The Lazy Girl’s Guide To Manifesting
Seeking abundance, liberally…
Hey I made you lazy manifestation lock screens! Grab them here!
Mantras, affirmations, manifesting… Lately, I feel pummeled by these otherwise peaceful and good natured ideas, mostly as a result of spending a lot of time in the self-help corner of the internet. Why? Because feeling good about myself is a million times better than scrolling through whatever else the web has to offer– Reddit threads? Aggressive Twitter rants? Bad reality shows on Netflix? You get the idea.
The internet is a huge part of our world, and our world is chock full of a whole lotta BS that seems tailor-made to leave us feeling really really bad on a daily basis. It doesn’t help that we’re in the middle of Global Pandemic– a thing that I’m really looking forward to no longer feeling compelled to mention in my posts. And yet, in the midst of all this bad bad no good-ness, here I am feeling overwhelmed by the simple idea of “manifesting through affirmation”. Talk about a white whine.
Manifesting is actually a totally cool concept. If you watch The Secret on Netflix right now (ignore the terrible overuse of green screen and weirdly large number of bare man feet that appear throughout the film), you’ll learn it’s been proven effective that simply thinking positive thoughts about yourself and your situation can directly impact the up-leveling your life. When you add in the act of repeating mantras (a word or phrase said on repeat to aid concentration, originating from Buddhist and Hindu meditation practices) or affirmations (defined simply as “emotional support or encouragement”), manifesting becomes an actionable tool in not only getting the things we want, but also in getting to a better headspace.
Still sound a little too “woo” for you? Well, it is woo, but hang with me here. Think about all the things around you that you currently have. Not only physical things like your favorite jacket, or the pint of Ben & Jerry’s you pandemic-impulse-bought yesterday. Think about your achievements: the diplomas you earned, the family you’ve grown (pets count too), the insanely cool people you feel lucky to call friends or honestly, the fact that you finally got yourself out of bed today after a week of feeling crushed by the universe (seriously, congrats dude). Little did you know that manifestation played a small role in ALL of these things.
The logical way of putting that is simple: we only get what we feel we deserve.
What about all the things we don’t get, like our dream job? Or the fancier hummus at the grocery store? It turns out we can manifest lack into our lives as well, because somewhere deep down we feel like we are only truly worthy of minimum wage work and non-organic bean dip forever.
And that’s where mantras and affirmations become so powerful. When we tell ourselves nice things for long enough, we begin to believe them. Like I mentioned a couple weeks back, most of the negative things we’ve come to believe about ourselves were handed down from people around us. In middle school, I got bullied nearly every day and told I was “ugly”, so I wasted years of my young life associating the way I looked with what it meant to be ugly. In contrast, all the kids who made fun of my greasy skin and bad teeth also adored flipping through the artwork in my sketchbooks, so I also grew up rarely doubting my artistic ability– funny how far a little praise can go.
Gee! Manifestation is pretty neat! So why do I feel so crushed under the weight of it these days? I realized that while I adore the idea of manifesting, the practice of it seems to alienate me much of the time. Look, I’m fascinated by yoga and meditation as much as the next matcha-drinking millennial on instagram, but I’m totally not an expert at either one. As nice as it sounds to be able to spend 30 minutes each day locked into Sukhasana while I imagine my body glowing with “goddess energy” as I repeat compliments to myself, I simply don’t seem to be able to find the time or the unbridled enthusiasm.
Enter, the lazy girl’s guide to manifestation. If you’re anything like me, you spend more time on your phone each day than you do “channeling spirit energy” or being “at one with nature”, and instead of debating the morals and repercussions of this reality, I’m here to teach you 4 ways to manifest better self esteem and more abundance into your life using only your smartphone.
A note about manifesting through affirmation:
It’s all about behaving as if you already have what you desire. Be grateful for what you’ve got now, in order to manifest more of it. Then, stick to present tense when you’re crafting your mantras below. “I want to feel pretty everyday”, is not a great mantra because it focuses on future desire. However, “I am a babezilla and mortals weep at my unparalleled beauty” is more the direction we’re aiming for here. “I am...” “I have...” “My life is...” and even “Congratulations on…” are all perfect jump off points.
Reminders:
I used to associate iPhone reminders with tasks I would manage to successfully put off for weeks and/or months like filing taxes or shaving my thighs. Since I’m so well versed in pressing the “later” button, I recently changed all my reminders to affirmations which means my phone sends me compliment notifications now along with my bill reminders and chainmail DM previews. And the more I keep pressing later, the longer these reminders stay up. Finally, I’m being rewarded for procrastinating! I love when my phone alerts me that “I’m capable of anything I set my mind to” along with a notification that my credit card payment is due. I feel so parented.
Alarms:
Need a shrill reminder that you’re a real winner? Set an alarm everyday. Heck, set 5. These are great for when you know you’ve got something rough up ahead. Got a zoom date planned for 7pm next week? Set an alarm for 6:45 that lets you know how gorgeous, smart, and worthy you are– and then forget about it! You’ll get a surprise boost of confidence right before you hit “join meeting”. Stuck on a long distance project with a challenging co-worker? Set affirmation alarms about your brilliance 10 minutes into your daily communication with them to give your self esteem a little lift.
Passwords:
What DON’T we need a password for these days? Next time you’re prompted, create a mantra password. Throw a few numbers and symbols in, and you’re set. Think about how many times a day you’d say nice things to yourself if your most used password was il00k@mAzing. Sure, it’s totally dorky but just like your mother's maiden name, who’s ever gonna know?
Lockscreen:
I changed my lockscreen wallpaper to an affirmation last year and I gotta admit, it feels way less goofy than sticking affirmative Post-It’s to my bathroom mirror. I now find myself repeating my affirmation in funny places like waiting in line at the bank, or peddling on a bike at the gym. Want to try it? I’ve created a few affirmative wallpapers for you to download for free using the button below! Try them out, then report back and let me know if they make you feel better than glancing at an obscure meme or a badly cropped pet photo all day.
Stoked on manifestation? Me too! Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite way of incorporating affirmations into your everyday life.
