Manifestation techniques 101

Published on March 6, 2023

Let’s get one thing straight: there is no free lunch. You do not get everything you want simply by saying your affirmations without having to do anything else.

But when used properly, these techniques can help you:

1. Recognize opportunities.

2. Make new habits easier - It becomes very simple to do the things you know you need to do for the result you want.

3. Find answers to questions - This is the principle behind the answer to a difficult question suddenly coming to you while you are relaxing.

The manifestation techniques described here are really a way of preparing yourself to receive results.

A principle of creativity

It all sounds very vague, but it is not.

Science, not wishy-washy thinking

Even though we do not know exactly how manifestation and techniques such as affirmations and visualization work, that does not mean they are not science. Their effects are repeatable!

Medical science, for example, has to account for the placebo effect. This effect is so strong that clinical studies must take it into account. Yet nobody knows exactly how it works, only that it does.

The same really applies to everything in nature. We have described how electricity works, even down to the level of quantum mechanics. But how does quantum mechanics work? We can only describe everything up to a certain point.

To cut a long story short, we never really know exactly how something works. What we do know is that if you do a, you get result b. We can describe things and know how to use them.

We make models, and those models lead to repeatable results.

When you plug a radio into an outlet, electrons pass through the radio chip and music comes out. Your brain works in a similar way. We are going to learn to recognize that mode of operation.

You recognize opportunities

You probably know this clichéd example, but it is worth repeating. If I ask you not to think about a pink elephant, it becomes difficult not to think about a pink elephant.

In the same way, you see nothing but red cars on the road after you buy a red car yourself.

Likewise, you see opportunities and information everywhere about the subjects you are constantly occupied with.

The “reticular activating system” (RAS) is responsible for this. It is a neural system in the brain that is partly responsible for focus and attention.

Resistance is removed

When you tell yourself you are not good at something, of course it becomes difficult to perform, study or do anything else.

This is also down to the reticular activating system. Instead of finding opportunities and reasons why you can do something, it looks for obstacles and difficulties.

Fortunately, you can turn that self-image around too. You do not need to lie to yourself to do this. You can, for example, divide something difficult into small steps and reason from there.

Suppose you see yourself as chaotic: you lose your keys, and even your glasses while they are still on your head. Then you have the self-image of a chaotic person.

Is that true? Are you really a chaotic person? Or do you simply have a set of little habits that contribute to the chaos?

Think of things like:

1. Throwing your clothes on the floor.

2. Putting your keys down just anywhere.

3. Not planning ahead for what you need.

Understanding this is often enough to change your self-image and slowly untangle the chaos. Start by putting your keys in a fixed place, for example. These small actions lead to a changing self-image, along with a little pleasure in having everything tidy.

The basics

Before we get to the techniques, it is important to get the basics right. These are the elements that matter for getting results.

What do you really want?

It is important to be clear about what you really want.

Getting clear comes down to a few actions:

1. It lives in your calendar - You have scheduled daily actions, preferably as early in the day as possible.

2. The goal is clear - Do you want to run a marathon? Or perhaps have more money? Make it clear with an amount, a finishing time or something you will do in return.

What are you doing that is NOT consistent with what you really want?

One part of this is leaving certain actions behind. If you are an Olympic athlete, you will not be found with a beer or a shot of vodka in your hand every weekend.

Those two things simply do not go together.

Be clear about the price of what you want to have or become. Be willing to pay it, or adjust your goal.

The right mindset

“The man who loves walking will walk further than the man who loves the destination.”

You cannot force manifestation techniques. Trust that they work. See that they work! Just as a plant grows on its own with the right nutrients, water and light, the right actions come from the right mindset. When do you force something? When, deep down, you know it is very difficult or will not really work. The self-image that goes with that is one of limitations.

Sometimes it can be difficult to keep going if you do not see results straight away. How do you know it works when results sometimes take a while to arrive?

There are a few pointers you can use:

1. Are you looking forward to it? - Are you beginning to enjoy working toward your goals? The process should remain enjoyable too.

2. Is resistance decreasing? - Are you finding a way to start easily, without resistance?

3. Are there intermediate results? - Are you beginning to finish things? Are you noticing intermediate results, or perhaps even small improvements?

4. Do you think about it during the day? - Do the goals stay with you, and are you also beginning to think about the process in an enjoyable way? Could the actions be more efficient? “What if I do this or that?” and so on.

How to use the techniques

Now we come to the fun part: using the techniques.

When and how should you use these techniques? As much as possible!

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing.”
~ A passage from the Bible

It helps to choose fixed moments for this so it becomes ingrained and turns into a routine.

That is what we are looking for: new routines. To get results, you want to apply this mindset for the rest of your life, rather than just once or twice. When things start working, you also need to keep applying the techniques and step up your efforts.

You can use the following anchors to start practicing techniques such as manifestation and visualization:

1. As soon as you get up - This is one of the most powerful moments because your prefrontal cortex has not fully “started up” yet. Suggestions can therefore sink in more easily.

2. Just before you close your eyes and go to sleep - This is the second-best moment. You take it with you through eight hours of sleep.

3. On your way somewhere - When I go to work or the swimming pool, I use the journey to visualize and go through the techniques.

4. During training - On a long run in particular, you have plenty of time to visualize what eating healthily after the run will look like.

5. While doing chores - There are plenty of things you do on autopilot during the day. Think of washing dishes, vacuuming or tidying up. You can use these moments to daydream about your goals.

So there are plenty of opportunities. The passage from the Bible applies here too.

The basic principle is that the more you can direct your thoughts toward what you want, the less resistance you have.

Affirmations

Affirmations are often presented as THE way to make your dreams come true.

If, like me, you find that difficult to experience, that is not surprising. They are actually quite a complicated tool, especially when the nuances are unclear. And there are nuances.

But why are affirmations so difficult? And what other tools can you use to train your subconscious so that the actions you want to take become easier?

The purpose of affirmations

Affirmations do not change what “is.” They do not cause the laws of nature to be broken.

Affirmations are a means of returning to those laws of nature. To what “is.”

It is normal to be healthy. We disturb the balance with a stressful lifestyle, far too much sugar, alcohol and caffeine.

Wealth is all around you. It is in the ground; it stands on the ground in the form of buildings. Those buildings become more valuable because people sell their products and services from them. There is no end to wealth; you can only add to it.

A tool is neither “true” nor “false”

You can therefore use an affirmation to become AWARE of the fact that being healthy is very normal, that wealth is all around us, and so on.

One pitfall in using affirmations is not being clear about the purpose of the tool. The purpose is to:

1. Become aware of what is true or real.

2. Bring forward the feeling associated with what you want to have or become.

3. Allow the actions that belong to, and arise from, that feeling.

The biggest pitfall in using affirmations is losing sight of the above. You are not convincing yourself of it because you do not really believe it. It is not yet true for your subconscious.

But a hammer, or an affirmation, is neither “true” nor “false.” It is a tool. In this case, the tool is intended to make you aware of what is and always will be, and of the feeling that goes with it.

Alternatives to affirmations

Affirmations are certainly effective. They are simply a fairly difficult tool. Fortunately, there are others :)

Visualization

This technique uses the mechanism you already use to form a concept or idea.

Have you ever felt like pizza and wanted to order one that evening? You think about it throughout the day, consider which pizza you want to order, and start looking forward to it.

Or think about booking a trip, perhaps a skiing holiday. The anticipation, the feeling of looking forward to the holiday, already makes you feel so good. You gradually fill in the details. What began as an idea flows naturally into buying plane tickets, packing your bags and eventually the holiday itself.

That process is visualization. There is no need to make it more complicated than it is.

Visualization when you do not think in “pictures”

The pitfall for many people is believing you need to think in pictures for this method to work. You do not. I do not see pictures when I close my eyes myself, but a concept forms. That is difficult to explain if you do think in pictures.

Suppose you mainly think in sound. You can go through the same process described above using the voice in your head. What matters is that your attitude toward something changes to one of confidence.

The Baudouin technique

This technique was developed by Dr. Charles Baudouin, a psychology professor in Switzerland. Among other things, he wrote many books on subjects such as autosuggestion.

The Baudouin technique works a little like visualization, but slightly differently. More easily.

With the Baudouin technique, you take a closer look at the values that matter to you. Thinking about how something would be naturally brings up that same feeling.

Everyone has thought about what it would be like to win the lottery. What did you want to do with all that money? Go on a lovely holiday? Buy fast cars or a house with a swimming pool?

How did you feel while thinking about it, and perhaps talking about it with friends?

Holding on to that feeling is the essence of the Baudouin technique.

The next step is to sum up that whole train of thought in a few words. Those words become the anchor for following the same train of thought again and bringing up the same feeling.

You can then use those words to trigger the same state of mind. Try doing this a few times at fixed moments during the day: in the morning, in the evening, during the afternoon, before and after meals.

Remember, thinking about results is not the only thing that makes you feel good. You can also make everyday tasks more appealing. Eating healthily and drinking plenty of water, for example, already feel good too.

Reasoning it through

Reason through why you can do something instead of why you cannot. Then you can finish your tasks and do what you need to do, fully confident that results will follow.

A bell pepper seed eventually becomes a bell pepper plant. The holiday you are thinking about eventually gets booked. After a sequence of logical steps, which may not always be clear, you eventually arrive at your holiday destination.

You do not need to know everything in advance. Many details and peripheral matters resolve themselves.

If there are no buses from the airport, there is always a taxi. Just as you trust when traveling that you will eventually get to your hotel, thoughts lead to actions and results.

The problem is here, but so is the solution

However big your problem or goal is, every problem has a solution. If there were no solution, it would not be a problem, because there would be nothing you could do about it. You could only accept the situation. If there is a solution, you know what to do, and then there is no longer a problem either.

The “let it go” method

Do you recognize this situation at work? Before lunch, you are working on a difficult problem. You attack it from every angle. You try X, Y and Z, but you do not solve it.

Then you have lunch, perhaps followed by a short walk. As soon as you relax, your subconscious gets to work on the problem and presents you with a solution.

This is the creative principle. Approach the problem from every angle, then let go. Your subconscious works on it when you are relaxed.

Relaxing and letting go are integral to this. You probably recognize the opposite situation too.

You have studied hard for a test, but during the test your mind seems blank. Stress and tension have made you forget everything. As soon as you leave the room and accept the situation, all the answers come flooding back. Why? Because you have let go.

Always try to do as much as possible from a position of confidence and relaxation. The work has been done. Trust that you are doing it to the best of your ability at that moment.

Reading about the subject in the evening

This is a technique I found myself.

I noticed that when I read books about healthy eating on my e-reader, it was much easier to do the things that went with it the next day.

Why is that? You are already becoming the person who looks for information and considers these things important.

Be careful that reading about something does not replace taking action. That is why reading on your e-reader in bed in the evening works so well. Normally you consume, or at least I do, all kinds of reels and Instagram rubbish. Now you fall asleep while engaging with your goal. Your brain can then work on it for eight hours during the night.