Best Manifestation Techniques That Actually Work (Including Neville Goddard's Method)

If you want to change your life, change what you believe. This, in a nutshell, is the heart of manifesting the life you want. And it works. The only question is, how do you do it - change those beliefs, especially since 95% of them are unconscious.

Every few months, a new manifestation technique takes over TikTok with its own hashtag and its own promise that this is the one that finally works. The 369 method. Scripting. The 55x5 method. Most guides to these list them off like recipes, ingredients, and steps, no context, no explanation of why any of them would actually do anything.

I'm Murielle Marie, master certified coach, entrepreneur, philosopher, creative generalist, and I believe manifestation works, that it’s real magic, and I also believe the specific technique you use matters. The practice I laid out in my broader guide to how to manifest covers the underlying mechanics, feeling, belief work, and letting go of the how. This article is more practical: a walkthrough of the techniques people are using right now, including one of my favorites, the one Neville Goddard taught almost a century before TikTok existed, so you can pick the one that actually fits how your mind works.

What Makes a Manifestation Technique Actually Work

A technique is just the delivery mechanism. The real work, reprogramming the unconscious beliefs that argue against what you want, happens underneath it, and I've written about that mechanism in detail in the main manifesting guide. What a specific technique does is give that inner work a repeatable shape, something to actually do at 7 am instead of vaguely "trying to manifest" all day.

There's real neuroscience behind why a technique built on repeated, felt imagination can move something in you that a single hopeful thought can't. A 2025 study published in PNAS found that mental imagery, deliberately imagining an action in vivid, felt detail, activates much of the same neural circuitry as actually doing the thing, and that the effect of that imagined rehearsal carries over into real performance afterward. Your brain doesn't fully distinguish between a felt imagined state and a real one, which is the entire premise every technique below is built on.

That's the science-adjacent case for why technique matters. It doesn't replace the magic. It just explains one small piece of how the magic has somewhere to take root.

The 369 Method

The 369 method has you write your intention or affirmation 3 times in the morning, 6 times in the afternoon, and 9 times at night, every day, for as long as you're working that specific desire. The numbers themselves come from numerology and are often traced back to Nikola Tesla's fascination with 3, 6, and 9, though there's no real evidence Tesla ever used it as a manifestation practice himself. 

What I like about the 369 method is that the touchpoints throughout the day do something a single morning ritual doesn't: it keeps the desire present across your entire day, not just for five minutes before your coffee gets cold. 

What I'd watch for is the trap of writing the words on autopilot by the third round of the day. If you're just copying the sentence without feeling into it each time, you've kept the repetition and lost the actual mechanism. Ps. You can do the same with the matra cards technique I share in my main manifestation guide. I have mine sitting in my purse or laptop bag all day, and whenever I have a few minutes I like to pull them out. It keeps my desires - and the feel-good hormones of feeling into them with me all day.

Scripting

Scripting means writing out your life as though the thing you want has already happened, usually as a diary entry or a short scene, in the present or past tense, with real sensory and emotional detail. Not "I will get the client," but "I just got off the call with the client, and I'm still smiling about how easy that conversation was." Mindvalley's guide to scripting frames it well: you're not writing a wish, you're writing a memory of something that hasn't happened yet.

This is a technique I use, and it's where the felt sense that I talk about in my main manifesting guide gets the most room to actually work, because a full scripted scene makes you feel it in far more detail than a one-line affirmation ever will. 

I have a notebook that is part of my morning routine. It’s a living document that has been with me for a few years now, and that holds the scripts of how I want my life to be. In the morning, I read through it just like I read my mantra cards, while also feeling into already living that life (of which I’m now pretty close, thanks to these manifestation techniques and the daily diligence to practice them). 

If you haven't put a desire into words yet, writing your dream down first is usually where scripting gets easier, because with the specific thing in mind, you can write a scene around it.

The 55x5 Method

The 55x5 method has you write a single affirmation 55 times a day, for 5 consecutive days, in one sitting, ideally uninterrupted. The Everygirl's breakdown of the method explains the logic: the repetition creates a kind of mental saturation in a single sitting that a once-a-day affirmation doesn't, and the five-day window gives it enough consistency to actually reach the unconscious layer without turning into a lifetime commitment.

To me, this one is the most tedious of the four techniques I’m sharing, but then again, that's sort of the point. If your resistance to a desire is strong, sitting through 55 repetitions in one go tends to surface exactly where that resistance lives, usually somewhere around round 30, when your hand is tired, and your inner critic gets loud. That resistance showing up isn't a sign the method isn't working. It's usually a sign you found the actual belief you came here to reprogram.

Neville Goddard's Method: The State Akin to Sleep

Neville Goddard, the mystic teacher whose work underpins most modern manifestation content, whether people know his name or not, taught a technique he called the State Akin to Sleep, often shortened to SATS. You get into a drowsy, relaxed state right on the edge of sleep, still enough to hold your attention deliberately but loose enough that your usual mental resistance softens, and from there you imagine a short scene that implies your wish is already fulfilled, using all your senses, until it feels more real than the room you're lying in.

I often set out to do this exercise when I’m going to bed. It’s a great way to relax and fall asleep, and it primes me for amazing dreams as well. I get into bed, lie on my back, breathing slowly and deeply, and I let the scene play out in my mind. Usually, it takes on different turns, but that is part of the magic for me. Then, as I feel myself drift away into sleep, I focus on a sense of gratitude for this wish fulfilled.

His own explanation of this, in Feeling Is the Secret, is still the best version I've read. The reason SATS works differently than writing something down while fully alert is that the drowsy state itself lowers the noise from your conscious, arguing mind, the exact mind that spends the rest of your day telling you why the thing you want probably won't happen. Of the four techniques, this is the most mystical, and I don't say that as a negative.

[H2] My Own Manifestation Technique Practice

As you read above, I use more than one of these, on different days and for different things, and I’ve been known to do all four in the same week for the same desire (granted, I’m not that big of a fan of the 55x5 because it makes my hand ache, but I will still do it occasionally). 

My daily practice is both spoken and written, which surprises people who assume it's one or the other. In the mornings, I read my mantra cards out loud while listening to frequency music that helps my nervous system settle into the state I need to actually feel what I'm saying. I read the life stories from my notebook (and a lot of other things that are in there, like my word of the year and my goals - but that’s for another article). Then, separately, I sit down and write. First, I do my “morning pages” that help awaken me to the day. Then, some mornings I script a few sentences of what the day looks like once the thing I want is already true. Other mornings, when a specific desire needs more focus to manifest, I add the repetition of 369 or 55x5.

Here's the part that's specific to being a creative generalist (or a multi-passionate creative, if that's the term that works for you) with more than one business. Even though my mantra cards and notebook deal with ALL the things I am working to manifest, in the specifics of what I want for each venture, I usually focus on one at a time. Coaching clients get their own morning. My AI startup gets its own. And so on. It's the same rule I teach in my guide to manifesting money: you can't hold five different "already true" outcomes in the same five minutes and expect any of them to manifest with real focus. Combine, don't choose, in your actual life. But in the practice itself, one at a time, fully, gets you further than all of them at once, half-felt.

And across all of it, spoken or written, 369 rhythm or a full scripted scene, the last step is always the same: I say thank you as if it's already mine, and then I let go of exactly how it arrives.

Which Manifestation Technique Should You Actually Use?

After using multiple techniques for over a decade, I believe there’s no single right answer, but there is a right answer for you, and it usually comes down to how your own mind actually works rather than which technique is trending.

If you respond to rhythm and structure, and you like having something concrete to check off, the 369 method or the 55x5 method will probably suit you better than a looser practice, the repetition is the whole mechanism, and you'll actually do it.

If you're someone who feels things vividly once you get quiet enough, and you'd rather write one full scene than repeat one line dozens of times, scripting or Neville Goddard's SATS will likely get you there faster. Your imagination is already doing most of the work, it just needs a container.

If you're not sure which camp you're in, this might help: when you close your eyes and picture something you want, does a full scene show up easily (kitchen table, the actual conversation, what you're wearing), or does your mind go blank until you've written something down first? The first points you toward scripting or SATS. The second points you toward the structure of 369 or 55x5, writing first is what will get the feeling to show up for you, not the other way around.

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Common Questions About Manifestation Techniques

What is the best manifestation technique?

There isn't one best technique across the board, the best one is whichever matches how your own mind actually works. Structure-driven people tend to do better with the 369 method or the 55x5 method. People who feel things vividly with less prompting tend to do better with scripting or Neville Goddard's State Akin to Sleep technique. Try one for at least a week before deciding it isn't for you.

What is the 369 method?

The 369 method is a manifestation technique where you write your intention or affirmation 3 times in the morning, 6 times in the afternoon, and 9 times at night, every day, for as long as you're working that specific desire. The numbers are drawn from numerology and are often associated with Nikola Tesla, though the method itself was popularized far more recently, largely through TikTok.

What is scripting manifestation?

Scripting is writing out a scene from your life as though your desire has already happened, in present or past tense, with real sensory and emotional detail, rather than writing the desire itself as a wish or a goal. It works by giving your imagination a fuller, more specific scene to feel into than a single affirmation line can.

How long does it take for manifestation techniques to work?

There's no fixed timeline, and anyone promising a specific number of days is oversimplifying. What matters more than the calendar is consistency and whether you're pairing the felt practice with real action toward the thing you want. Some people notice a shift in their own mindset and behavior within days; the outcome itself showing up in the world usually takes longer than the inner shift does.

Do manifestation techniques actually work, or is it just placebo?

Manifestation techniques work on at least two levels at once. There's real research showing that vivid, repeated mental imagery activates much of the same neural circuitry as actually doing the thing, which is a mechanical, provable piece of why this isn't nothing. And then there's the part that isn't measurable in a lab, which I believe is genuinely real too. You don't have to choose between the two to get results from the practice.

Ready to turn "someday" into an actual practice?

Picking a manifestation technique is the easy part. Actually sitting down with it every day, especially when you're juggling more than one dream at once, is where most people drop the whole thing after a week. That's exactly the kind of pattern I help creative generalists work through, not just the mindset piece, but the follow-through.

Book a free 20-minute coaching clarity call, and let's talk about what you're actually trying to manifest and what's been getting in the way of the practice sticking. No pressure and no sales pitch, just a real conversation about whether coaching is right for you.

Book your free session

Or if you're not ready for a call yet, grab 10 Fears Holding You Back for free to name the fear arguing against your desire before you try to script or affirm your way past it.

How to Manifest: A Practical Guide for Multi-Passionate Creatives

Manifestation has a marketing problem. Vision boards, glitter affirmations, and the idea that thinking happy thoughts will deposit your dream life on your doorstep while you sit on the couch. None of that is what's actually happening when manifesting works, and none of it is what I practice. Except for the happy thoughts, that is. But there's another reason for that. Read on, and you'll find out.

I'm Murielle Marie, and manifestation has been part of how I build my life and my businesses for years, long before it became a wellness-industry punchline. So here's how to manifest something real: not by sitting back and waiting, but by combining a specific inner practice with real movement in the world. If you're multi-passionate and have a hard time trusting that any of your thoughts and ideas will actually turn into things, this is for you.

What Does It Actually Mean to Manifest Something?

Manifesting means deliberately shaping your inner state, your beliefs, your feelings, your focus, so it lines up with what you want instead of working against it. It is not magical thinking. It is also not the same as wishing.

One of the main components of manifesting is therefore the rewiring of your unconscious mind. Since 95% of our thoughts are unconscious and our thoughts drive our actions, 95% of what we do is based on unconscious beliefs. One of the ways I practice this is with my "morning mantra cards," which I read while feeling into them while listening to specific brainwave-enhancing music. Here is the playlist I currently use on Spotify.

Manifesting is what happens when you stop arguing with your own desires and start acting like they're already allowed to exist. That argument is almost never a conscious one. You can want something with your whole conscious mind, be sure you're not self-sabotaging, and still be carrying a stack of unconscious beliefs underneath that desire that argue the opposite: that you're not safe taking the risk, that success like that isn't for people like you, that wanting this much is asking for too much. Because so much of what you do runs on that unconscious layer, those contradicting beliefs tend to win by default. Most people don't fail to manifest because the universe said no. They fail because the unconscious belief underneath the wanting never got updated, and an outdated belief will keep overriding a conscious desire every time.

Does Manifesting Actually Work? Here's What the Research Says

Some of it holds up. Some of it doesn't, and it's worth knowing which parts before you build a practice around it.

A 2025 study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin developed a scale to measure manifestation belief across two dimensions: Personal Power (the belief that your thoughts directly shape outcomes) and Cosmic Collaboration (the belief that something outside you, the universe, a higher force, is responding to your intentions). More on where I personally land on that second one in the FAQ below. The researchers found that strong manifestation beliefs made people feel more confident and positive about their chances of success, but those beliefs had no measurable effect on their actual, objective success. Believing harder doesn't change the outcome on its own, because the belief that matters here isn't the conscious kind. Until you reprogram the unconscious beliefs underneath it, they keep outvoting whatever you're consciously trying to believe.

Separately, NYU psychology professor Gabriele Oettingen has spent two decades studying what drives outcomes, and her findings run counter to the popular version of manifesting in an interesting way. People who vividly imagine themselves already having achieved a goal, with no thought for the obstacles between here and there, actually exert less effort toward that goal afterward. Their brain treats the daydream as close enough to done. What works instead is what she calls mental contrasting: picture the outcome, then picture the specific obstacle in your way, then make a plan for it. That combination, not the visualization alone, is what predicts follow-through.

Put those two findings together, and you get a useful, less mystical version of manifesting: clearing the inner noise that blocks you is real and worth doing, but it has to stay connected to a plan and to action. The noise worth clearing usually isn't conscious noise either. Research on self-affirmation backs this up from a different angle: when people work directly on the underlying beliefs driving their behavior, not just their conscious intentions, their actual performance improves, not just how confident they feel. Feeling is not the finish line.

My Own Manifestation Practice (No Vision Board Required)

I follow the teachings of Neville Goddard and others, and, as I mentioned above, the version I practice every morning is simple. Mantras and frequency music to settle my nervous system and reprogram the beliefs running underneath everything else I do that day. I'm looking for joy and for the frictionless path, the version of getting there that doesn't require me to suffer first to earn it.

I feel into what I want as though I already have it. Not "I hope this happens," but the felt sense that it's true right now. I say thank you for it. And then, this is the part most people skip: I let go of any attachment to how it arrives. Goddard's own teaching on this is worth reading directly in Feeling Is the Secret; his point is that the subconscious responds to the state you hold while imagining, not the literal words you use.

Letting go of the how is not the same as doing nothing. I still take the next obvious action in front of me. I just stop trying to control the exact mechanism and timeline by which the outcome shows up, because that's the part of manifesting that turns into anxious gripping instead of clarity, and what often causes clients to stop trying. Spoiler alert: a few tries won't get you there; you have to keep going, especially when all you hear are crickets.

How Do You Manifest Something? A Step-by-Step Practice

This is the practice I'd hand you if you asked me how to manifest something specific, not just a vague better life.

1. Get specific about what you actually want. Not "more success," but the actual thing: the client, the income number, the move, the finished project. Vague desires produce vague results. If you haven't put it on paper yet, [writing your dream down is usually where the specificity finally clicks.

2. Feel it as already true, for real, in your body. Spend a few minutes daily in the felt state of already having it. This is the part that overlaps with Oettingen's outcome visualization, and it works best paired with what comes next.

3. Reprogram your unconscious mind. List all your fears and limiting beliefs that are blocking your vision from manifesting. Then write down mantras that affirm the opposite on flashcards, and read them a few times a day with right-brain-frequency music so they actually reach your unconscious mind.

4. Name the obstacle, then make a plan for it. This is the step most manifestation content leaves out entirely, and it's the one the research says actually predicts whether you follow through.

5. Take the next small action. Not the whole plan. The next visible step, right here, right now.

6. Let go of the exact path and the timeline. Instead, say thank you often and deliberately. You don't need to control how it arrives or when, just keep showing up for the parts you can actually act on.

How to Manifest Your Dream Life When You Have More Than One Dream

If you're a multi-passionate creative (or a creative generalist, as I like to say), this is usually where manifestation advice falls apart for you. Most of it assumes you have one dream life to script, one outcome to feel into. You might have four (or five, or six, like me 😅).

Here's what I tell the creatives I coach: manifest one thing at a time, not one thing forever. You can absolutely run multiple businesses, build multiple creative outlets, and hold multiple identities. If money itself is one of the dreams in the mix, I've written a focused practice just for that that you can run alongside this one. You just can't hold the felt state of five different "already true" outcomes in the same five minutes and expect any of them to land with real focus. Pick the one with the most charge for you right now. Manifest that one fully. The others are still allowed to exist, and you can even work on them alongside the main focus; they just wait their turn in the practice, not in your actual life.

"But I've Tried Manifesting, and Nothing Happened"

Usually, one of three things is going on.

1. You visualized the outcome without ever naming the obstacle or making a plan, which the research above says is the exact gap that kills follow-through.

2. Or you held the felt state for five minutes and then spent the rest of the day arguing with yourself about why it's unrealistic, which cancels out the practice before it has a chance to work.

3. Or the outcome you scripted wasn't actually yours; it was borrowed from what you thought you should want, and your nervous system knew the difference even when your mind didn't.

None of those means manifesting doesn't work for you. They mean the practice needs the action half, not just the feeling half. And you have to be willing to let go, trust, and have faith in the process.

To say it in the words of Neville Goddard, what you need is: "Persistent imagination, centered in the feeling of the wish fulfilled, is the secret of all successful operations."

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Common Questions About How to Manifest

How to manifest something?

Get specific about what you want, spend time daily in the felt state of already having it, name the real obstacle between you and it, make a plan to address that obstacle, and take the next visible action. The feeling clears the inner block. The plan and the action are what actually move the outcome.

How do you manifest something fast?

Speed comes from specificity, not intensity. The faster path is to name exactly what you want and remove your own resistance to it, rather than manifesting harder. Vague, oversized wishes ("a better life") take longer to land than precise ones ("this specific client by this date") because there's nothing concrete for your actions to aim at.

How to manifest your dream life?

Treat it as one dream at a time rather than as a single combined dream. Pick the outcome with the most charge for you right now, run the full practice on it, and let the rest of your dream life take its turn. Trying to manifest everything at once is usually what makes multi-passionate people feel like manifesting "doesn't work" for them specifically.

Do you have to believe in "the universe" for manifestation to work?

No. The Cosmic Collaboration's belief that something outside you responds to your intentions is one path some people take, but it isn't required. The Personal Power side, the belief that your own focused thought and feeling shape your behavior and choices, is enough on its own to build a working practice. Use whichever framing actually feels true to you.

Personally, I land on both. The science on Cosmic Collaboration isn't there yet, and I'm not going to pretend it is. But my own life keeps showing me I'm not doing this alone, that I'm tapping into something larger than my own effort, call it the universe, a greater field, the realm of consciousness itself. You don't need to believe that for the practice to work. I just do.

Ready to manifest this for real, not just feel it?

You've got the felt-sense part down. The harder part is the obstacle you haven't named yet, the one quietly keeping the plan from forming. That's usually where manifesting alone hits its ceiling.

A free 20-minute coaching clarity call is where we name that obstacle together and build the next real step toward the thing you're manifesting. No pressure, no sales pitch, just a conversation that moves you from feeling it to building it.

Book your free session

Or if you're not ready for a call yet, grab the free Big Dreams Manifesta to get specific about what you're actually manifesting instead of staying vague.

Why do fast learners feel like imposters, and how to turn it into a superpower instead

Have you ever felt like that thing you know how to do isn’t special or unique because if you know how to do it, everybody else must know how to do it too? Does this cycle sound familiar?

1. Get excited about new thing.

2. Research new thing. 

3. Fall into a rabbit hole about new thing. 

4. Learn more.

5. Rabbit hole some more. 

6. Fix the thing.

7. Excited to tell everyone about the new stuff you know.

8. Get bored (nobody seems to care).

9. Move on.

Maybe somewhere in there, you think you can offer this service to other people, get excited about doing so, and then start believing everyone else must already know how to do it and why would they want to learn from you anyways…right?

I can honestly say that I spent a lot of my life feeling the same way. Well, at least until I debunked this idea and started recognizing that this just isn’t true. Most people aren’t like that. Most people see a problem and maybe get excited to learn about it for a little while but then ultimately decide they can’t do it on their own. So they give up. Or they never get excited to begin with and let their lack of knowledge stop them from pushing forward until they find someone else to help them navigate the problem. 

That is, there are people who see a problem and learn ten different ways to fix it, and there are people who call the problem solvers for help. And you know this because your phone or DMs are piping hot with calls and messages!? Even in corporate roles, you might be the one asked by someone in a completely different department to help them with something that isn’t even in your job description. Why? Because they know you know how to solve it. Duh! 

And yet - we still think this skill isn’t worth something? The part of me that has been healing my inner child for 20+ years believes it probably came from my parents, but in reality, it could have come from anywhere. I think we are programmed to feel this way by our environment. You know that saying, “You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with,” well, it’s true. If the five people closest to you are telling you that what you know how to do isn’t that special and no one will care - you’re going to believe it. You’re going to feel like an impostor.

Unfortunately, I’m sure it bears repeating, it’s not true. It’s not only about all the stuff you know, it’s deeper than that: it’s about your capacity to learn new things and your insatiable hunger for knowledge. If you’re anything like me, you believe that is common to all people too! So why would you be any more capable to understand complex things or learn yourself a new skill than the next person? Well… because you’re a creative, a generalist, an entrepreneur. You are special and unique for knowing how to do it, and people will want to use those [your] skills in their life and business. You are worthy.

This ability is how our brain is structured. It’s literally a superpower!

So, what sets creatives and entrepreneurs apart from other people? Why is it our default to learn and find solutions to things? I’ve narrowed it down to three things:

1. We’re self-starters. We have this intrinsic motivation and confidence to begin projects on our own. We also have the resilience to navigate challenges and find alternative routes to the information and skills we are trying to learn. 

2. We have a hunger for knowledge. We literally want to learn the thing and until we learn it, nothing will get in our way. Think about all the times you were interested in something and the rest of the world started to fall away until you’d finished learning about it. That hunger to learn is what keeps our motivation moving. 

3. We have an incredible capacity to learn new things. It is easier to become a self-starter and cultivate a hunger for knowledge - these are learned traits - but the capacity to learn new things is something we are born with. 

Moreover, we have never met a problem we couldn’t solve. We know deep down that we can learn and do anything we set our minds to. This knowledge is so ingrained in us that it can be jarring to think that other people don’t possess these traits. Of course, they must have them; how could they not? Right? But they don’t. And that’s okay. This difference in brain structure is something completely unique to us and something that can greatly impact not only your life and work but the life and work of others. 

Now that we understand this, how can we truly accept it? Because really, it’s one thing to understand, and it’s another thing to accept a new reality. Understanding is easy to argue with. Acceptance is deeply rooted and helps challenge our past perceptions so we can hold firm to what actually is. 

To accept that we are uniquely capable of learning things and doing things when others are not - and that others will, and do, need our help with these things - we must:

1. Stop negating it. Stop correcting people when they praise you for knowing how to do something. Stop pretending that they could do it too. Stop telling them they can. Take the compliment, let it swell in your heart, and replace the old ideas that everyone is capable of this. 

2. Let that initial praise grow into confidence, but keep cultivating confidence on your own. When you start to feel like an imposter, work through those feelings. Try and figure out where they come from and then treat them like an episode of Myth Busters - prove why you’re wrong. And if you can’t, check out my blog on how to overcome imposter syndrome.

3. Debunk your doubts. Instead of believing every negative thought that pops into your head or the voice of your third-grade teacher who told you you weren’t capable of something, start listening to that other voice in your mind that says you are capable. The one thing people don’t talk about is how when we hear a doubt pop up in our mind, we also hear another voice saying, “That’s not true.” The problem is that the other voice is so quiet, we tend to believe it less. But if you can find the strength to listen to that small voice, you’ll give it the courage to get louder. The more you listen, the more it will call to you over the roar of your doubts until one day, your doubts are the quiet voice, and the little voice is the big one. 

You are innately capable of doing so many incredible things. You have to stop thinking that just because you can do something, everyone else must be able to do it, and therefore your work or thoughts on the matter are not worthwhile. Stop getting in your own way with these thoughts. I promise that not only are you special for being able to do that thing, but there’s also someone waiting for you to help them with that knowledge.

Want to learn how to debunk your doubts?

We all have them - doubts. But the really successful people don’t believe in them. They hear them and let them go.

This is a skill that can be learned and grown. It just takes time, attention, and some coaching. That’s where I come in. With my help, we can isolate your doubts and watch them crumble so you can finally go after the career or business that you want!

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How to unleash your full potential for success and overcome self-sabotage

The three biggest things holding you back from reaching your full potential for success are excuses, procrastination, and yes-buts. That’s it.

Everyone gets overwhelmed at some point in their lives and work. We have responsibilities that rely on our work but also tend to get in the way of it. When we use those responsibilities as ways to explain why we haven’t gotten something done or haven’t allowed ourselves to change in some way, we are just keeping ourselves stuck. 

Instead of finding reasons why we can’t do something we want to do, we have to realize that we are in control of our destiny. We can make whatever choices we want. In fact, in coming up with excuses or procrastinating, we are making a choice. We are actively inhibiting our ability to reach our full potential for success.

We are self-sabotaging our dreams. 

Think about the attorney who dreams of being an author. Every time they feel the urge to write their novel, they get distracted by their family, legal work, or and their inbox or develop the urge to clean the house. Every day they miss their dreams or taking a step in its direction. You might look at the attorney and say, “Hey! Just write!” And it is that simple, but when did you last listen that advice?

Two of the most common ways we make excuses and self-sabotage are procrastination and yes, but-ing. When I talk about procrastination in sessions, the first thing my clients tell me is how disappointed they are with themselves for procrastinating. They feel ashamed and guilty and can’t seem to understand why they can’t just do the thing - why they keep getting in their own way. 

The truth is we self-sabotage because we have a lack of motivation, a fear of failure or criticism, and difficulty defining our goals and tasks. It’s not that we have a lack of vision; it's almost as if we have too much vision, too much energy. Also, for those of us who are neurodivergent, procrastination tends to make work more interesting. We get a thrill from waiting until the last minute and pulling a project out of nowhere. But, while that might work one or two times, it’s not sustainable and will ultimately lead to burnout. 

The other type of excuse is yes, but-ing. This is where you agree with someone while simultaneously making an excuse as to why you can’t do something. 

“Yes, you’re right, I could do that, but…”

“Yes, I know, but…”

“Well, normally I’d say yes, but…” 

Yes, buts are statements that chop off your dominant hand before you even get going. They limit you from your true potential, block your path to success, and create space for doubt - in your mind and the mind of others. 

For instance, let’s say you had always dreamed of being an astronaut, but when you were in college, you failed physics. Now, you’d had a severe case of mono and were extremely sick. You should have dropped the course, but you were determined to pass. So even though you had a 102 fever for three weeks leading up to the final, and even though your teacher told you to retake the course because of all your absences from being sick, you took the final anyway and failed terribly.

Someone who doesn’t make excuses would look at this experience and say, “This sucks.” But they would take it over because they wanted to be an astronaut. But you decided that you failed physics because you were terrible at physics. When people said, “You failed because you were sick,” you responded, “Yes, I see what you are saying, but I failed because I am terrible at physics. I couldn’t be an astronaut because I couldn’t pass physics.” You limited yourself. You stopped yourself from reaching your full potential and doing something cool! - because you saw your failing grade as an excuse.

You self-sabotaged. 

So how do we stop? One of the ways to stop making excuses for ourselves is to recognize that we are making an excuse and address it. 

1. Is the excuse valid? Would I believe it if someone else said it to me?

2. Why am I afraid of moving forward? What is that fear trying to tell me?

3. What’s the worst that can happen?

4. If I listen to this excuse and do nothing, what will happen?

5. What will happen if I don’t listen to this excuse and take action instead?

6. Do I really want to change?

7. What is my next step here?

Other ways to shake up your thoughts and stop self-sabotaging include: 

1. Flip your “yes, buts” to “yes, and.”

2. Get organized and clear your work and living space.

3. Focus on the present moment. 

4. Limit distractions as much as possible. 

5. Celebrate small wins along the way. 

You know that saying, “everything you want is just outside your comfort zone,” is true. When you leave your comfort zone of cushy excuses and sweet self-sabotage, you start getting what you are working for. You stop feeling like the world is working against you and instead begin seeing how it works with you. 

The end of self-sabotage is the beginning of success. Don’t forget that!

Ready to stop self-sabotaging?

Sabotaging ourselves can sometimes feel like it is ingrained in our bones. So how can you be expected to break free?

With my help, of course. In our sessions, we will work together to figure out the root cause of your self-sabotaging tendencies and create behavioral tools to help you flip those automatic responses so you can finally achieve your full potential for success.

Schedule your free session!

Being too much, eating cake, and little acts of everyday rebellion

Have you ever inadvertently let go of control? Dropped the mask? Fallen out of your *roles* in life? Felt like you were being too much, even for a minute?

You know what I’m talking about. That moment when something within you surfaces, and you become an observer. You’re trying to contain yourself, but you simply can’t. *It* has to come out. You’re restless, sleepless, pacing, your inner voice screams, stutters. There’s no way to hold back the anxiety, the tears, the anger, or the joy.

Eventually, something has to give.

You let go of the reins. Loosen them (because I mean, letting go – even a little – you’re still a very put together human, aren’t you?). Show a side of you that only you know exists.

This letting go does something, relieves something, creates something new. It certainly doesn’t feel all that bad. But then, your inner critic takes over and screams at you, what the hell is wrong with you!? Shame sets in, telling you that you’re…

Too much.
Too loud.
Too foolish.
Too demanding.
Too out of control.

The voice hides the fact that you did nothing wrong. But still, you struggle and keep apologising. You try to make up for your “bad” behaviour – because for some reason it feels threatening to the well put together you.

Many have felt this way. I’ve certainly been there many times. Maybe you have too…

As creative, multi-passionate, high-achieving women it’s hard to live up to society’s expectations. We’re taught to play the part early on in our lives. We’re expected to be nice, anything but loud. Although many of us become *really* good at it, it’s a struggle to remain composed all the time, and to feel constrained by the pressure to be what we’re not.

This keeps us from letting go, and stepping into the fullness of who we are.

Light and dark.
Soft and hard.
Strong and fragile.
Courageous and afraid.
Put together and a mess.
Happy and sad.

The conditioning is strong, which makes it hard to shed.

You can’t just dance on the bar counter, or let the mask fall completely, now can you? Sometimes you ignore the nagging voice in your head and indulge in small ways. You eat that piece of chocolate cake, even if she tells you that you shouldn’t; or you buy something for yourself, even if she tells you not to. Perhaps you spend time doing nothing at all for once – yet, even that feels like you’re breaking a rule, and doing something wrong.

The guilt is always there.

Just last week, I had a conversation about this with a client who went through such a moment. This always-so-composed human let go for a few hours at a party recently. All of a sudden so much emotion and frustration came out. She made a *scene*. Afterwards she felt shattered, as if she’d done something horribly wrong, when in fact she’s an incredible person. Why did she feel uncomfortable and weighed down by revealing such a pure and raw part of herself? Of her truth?

This heart-to-heart was an honest assessment of the work needed for expansion, beyond the mask, and into liberation, freedom, and courage. What my client did that night is one of the hardest things she (or anyone else trying hard to hold everything together) could do.

The truth is, this was a way to take back control, not surrender to it.

This was an act of rebellion.

Liberation requires transformation. It can be rough to the edges, because we need to reclaim the lost parts of ourselves in the process, our wildly creative and expressive spirit. That of a full embodied human.

Breaking free is hard. But it’s also growth and beauty.

I believe there’s way too many false have-tos in our lives. They keep us so small, exhausted, stressed-out. Far away from our power and potential.

The challenge is to pay attention to our inner fire, not muffle it away as being wrong. Only so can we find our way back to the things that really matter. Only so will we ever be free.

So here’s to being too much, eating cake, and little acts of everyday rebellion.

How to stop feeling guilty for choosing yourself

Setting personal boundaries is unfortunately something a lot of women struggle with. I know I do. As women, we grow up with the idea that in order to be valuable we have to be *of* value and service to others. This belief has become so ingrained in us, that setting boundaries and learning to put ourselves first not only seems like a scary task, but one that comes laden with guilt.

It’s not that it’s bad to give of ourselves to our families, friends, communities and work. It’s that if we over-extend ourselves to others, we put ourselves on the back burner of our own lives.

We end up being lived, instead of being fully alive.

That’s why we need healthy boundaries. They set the standard on how we want to be treated, and help us regain control over our existence.

Why We Fail to Set Boundaries

Societies all over the world teach girls that we must be good, quiet, polite and obedient. Women grow up (I’m one of them) learning that showing *too much* emotion will be frowned upon. We learn to be understanding, say “Yes” even (especially) when we want to say “No”.

When we say yes to everyone’s dream instead of our own, we experience a slow death of the soul. My bet is, if you can relate to any of these good girl symptoms you probably can relate to this soul-death as well.

As women, we have learnt how to settle in and with our lives for far too long. We have been trained to give our power away. Expected to let others make decisions for, and about us.

No wonder so many of us never learned how to set healthy boundaries.

Guilt

What happens when we do decide to put ourselves first? Guilt sets in. We get worried and anxious about what everyone will think of us:

• Will they be upset?

• Will they like me less

• Will they still love me?

Standing up for yourself is hard work. It’s uncomfortable. It requires discipline, perseverance and devotion. It took me YEARS to be able to speak my truth, express what I needed, and stand up for myself. Even today, when I enforce a personal boundary, I immediately feel the pull to make things right. Guilt, shame, fear never fail to show up. As if I’d done something terrible wrong.

Does this sound familiar?

If it does, I want you to know that none of this is real. It’s all programming.

To liberate ourselves from guilt we need to understand that the only validation we truly need is our own. When we constantly look outside of ourselves for it, our boundaries are ALWAYS at risk. In fact, some of us put off making big life decisions and wait until they’re made for us, simply because we think we’re not allowed to.

That’s been me a few too many times in my life: selling a house a loved because my partner didn’t like it, chasing material success to gain my parents’ approval, accepting bullying and gossip from in-laws because I was expected to become part of the family, …

This sensitivity to the opinions of others and the need to do the right thing – and be the right woman – comes from the many centuries women lived under the rule and control of good old patriarchy. Again, it’s all learned beliefs and behavior.

In order to stop feeling guilty about choosing myself I had to reprogram my mind with new beliefs, and leave consensus reality behind for the real world: the one in which there’s nothing wrong with me to begin with (whatever the media and society are telling me), the one where I’m the leader of my own life.

If you want to stop feeling guilty for choosing yourself you have to reset your beliefs about yourself and the world too.

You have to free yourself.

Patriarchy: What it is?

Patriarchy refers to the social construct in which it’s the accepted norm that men have more authority, power and privilege than women. This bias towards men permeate all levels of society – from conventional religious and political roles to family structures, where men are viewed as the head: the decision maker and the one who has the final say.

Patriarchal societies (the oppressive power of which is still present in the world today) are often patrilineal: properties, titles and other forms of wealth are passed down male lines only. An example of this is the Salic Law, excluding women from royal succession. Such laws – although ancient – are still very much alive. Belgium, for instance, home to yours truly and – incidentally – a monarchy, only allowed women to inherit the royal title in 1991. Not a time before time, but right when R.E.M. were losing their religion.

Another example of patriarchy are the earliest memories I have of my mother and money. She took care of it, made ends meet, but wasn’t allowed to open a bank account without my father’s consent.

The same is true for being allowed to work, own property, get a divorce without losing everything – including your children, and the right to vote (to name just a few things). American women weren’t allowed to vote until 1920 and British women were allowed to vote in 1918, given they were over 30.

But it doesn’t stop there. Bias, stereotypes, and discrimination towards women can be found throughout history. In fact, it’s been built into it. Women have had to fight every step of the way to achieve the same basic rights as men. For many, this is still an ongoing struggle today.

How could anyone NOT feel guilty for choosing themselves in such a context.

How to Stop Feeling Guilty

Letting go of over-giving and the fear that comes from standing up for yourself takes time, commitment and effort. It requires a complete paradigm shift to reprogram your thoughts, change your beliefs and eventually reclaim your life. Saying “No”, taking up the space you deserve, and protecting your time are all part of the process. They’re all steps towards putting yourself first.

This paradigm shift will get you to see that your needs are just as important – you are just as important – as everyone else.

Choosing yourself is a life-long practice, but the more you practice it, the better you’ll get at it. As you become aware of your default thoughts and actions when you’re called to put yourself first, change will happen. Eventually your practice will be rewarded. Choosing yourself will become natural.

You’ll be (guilt) free.

What has your experience with setting boundaries and choosing yourself been like? Let me know in the comments below.

The greatest love of all to love yourself

I watched the Whitney Houston documentary on Netflix yesterday. I cried. A couple of times. Her story is sad, and tragic. Obviously I shed some tears for that. Witnessing the rise and fall of one of the most beautiful voices of our time will not leave you undisturbed.

But to be honest, mostly, I cried for me.

Over the years I’ve honed the craft to become inconsolably melancholic in a split second, especially when I’m reminded of my life through my senses: the gentle smell of coffee filling the kitchen from my childhood home, a return visit to the neighborhood I grew up in, or in this case songs I used to play over and over on my Walkman as a 15 year old.

It’s hard to imagine, knowing how much I played those songs, that I’d forgotten about the huge Whitney Houston fan I used to be. And maybe less so about the huge mistake perm I convinced my mom I needed to get in order to fit in at school. Biggest lesson of 1990: hair grows very slowly.

It’s incredible what the mind remembers. It never stops to amaze me. Given the right cues drawers of memories open up to us, giving us a chance to poke our noses into the many moments that make up our pasts. The best part is, we never know what we’re going to get. Or when it’s going to happen!

Like yesterday. As I was settling into the documentary a strange feeling of déjà vu came over me.

I couldn’t quite place it at first, but halfway through the thing it hit me: I’d seen this footage before! Not in another documentary or randomly. No, what I realized was that I was recognizing  what I was seeing.

I always get a bit weird when that happens. I also like it a lot because it brings me into a somewhat altered state of being. Perhaps it happens to you to sometimes too. You’re looking at, reading, or listening to something then all of a sudden you realize you were a witness to it before. You were present during the actual moment of creation of that thing. In other words: you were there!

Coming to this conclusion always brings me back to the limits of my own existence. Which in and of itself is a spiritual experience. That’s why I like it so much. It reminds me of what’s important.

Through the old footage, the inevitable clip from The Bodyguard – I was 17 when that movie came out and totally smitten with Kevin Costner (sadly the romance ended when he grew gills and decided to go live in the ocean) – and the many, many songs…

I remembered.

Who I used to be. My teenage years. The dreams, and goals of a 15 year old. The heartbreak that followed my first love.

The things I stood for, cared about, and believed in before I convinced myself I wasn’t good enough. That I needed to be someone else. I’m not sure it’s a coincidence that the Whitney Houston documentary is called “Can I be me?”. Is there even such a thing as coincidences?

Being taken down memory lane like that has a different effect on me depending on how I stand in my life when it happens.

Often though it will make me wonder: Where have all the years gone? Yesterday was no exception. I asked myself that question. To be honest, I’m not sure. I spent so many of those years trying to please everyone around me, trying to not have the anxious thoughts I had, trying so hard to mold myself into a perfect version of who I thought I needed to be… It’s all a little blurry.

There’s one thing I do know.

When I was 15 I was awake, in love with life.

Then at 35 I woke up again, when I finally remembered that the greatest love of all is learning to love yourself.