a manifestation crash course
more than just wishing and hoping, btw!
Oh my gosh! Hey! Hi! Hello!
It’s 2025! You’re reading this on Substack (YAY!!!)
Now, re: Substack, this is my first time sending my newsletter using this platform. Long time reader, first time sender–how exciting! I love it here. I’ve been a silent user for quite some time, and after a few revelations about life and business and creativity and a few other things we can discuss at a later date, I finally made the move from Flodesk over here.
The TLDR of the platform switch is this: in my head, Flodesk is for marketing (work) and Substack is for reading and writing and learning (fun). While The Roundup is written by me, and I am the owner of a business, the purpose of this newsletter has nothing to do with my business. If you read it, and you like it, and you want to hire me: wonderful! If you read it, and you like it, and you don’t care about what I do for work at all: also wonderful!
The Roundup is for fun, and Substack is for fun, so here we are.
This the 31st (!!!!!!) edition of The Roundup, but it will appear to be the first on this platform. At a later date, I’ll figure out how to upload all of the others so you can catch up if you’re new here. Until then… let’s get this party started, shall we?
PS – I’ve seen a lot of people on Substack give their readers warnings along the lines of ‘this newsletter might be too long to read in your Gmail, so open it in your browser or in the Substack app.’ Unsure if that’s something I should do here, but… there it is. Just in case.
If you’re a manifestation hater, this one’s for you.
We’re at the starting point of a new year—don’t you just love a fresh start? I do. I know I don’t need a new year for a fresh start. Like, I could wake up on any given Tuesday and decide it to be the first day of the rest of my life, but something about a new page on the calendar really makes that fresh start feel a bit more… concrete. A bit more real!
I’m welcoming 2025, and the fresh start that comes with it, with open arms. 2024 wasn’t… great. It wasn’t the worst, by any means, but it definitely wasn’t the best. Could have been better, for sure!
And, truly, a huge part of the reason it could have been better… is me.
I take most of the responsibility for it being a generally shit year.
You know why?
(Stay with me.)
I wasn’t consistent with my manifestation practice.
I didn’t follow the manifestation practice I followed in 2020 and 2021 and 2022 and most of 2023, and what came of it? Well, I manifested a shit year for myself!
She… cannot be serious.
You’re so real for thinking that, by the way.
Like, this bitch cannot really except me to believe that she had a rough year because she didn’t make a vision board or journal what she wants in life.
You’re also so real for thinking that! It sounds like a fluffy, woowoo, absolutely made up line of bullshit…
IF you’re in the camp that believes a manifestation practice is nothing more than saying “I’m manifesting [insert material want here]” and hoping for the best.
But I’m not in that camp. And neither are you—er, you won’t be. Once you try my manifestation practice. Like I said… stay with me.
I am not here to teach you how or why manifestation works. I’ll leave that to people who can explain it far better than I can! If you want to get into manifestation, here’s a lineup of some of my favorite podcasts that have helped me create a practical, effective manifestation practice:
Happy learning! Now, for the fun part.
How I Manifest Everything That I Want
Like I said, 2024 was a pretty bleh year. Not my best work—not even close. We’re, as they say, soooooo back in 2025, though.
I made a vision board. She’s gorgeous. I’m going to achieve everything that’s on it. Lemme tell you all about it and how you can do the same.
Before I give you the tips and tricks, here’s why you should trust me:
I’ve now written my way through three notebooks of nothing but manifestations and best case scenario journaling, and just about all of them have been realized in some form or fashion. Maybe not how I thought they would, but they’ve all come to life in their own way!
This practice isn’t based in writing out what I want and hoping for the best. I also work really hard, and go to therapy, and actively seek out opportunities to make the things I want happen, and have a level of privilege I’d be remiss to leave out.
Here’s the gist:
1. Talk about it as if it’s already happened.
I have a journal just for manifestation, btw. We’re not mixing real life (which can suck sometimes, as we know) with the dream life (which does not suck sometimes, or ever).
I start a new page each time I do this, and I do one of two things.
When I’m feeling energized and willing to write a bit more, I do best case scenario journaling. Some people call this future self journaling. It’s exactly what it sounds like, writing a journal entry from the perspective of your future self. The future self that has all of the things that you want—the dream apartment, dream job, amazing friend group, healthy relationship, thriving finances, whatever. Write allllll about the perfect day in the life or the perfect scenario, in which you already have everything that you want.
When I’m not feeling energized nor willing to write a bit more, I opt for the scripting method. Same exact thing, if I’m being real, but something about listing sentences one by one instead of writing them in paragraph format feels… easier. I won’t be elaborating. In this case, I started the page with ‘I am so happy and grateful now that…’ and then list all of my affirmations and aspirations for the year, as if they have already happened or are currently taking place.
If you peep my vision board above, you can see all of my individual affirmations for the year listed out. Written as if they’ve all already happened, or are currently taking place 🤭
2. Be specific. Like, really specific.
You can’t get what you want if you don’t know what you want. Like, exaaaactly what you want.
When you write about your manifestations, you have to be suuuuper clear about what it looks like, what it feels like, etc. Let’s use a dream job as an example. What company is this dream job with? What kind of work are you doing on a day-to-day basis? What are your coworkers like? How do you feel while working there?
When you create a vision board of your manifestations, use a mix of pictures and images that perfectly align with what it is you’re working toward.
Like I said earlier, not everything I’ve manifested has come to fruition exactly as I pictured it, but because I had a specific idea of what I was working towards, I was able to create a specific plan to get there.
3. Revisit and/or repeat often.
If you’re going the journaling route, write out your manifestations as often as possible so they stay top of mind. I try to do this a few times a week.
If you’re going the vision board route, keep your vision board somewhere you can see it. I have a physical version hanging next to my desk, and digital versions set as my phone as laptop wallpapers. I couldn’t forget what I’m working towards even if I wanted to!
By frequently repeating and revisiting what I’m trying to manifest, I’m keeping my goals top of mind, constantly breaking them down into actionable steps, and giving myself an opportunity to check-in on what I’ve been doing to get closer to them. I know that my dreams aren’t just going to find me waiting for them one day—I have to take tangible steps (even if they’re just the tiniest steps) toward them.
When I look at my vision board three months from now, or write out what I’m working toward a few weeks from now, I’ll want my future self to be proud of the work I’ve done between now and then to get a little closer to my goals.
4. Act like the person who already has everything you want.
This is the key to the whole process—the step that separates this from a woowoo, say-I-want-something-and-hope-for-the-best daydream and an actionable, goal-oriented process.
You won’t get what you want from life if you don’t show up as the person who deserves those things.
You won’t get what you want from life if you sit around and wait for it to happen to you.
One of Roxie Nafousi’s seven steps to manifesting is aligning your behavior with your manifestations, and I simply could not agree more. How would the person who has your dream job / relationship / friendship / house / income / whatever it is you want in life act? What are their habits and routines? What are they good at? What did they do to get where they are? Assess your own behavior and attitude and adjust accordingly.
The first time I did this several years ago, I basically turned my life upside down and became a completely different person (in the best way). For the most part, things have worked out really well since then, so…
If this is your first time reading The Roundup, and you made it this far—thanks!
Most of my content is not in the self-help, listicle vein, as this newsletter was.
To be honest, I typically hate both creating and consuming content like this, but… manifestation is something I actually am quite passionate about.
(We all have our cheesy, silly little things that get us through, you know?)
I’ll go back to lamenting over life’s small details next week, but until then, happy manifesting. Cheers to a 2025 filled with nothing but health and happiness and success and working towards your wildest dreams.