9 Steps to Manifest What You Really Want in Life

In this post, let's learn how to manifest what we want in our lives and make our dreams become our reality.

A woman sitting down and manifesting what she wants
“Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it.”
― Jack Canfield

We all have dreams. We all want several things in life. But, do we all know how to achieve them? To achieve what we want, or to manifest our goals, there are some steps that we should practice in our lives. Let’s learn how to manifest what you want in this post.

Are you familiar with the Law of Attraction?

The best-selling book, ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne says, “Under the Law of Attraction, the complete order of the Universe is determined, including everything that comes into your life and everything that you experience. It does so through the magnetic power of your thoughts. Through the Law of Attraction, like attracts like. What you think about, you bring about.”

The Law of Attraction is about manifestation. It gives us the control of choosing what we want and then bringing it about in our lives. The power is in the thoughts. What we believe, we receive.

If you're interested in manifestation, you'll love our course on making your most effective vision board. Vision boards are manifestation tools.

Definition of Manifestation

In a nutshell, manifestation is about making your dreams come true by belief, clarity, attraction, and efforts.

I have put ‘efforts’ at the end, not because it’s not as important, but because it derives significant power from the way you think, how clear you are, and the energy that you give to the Universe.

Thought leaders like Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra, and Eckhart Tolle, support the process of manifestation and have used it (supported by making efforts) to achieve their goals.

Manifestation simply means to bring about and experience what you want in your life, and it really does work.

Now that we’re clear on the meaning of manifestation, let’s learn how to use it effectively.

9 Steps to Manifest What You Want in Life

  1. Understand yourself
  2. Remove limiting thoughts
  3. Be clear about what you want
  4. Get your ask out there
  5. Make consistent efforts
  6. Believe in yourself
  7. Practice positive affirmations
  8. Acknowledge and appreciate small wins
  9. Remain patient

1. Understand yourself

Before even setting goals, you must dedicate time to understanding yourself. You could put some item on a list and start working on it, but if it’s something that you didn’t truly want in the first place, it’s not really a success.

You could end up achieving it but still feel unsatisfied. The goal has to be yours. And, to figure out what is yours, it is essential to figure yourself out.

Spend time self-reflecting, asking introspective questions, recollecting the dreams that you had before you got influenced or conditioned by other minds, rejecting societal expectations, and fully getting to know yourself. This is fundamental in creating the life that you want.

Related: 70+ Journal Prompts for Self-Reflection

2. Remove limiting thoughts

“I don’t think I can make it”
“It’s too late”
“I’ll never be successful”
“I’m not worthy”

Thoughts like this do nothing but limit your potential. Self-doubt, overthinking, and worry are roadblocks that you must clear out to manifest successfully. What are these thoughts anyway? Why should they be taken seriously?

We put these barriers in our minds and take them as fact. There are some real tangible blockers, like financial responsibilities, that do impact our choices. But, many barriers are only in the mind.

Don’t let society, culture, people, and failure, stop you from choosing what you really want.

Related: Top 6 Tips to Overcome Self-Doubt

3. Be clear about what you want

Once you understand your values and what is true to you, the next step is to make the ask.

To make the ask, you have to be specific about what you want. For example, you could want to have a new house.

For this, don’t just wish for a new house, think about the flooring, the flowers in the garden, the wall paint, how each room will look, and what the theme will be. Get a clear picture of exactly what you want.

You might want to manifest your soulmate into your life, in simple terms, and meet the kind of person that you want to spend your life with.

For this, be clear about what kind of values they would hold in life, how they would treat you, the things that are important for you to have similar taste in, and how they want to live their life.

4. Get your ask out there

Now that you know what you want, don’t keep it in your head. It takes a lot of practice to be so powerful at manifesting that you don’t require other mediums. Put it out there somewhere that keeps it in your view daily.

You can put up a poster, or your phone wallpaper, or use a super effective manifestation tool like the vision board in which you can put specific pictures that showcase your dreams and bring them into reality. You can create your vision board in the Gratitude app.

Tap here to access our Vision Board course.

Related: How to Create a Vision Board That Really Works

5. Make consistent efforts

There is no shortcut to success. Manifestation is a method to support you as you move towards your goal, but it can’t be the sole driver of it. Once you have your goals clearly laid out in front of you, make a plan to achieve them.

If it’s a big, long-term goal, break it down into small steps and work towards them daily. Think of how powerful your efforts would be backed by manifestation.

6. Believe in yourself

Another highly important step. You might feel super inspired as you plan your goals and begin working towards them, and you could also have swiped away the negative, limiting thoughts, but there might be times when those thoughts surface again.

You could start doubting yourself again and worry if you would ever achieve your goals. When your conditioned mind puts blockers in your way again, remember why you started. Remember why this is important to you. If you won’t believe in yourself, manifestation will not work.

You have to be your greatest well-wisher. You have to believe that you can make it.

7. Practice positive affirmations

Like the vision board, positive affirmations are an effective manifestation tool. Affirmations are what you say to yourself, and therefore, have a huge impact on your confidence, life choices, and behavior.

To manifest successfully, make affirmations a part of your everyday life. We have affirmations in the Gratitude app too!

Examples are:
“I am worthy just as I am.”
“I am attracting what I want in my life.”
“I am capable of achieving all that I want.”

Saying these affirmations to yourself regularly will help shape your thoughts to be more open and empowering, thereby, supporting the manifestation of your goals.

Related: 101 Positive Affirmations for Success, Abundance, and Confidence

8. Acknowledge and appreciate small wins

Gratitude, sweet dear gratitude. As you move towards what you want, it is important to be grateful for what you have. There are a lot of things that are yet to come, but there are a lot of things that you already have.

Wanting more is not a problem, but taking the present for granted is. In your journey towards your big goal, there will be many small wins that will come your way. Express the truest joy for them.

Getting fixated on that big goal and not appreciating the little achievements that take you to it dims the energy of manifestation. Celebrate your life and what it has right now.

All the small successes are just as valuable as that ultimate one. After all, life is made of those little moments that happen every day. Keep a gratitude journal to write about them and preserve them for years to come.

Related: 11 Steps to Become More Grateful

9. Remain patient

Something great is not going to come so easily. Your dedication could be tested. There can be setbacks. And, it can take some time to get where you want to be. Here, patience and perseverance will get you through.

Some testing days don’t mean that everything will go down. Those times when you feel that progress has stopped, you must go on. If you have chosen for your life, you have to prove that you really do want it.

Hardships don’t need to come, but if they do, hold your ground. Your belief will carry you through hurdles and you will eventually cross the finish line.

And, that’s it! These were the 9 steps to manifest what you really want in life. I wish you the very best. I know you can do it, and I want you to know it too. Have a wonderful day!

👉 Continue reading: Guide to Manifestation Methods: 369 Method, Positive Affirmations, and More

Aarushi Tewari

Aarushi Tewari

The writer and affirmations speaker at Gratitude, Aarushi believes that one of the most effective ways of feeling inner peace is by being grateful and having a loving self-relationship.

Free Weekly Gratitude Worksheet!

    We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at anytime.