external techniques—affirmations, vision boards, scripting—without ever addressing the internal roadblocks that make those techniques ineffective. It’s like trying to build a skyscraper on a foundation of quicksand. No matter how beautiful the structure looks on the surface, it won’t stand the test of time.

Here’s the truth: Your external reality is just a mirror of your internal state. If deep down, you believe money is hard to make, relationships are full of pain, or success comes with unbearable pressure, then no amount of visualization will override those core beliefs. Instead, you’ll find yourself trapped in a cycle of temporary wins followed by devastating setbacks. Sound familiar?

This is why some people make a lot of money only to lose it all. Or they attract a great relationship but sabotage it because they don’t believe they’re worthy of love. Or they experience moments of happiness but inevitably return to stress and anxiety. It’s not because manifestation doesn’t work—it’s because their subconscious beliefs are working against them.

Manifestation isn’t about forcing a new reality into existence. It’s about dissolving the resistance that keeps you from what you naturally desire. And resistance comes in many forms: unresolved trauma, limiting beliefs, inherited family patterns, and unexamined fears. The real work isn’t in saying a hundred affirmations a day—it’s in uncovering and rewriting the subconscious programming that’s been running your life behind the scenes.

The good news? Once you clear that resistance, everything shifts effortlessly. Opportunities appear without struggle. Relationships heal. Money flows more easily. Not because you’re forcing it, but because you’ve finally removed the invisible barriers that were blocking it all along.

So the question is: Are you willing to do the real work? Because if you are, the life you want is closer than you think.

The Real Work: Unraveling the Subconscious Blocks

If you want to break free from the cycle of failed manifestations, you have to go deeper. Surface-level techniques don’t work because they don’t address the root of the issue—your subconscious programming.

Think of it like this: If your subconscious mind is a computer, then your core beliefs are the software running in the background. You can install all the flashy new programs you want (vision boards, affirmations, scripting), but if the operating system itself is outdated or corrupted, those new programs won’t run properly. You’ll keep encountering glitches—patterns that repeat, goals that slip through your fingers, manifestations that seem to work but never quite last.

The real work is in updating the system itself. And that requires deep self-inquiry, emotional processing, and sometimes even revisiting old wounds you’ve buried for years. Most people don’t want to do this because it’s uncomfortable. But let me tell you something—avoiding discomfort is exactly what’s keeping you stuck.

True manifestation isn’t about convincing yourself you’re rich when you feel broke or pretending you’re happy when you’re battling depression. It’s about going into the shadows and clearing out the limiting beliefs that are creating that reality in the first place. It’s about reprogramming the thoughts that tell you money is dangerous, love is painful, or success means losing yourself.

Resistance shows up in many ways: procrastination, self-sabotage, chronic anxiety, staying in toxic relationships, avoiding opportunities. It’s not just about “thinking positive” but about understanding why you keep getting in your own way. Are you afraid that making more money will make you a bad person? Do you secretly believe that love will always lead to heartbreak? Are you holding onto past failures as proof that success isn’t for you? These are the deeper questions that need answering.

When you shift your internal world, your external world follows. But you cannot fake this work. You cannot bypass it with a Pinterest-worthy vision board or a morning ritual if deep down, your mind is still at war with itself.

So the question isn’t, “How do I manifest faster?” The question is, “What’s in the way of me naturally receiving what I desire?” And the answer is almost always found in the subconscious mind.

The Role of Emotional Healing in Manifestation

Most people don’t realize that their ability to manifest is directly tied to their emotional well-being. You can’t create abundance while you’re carrying around unresolved pain. If you want to shift your reality, you have to first shift your emotional state.

Think about it. Have you ever noticed that when you’re in a bad mood, everything seems to go wrong? You spill your coffee, hit every red light, get into an argument, and by the end of the day, you feel completely drained. Now, contrast that with a time when you felt unstoppable—maybe you just landed a new job, fell in love, or accomplished a big goal. During those times, opportunities seemed to appear out of nowhere. You felt magnetic, like life was working in your favor.

That’s not a coincidence. It’s the result of your emotional state influencing your reality. When you hold onto past wounds, fear, or resentment, those emotions keep you stuck in patterns of struggle. But when you clear those emotions, you free yourself to align with the life you actually want.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is ignoring their emotional wounds while trying to manifest a new reality. You can’t slap positive thinking on top of unhealed trauma and expect miracles. The pain doesn’t just disappear—it seeps into everything you do. That’s why emotional healing is a non-negotiable part of manifestation.

Healing doesn’t mean dwelling on the past. It means acknowledging what hurt you, processing it, and releasing it so it no longer holds power over you. This could be through therapy, meditation, journaling, breathwork, or simply allowing yourself to feel emotions rather than suppressing them. The goal is to clear the emotional blocks that keep you tied to an outdated version of yourself.

When you heal, your energy shifts. And when your energy shifts, your external reality follows. That’s when manifestation becomes effortless—not because you forced it, but because you finally became an energetic match for the life you desire.

Rewiring Your Subconscious for Success

If you want to manifest lasting change, you have to reprogram the subconscious mind. Your subconscious is running 95% of your daily decisions, habits, and reactions. If it’s filled with limiting beliefs, no amount of conscious effort will override it. You’ll always default back to what feels familiar, even if familiar isn’t what you want.

Think of your subconscious as a thermostat. If it’s set at 68 degrees and you want 85 degrees, you can turn on space heaters, wear extra layers, or try to force the room to be warmer, but eventually, the thermostat will regulate the temperature back to 68. This is exactly how limiting beliefs operate in your life. No matter how much money, success, or love you attract, if your subconscious programming isn’t aligned with it, you’ll self-sabotage until you return to what your mind believes is “normal.”

So, how do you change the setting on your thermostat? Through consistent, intentional reprogramming. The first step is awareness. Start paying attention to the negative thought loops that run your life. Do you always assume things won’t work out? Do you believe success requires struggle? Do you fear losing what you gain? These beliefs create resistance to what you want.

The second step is replacing these beliefs with new ones. Your mind responds to repetition, so daily affirmations, visualization, and immersive experiences can help reinforce new mental patterns. But remember—this isn’t just about saying words. You have to embody the belief emotionally. When you think of your new belief, does it feel true? If not, there’s deeper work to do.

Lastly, take action that supports your new beliefs. If you believe money flows easily, start making financial decisions from that place. If you believe you are worthy of love, stop entertaining relationships that reinforce old wounds. Your actions must align with your subconscious shifts for real transformation to occur.

Rewiring your subconscious isn’t an overnight process, but it’s the most powerful way to ensure your manifestations don’t just appear temporarily—they become your new normal.

Breaking the Cycle of Self-Sabotage

Even after becoming aware of limiting beliefs and working to reprogram the subconscious, many people still find themselves trapped in cycles of self-sabotage. Why? Because the mind craves certainty, even if that certainty is keeping you stuck in struggle.

Self-sabotage is a survival mechanism. Your brain is wired to protect you from the unknown. If financial struggle, toxic relationships, or procrastination have been your norm, then achieving success, love, or discipline feels like a threat—even if it’s exactly what you say you want. This is why people get close to their goals and then suddenly pull back, make reckless decisions, or create unnecessary drama.

To break this cycle, you must first recognize your sabotage patterns. Do you start to doubt yourself when things go well? Do you procrastinate when an opportunity arises? Do you downplay your achievements or push people away who genuinely care about you? These behaviors aren’t random—they’re your subconscious trying to keep you “safe” in familiar discomfort.

The next step is learning how to regulate your nervous system. When you step outside of your comfort zone, your body often reacts with fear, stress, or anxiety. Instead of retreating, practice grounding techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or physical movement to help your body feel safe in the face of expansion.

Finally, commit to pushing through discomfort. Growth isn’t about eliminating fear—it’s about learning to move forward despite it. Success, love, abundance—these things aren’t foreign or unattainable. They just feel that way when you’ve spent years reinforcing the opposite. But the more you lean into the discomfort of change, the more natural it becomes.

Breaking self-sabotage isn’t about willpower; it’s about rewiring your entire relationship with success. Once you learn to feel safe in abundance, you stop pushing it away and start allowing it in effortlessly.

Embodying the Identity of Your Future Self

One of the most overlooked aspects of manifestation is identity. You don’t just attract what you want—you attract what you are. If you still see yourself as the struggling entrepreneur, the lonely person, or the individual who “always fails,” your subconscious will ensure your external reality matches that identity.

To truly manifest lasting change, you have to embody the identity of the person who already has what you desire. This isn’t about “faking it till you make it.” It’s about aligning your thoughts, emotions, and actions with the version of yourself who effortlessly lives the life you’re working toward.

Start by asking yourself: Who is the version of me that already has the success, love, or abundance I desire? How do they think? How do they speak? What do they prioritize? The goal isn’t to pretend to be someone you’re not but to shift into the most authentic, empowered version of yourself.

One powerful way to do this is through small, daily decisions. If your future self is confident, how would they walk into a room? If they are financially abundant, how would they handle their money? If they are in a healthy, loving relationship, how would they communicate? Each choice you make is an opportunity to reinforce your new identity.

Another crucial element is self-image. If deep down you don’t believe you’re worthy of success, your subconscious will find ways to keep you at a level that feels familiar. That’s why affirmations alone don’t work—you have to feel the truth of your new identity in your body. Visualization, mental rehearsal, and surrounding yourself with people who reflect your new self can help accelerate this shift. Your reality is simply a reflection of who you believe yourself to be. The moment you fully step into the identity of your future self, the external world has no choice but to align with it.

Taking Inspired Action: Moving Beyond Passive Manifestation

Many people believe manifestation is purely about mindset—that if they think the right thoughts, visualize their dreams, and “vibrate at the right frequency,” everything will magically fall into place. While mindset is critical, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Manifestation requires action—not just any action, but inspired action that aligns with your new identity and intentions.

Inspired action is different from forceful effort. It doesn’t come from a place of desperation or fear but from an inner knowing that you are moving toward what is already yours. When you align your energy with your desires, the next steps often reveal themselves naturally. Instead of feeling like you’re pushing uphill, you’ll notice doors opening, synchronicities happening, and opportunities presenting themselves.

One of the best ways to take inspired action is to ask yourself daily: “What would the version of me who already has this do today?” Then, do that. If you desire a thriving business, what steps would a successful entrepreneur take? If you want deep, fulfilling relationships, how would someone who feels fully loved and connected behave? Each choice you make reinforces your new reality.

It’s important to recognize that inspired action doesn’t always feel comfortable. Sometimes, it requires stepping into the unknown, making bold decisions, or letting go of what no longer serves you. Fear and doubt may still arise, but the key is to act despite them. Courage isn’t the absence of fear—it’s moving forward in the presence of it.

When you pair deep inner transformation with purposeful action, manifestation becomes inevitable. It’s no longer about wishing or hoping—it’s about actively co-creating with the universe. Your desires are waiting for you, but you have to meet them halfway.

Trusting the Timing: Letting Go of Desperation and Control

One of the most difficult aspects of manifestation is surrendering control over the “when” and “how.” When you deeply desire something, it’s natural to want it to happen immediately. But desperation and impatience actually create resistance, keeping what you want at arm’s length. True manifestation isn’t just about asking for what you want—it’s about trusting that it’s coming at the right time, in the right way.

Many people fall into the trap of obsessing over timelines. They set rigid deadlines, watch the clock, and panic when things don’t happen fast enough. This frantic energy signals lack rather than abundance. Think about it: when you’re truly confident something is on its way, you don’t stress over it. You don’t keep checking the tracking number for a package you know is guaranteed to arrive.

The universe operates on divine timing, not human impatience. Sometimes, delays are not rejections but redirections. What seems like a setback is often setting you up for something even better. Have you ever looked back at a moment of disappointment only to realize later that it was exactly what needed to happen? That’s the intelligence of the universe at work.

So, how do you let go of control while staying aligned with your desires? Practice trust. When you catch yourself stressing over the “when,” shift your focus to the “who.” Who are you becoming in the process? Are you embodying the energy of someone who already has what they desire, or are you radiating lack and frustration?

Trusting the timing doesn’t mean doing nothing—it means staying present, taking inspired action, and allowing things to unfold. When you detach from the outcome and instead focus on your growth, your manifestations arrive not out of force, but out of flow.

The Power of Gratitude: Amplifying Your Manifestations

If there’s one practice that can supercharge your ability to manifest, it’s gratitude. Gratitude isn’t just about feeling thankful for what you already have—it’s about stepping into the energy of abundance before your desires materialize. When you express gratitude for what’s coming, you align yourself with the reality in which it already exists.

Most people wait to feel grateful until after they receive what they want. But the secret is to flip that process. When you can feel appreciation for something before it arrives, you send a powerful signal to the universe: “I already have this. I am ready for more.” This shift in energy is what turns desires into reality.

Gratitude also rewires your brain for abundance. Neuroscientific research shows that regularly practicing gratitude strengthens neural pathways associated with positive thinking and resilience. The more you focus on what’s good in your life, the more your brain is trained to seek out and attract positive experiences.

One of the simplest yet most transformative exercises is to start each day by listing things you’re grateful for—both things you already have and things you are calling in. Instead of saying, “I hope I get this,” shift to, “I’m so grateful this is already on its way.” This not only changes your mindset but also shifts your entire vibrational frequency.

Beyond just listing things, embody gratitude in your daily life. Speak as if your manifestations are already unfolding. Celebrate small wins. Express appreciation for lessons, even the difficult ones. The more you lean into gratitude, the more effortlessly your desires flow into your life.

Gratitude isn’t just a feel-good exercise; it’s a manifestation accelerator. The universe responds to appreciation with more things to appreciate. When you live in gratitude, you step into alignment with the life you’ve been working to create.

Becoming the Conscious Creator of Your Life

Manifestation is not about wishful thinking, nor is it about forcing things into existence through sheer effort. It’s about alignment—aligning your beliefs, emotions, and actions with the reality you want to create. It’s about removing resistance, stepping into your future self, taking inspired action, trusting the timing, and embodying deep gratitude for the journey.

If there’s one thing to take away from all of this, it’s that you are already manifesting, whether you realize it or not. Your current reality is a direct reflection of your subconscious programming, the identity you hold, and the energy you embody daily. The question is not whether you can manifest, but whether you are manifesting intentionally or unconsciously.

The good news? You can change your reality at any time. The moment you decide to rewrite the beliefs holding you back, you shift your trajectory. The moment you start embodying the version of yourself who already has what you desire, the external world responds. The moment you let go of control and trust the process, things begin to flow with ease.

Your desires exist for a reason. They are not random. They are invitations to step into your highest potential. The only thing standing between you and the life you want is the resistance you’re holding onto. When you release it, when you fully step into alignment with your desires, manifestation stops being something you “try” to do—it becomes something you live.

So ask yourself: What are you ready to let go of today? What new belief are you ready to step into? Who are you ready to become?