PDF Summary:Manifest, by Roxie Nafousi

What if you could create your dream life through the power of thought? Roxie Nafousi explains that this practice, called manifesting, is achievable for anyone. Many people see manifesting as simply picturing the thing you desire and receiving it. However, effective manifestation requires you to fundamentally alter your mindset—your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. In Manifest, Nafousi presents her method for adopting the mindset necessary to manifest and achieve anything you want in life.

This guide will explore the manifestation method that took Nafousi from her darkest moments to her ideal life within a few short years. In our commentary, we’ll supplement Nafousi’s method with advice from other experts on finding success, such as Rhonda Byrne (The Secret), Brianna Wiest (The Mountain Is You), and Daniel Walter (The Power of Discipline). We’ll also examine some of the scientific discussion around manifestation.

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However, Nafousi warns to be careful when expressing gratitude—focus only on what you’re grateful for without using “buts” (what Nafousi calls “caveats”). For example, don’t say “I’m grateful for my partner but I wish they would clean more”—this expresses gratitude and lack in the same expression. When you express gratitude along with something you lack, the negative vibrations of lack cancel out the positive vibrations of gratitude and get you nowhere.

(Shorform note: In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown also emphasizes the importance of practicing gratitude. However, rather than seeing gratitude specifically as a tool to enhance manifestation, Brown frames it as important to generally feeling worthy, fulfilled, and happy in life. She elaborates that some people struggle to express gratitude because this practice goes hand in hand with fear that you’ll lose the things you’re grateful for. Rather than experience this vulnerability, people would rather avoid gratitude altogether. This could arguably explain why people express gratitude with “buts”—to avoid the vulnerability that true gratitude promotes.)

How to Cultivate Gratitude

Nafousi makes three recommendations for cultivating gratitude and practicing it in your daily life.

First, keep a gratitude journal. Each day, chronologically record everything you experience that you’re grateful for. For example, as you progress through your day, you might write “I’m grateful to have a coffee machine in my home,” “I’m grateful for the comfortable pair of shoes I walk to work in,” “I’m grateful for the rain that watered my flowers while I was at work,” and so on. You’ll develop a positive perspective by becoming more aware of all the things you should be grateful for on a daily basis.

Second, use gratitude to respond to negative feelings. Whenever you start to feel down—unlucky, unworthy, sad, and so on—list things that you’re grateful for. You’ll overcome negative thoughts and feelings and replace them with positivity.

Third, focus on the present moment. Many people get caught up in negative emotions contrary to gratitude, like anxiety or dread, because they’re focused on the past or future rather than the present. For example, you might be feeling anxious and regretful over something silly you said five minutes ago rather than listening to your child tell you how much they love you.

To cultivate gratitude and avoid the thoughts and emotions that contradict it, Nafousi recommends focusing on and being thankful for the present moment—express gratitude for the sights, sounds, and emotions that the present moment evokes and for the people you’re currently with.

How to Practice Gratitude

In Seeking Wisdom, Julia Cameron explains that expressing gratitude is one of the best ways to reach your creative potential and manifest positivity. However, she makes a few additional recommendations that might make this concept more actionable and more applicable to people of different faiths and beliefs.

First, Cameron recommends expressing gratitude through prayer. This prayer can be sent out to whatever higher power you believe in, whether that be Allah, God, the Universe, the Matrix, or anything else. Praying on your gratitude increases your belief in the innate goodness of the universe, which will return more goodness back to you.

Next, Cameron makes a few recommendations on what to express gratitude for through prayer and how to do it. She notes that a good starting point is to express gratitude for the beauty of nature—the bright green of the grass, the coolness of the wind, the sound of rivers, and so on. Cameron says that the natural landscape tends to evoke a state of awe, which is a natural pathway into gratitude. She further explains that this method helps you to stay mindful, or connected to the present moment, as Nafousi recommends in her third suggestion.

Cameron also recommends using prayer to express gratitude for the people in your life—both those you’re close to, such as your partner, and those you're not, such as the cashier at the grocery store. She explains that a higher power sends people into your life for a reason, so reflecting on what you can learn from these people and being grateful for their presence will help attract more people into your life that will guide you toward your destined path. You can use this as a topic for Nafousi’s first and second suggestion—you can write about the people you’re grateful for in your gratitude journal and focus on those you're grateful for to replace negative emotions.

Finally, use prayer to express gratitude for miraculous events—like getting caught in a red light that saved you from a car crash in the intersection ahead—and moments of serendipity—like bumping into a nice yoga instructor at the grocery store the same week you start looking for a yoga class. These experiences are gifts sent by a higher power, and expressing gratitude for them will attract more gifts into your life. You can use gifts as a topic for Nafousi’s first and second suggestions—you can write about the events you’re grateful for in your gratitude journal and focus on them to replace negative emotions.

Principle #3: Overcome Negativity

While loving yourself and practicing gratitude are ways to prevent negativity, Nafousi argues that you should also develop a few techniques that will target and eradicate negative thoughts and emotions when they make it past your firewall. She recommends three main techniques for doing so.

Technique #1: Quell Negative Thoughts and Emotions With Positive Affirmations

Nafousi argues that one of the best ways to overcome negative thoughts and emotions when they arise is by reciting positive affirmations—statements that encourage positive beliefs.

To create positive affirmations, listen to the limiting beliefs of your inner voice and craft affirmations that state the opposite. For example, if your inner voice is telling you that you’re not good enough, your positive affirmation can be something like “I’m worthy and capable of achieving anything that I dedicate myself to.”

When you notice your inner voice reciting negative thoughts, choose to actively drown them out by reciting positive affirmations in your mind. Nafousi notes that this will override your negative inner voice and stop it from bringing down your vibration.

Further, Nafousi recommends reciting positive affirmations aloud and integrating this practice into your daily routine. For example, every morning on the way to work, you could recite your list of affirmations: “Today is going to be an amazing day where I maximize my productivity,” “I’m a beautiful and unique person inside and out,” “I’m capable of achieving anything I dedicate myself to,” and so on.

These positive affirmations don’t only have to combat your negative inner voice: They can pertain to any area in which you want to improve your confidence. Reciting these affirmations regularly will start to alter your beliefs little by little until the positive statements become personal truths and entirely replace your more negative beliefs.

The Impact of Positive Affirmations and How to Get the Most From Them

While reciting positive affirmations to yourself, in your head or out loud, may feel awkward or uncomfortable at first, numerous studies support Nafousi’s claim that doing so can change your mindset and help you overcome negative thoughts and feelings.

First, Psychological studies have suggested that reciting positive affirmations increases certain neural pathways that facilitate positive thoughts about yourself and introspective reflection. In other words, reciting positive affirmations can fundamentally alter your brain so that you’re more likely to interpret information in a way that benefits you and less likely to react to it negatively. This leads to decreased stress and negative rumination, improved behavior, and a more positive outlook on life.

Further, in 1994 and again in 2005, researcher Masaru Emoto found that reciting positive affirmations at frozen water made the molecules form more beautiful crystalline structures than water that didn’t receive positive affirmations. This is significant because the human body is 70% water—Emoto believes that these observations are proof that positive affirmations can alter the very nature of our bodies.

While Nafousi recommends both reciting your affirmations aloud and in your mind, some experts believe that vocalizing your affirmations aloud is the most impactful method for creating a positive mindset and overcoming negativity. Further, they recommend a few specific affirmations depending on your circumstances—there are affirmations specifically designed for women, for men, for teens, for kids, for those struggling with anxiety and depression, and so on. Incorporating these personalized affirmations into your routine will likely increase their impact on you.

Technique #2: Turn Jealousy Into Motivation

A second way to overcome negativity is to combat jealousy. Nafousi argues that jealousy is one of the lowest-vibration emotions that people commonly experience. When we see that another person has something that we want, we develop negative feelings toward them and ourselves. We feel resentment toward them because we think they’re better than us, and we feel bad about ourselves because we believe that we’re unworthy or undeserving of gaining what the other person has.

While these responses are natural, they push us farther away from gaining the object of our desire because they cause us to emit low vibrations and attract negativity. To overcome the corrupting effect of jealousy, Nafousi argues that we should channel the emotion into positive motivation—feel happy that another person is experiencing joy and reaching their goals, and channel this emotion into a desire to improve yourself and achieve your goals.

For example, if you see someone on social media posting about their lovely trip, rather than feeling jealous of them and angry at yourself for not being on vacation, be happy that they’re having a great experience and start working toward your own dream trip.

How to Turn Negative (Low-Vibration) Emotions Into Positive Future Actions

In The Mountain Is You, Brianna Wiest reiterates that negative emotions like jealousy push us farther away from our goals and ideal life. Like Nafousi, she believes that rather than letting these emotions control us, we should use them as fuel for positive thoughts, feelings, and future actions. However, Wiest argues that these emotions prevent us from reaching our ideal life and full potential not because they attract low vibrations, as Nafousi suggests, but because they trigger self-sabotaging behaviors. For example, feeling jealous of someone might trigger the self-sabotaging behavior of wallowing in self-pity, which leads to inaction and prevents us from making progress toward our goals.

Further, Wiest argues that jealousy isn’t the only negative emotion that prevents us from achieving our ideal life—other negative emotions like anger, embarrassment, resentment, and regret are just as bad. However, if we know how to interpret the meanings behind these feelings, we can use them as fuel for positive future actions that will move us closer to our ideal life:

• Anger indicates what’s important to you and is a sign that it’s time for you to take action toward positive change. For example, rather than wallowing in anger over someone talking down to you, take it as a sign to stand up for yourself and insist that they treat you with respect.

• Embarrassment indicates that you aren’t proud of your actions. Rather than wallowing in the feeling, use it as a sign to change your behavior in the future and act in a way you’re proud of.

• Resentment indicates that someone disappointed you. Rather than continuing to feel resentment, take this emotion as a sign to either adjust your expectations so they’re more realistic or have a conversation with the other person to make your expectations clear.

• Regret indicates that you didn’t do something you wish you’d done. Rather than wallowing, use this emotion as a guide for the actions you should take in the future.

Principle #4: Take Action Toward Your Goals

One of the biggest misconceptions about manifesting is that positive thoughts and emotions are all you need to materialize your desires. Nafousi explains that in reality, you must also alter your behaviors so that they help you make progress on your goals. If your actions don’t align with your desires, you’ll never make progress.

(Shortform note: In The 12 Week Year, Brian P. Moran agrees that your current actions are what create your future. To ensure that your actions are helping you make progress on your goals, he specifically recommends creating a system of weekly plans and reviews: Before the week starts, plan out what you’ll accomplish each day of the week and check your plan daily to ensure you’re staying on schedule. At the end of the week, review your plan to ensure you’ve accomplished everything and that you’re making progress toward your goals.)

There are two main ways to match your actions to your goals: stepping out of your comfort zone and creating good habits.

Technique #1: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Nafousi explains that changing your behavior to make progress toward your goals can be difficult because you’re often forced to do new or challenging things that make you uncomfortable. To make this process easier, she recommends regularly stepping out of your comfort zone so you get familiar with the feeling of discomfort. You’ll realize that you’re more capable than you think and that hard, scary tasks aren’t actually as hard and scary as you thought.

(Shortform note: In The Power of Discipline, Daniel Walter agrees that stepping out of your comfort zone and getting familiar with discomfort is necessary to make progress toward your goals. He adds that humans have a natural tendency to resist this process for three specific reasons: 1) We’re afraid that trying something new will cause us to lose something valuable that we already have; 2) We’re afraid of failing and regretting our decision to change; and 3) The longer we experience something, the more comfortable and enjoyable it becomes and the less willing we are to give it up.)

Nafousi provides a few recommendations for making the most of your experience outside your comfort zone:

1. Set intentions. When you’re preparing to do something uncomfortable, be clear on why you’re doing it. This will keep you focused and help you push through the discomfort of the experience.

2. Expose your excuses. When you’re afraid to do something, your mind will always provide excuses to justify not doing it. When these excuses pop into your head, immediately debunk them by coming up with reasons and ways to do the task.

3. Persevere through barriers. You’ll always face obstacles when you try something new—this is an inevitable part of the process. If you allow these barriers to stop you, you’re simply using them as an excuse to give up. Pushing through will help you build your self-worth, self-confidence, and resilience in difficult situations.

4. Jump in headfirst. When you’re about to step out of your comfort zone, you’ll often experience a flood of limiting beliefs that tell you you’re not good enough and encourage you to give up. Rather than letting these thoughts paralyze you, take a brief moment to collect yourself and then take action. For example, if you’re about to raise your hand in class but get nervous, take a deep breath and do it anyway.

How to Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

Nafousi’s recommendations aim to prepare you to step outside of your comfort zone with a positive mindset. Experts reiterate many of her points, but they add a few additional recommendations that will help you feel fully prepared to step out of your comfort zone and execute the process correctly. By using these tips in combination with Nafousi’s, you can avoid being overwhelmed or stricken with fear and can make the most of the experience.

1) Before taking action, take a moment to identify exactly what’s inside and outside of your comfort zone. This will ensure that you’re doing things that actually make you uncomfortable and help you make progress toward your goals, not just things that are unfamiliar but comfortable.

2) Set SMART goals for your experience. While Nafousi recommends setting general intentions for your experience, experts say that using the SMART goal system is an especially effective method to ensure you get the most from it. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. This goal-setting system is highly effective because its specificity allows you to track your progress and clearly identify when you’ve reached your objective.

3) Take small steps at first. Taking small steps will make it easier to get started and jump in headfirst because you’ll feel more comfortable and less fearful than you would if you tried to take on a huge challenge all at once. Starting small will also gradually build your confidence and tolerance for discomfort, making it easier for you to persevere through barriers.

4) Cultivate a positive mindset—have compassion for yourself, frame challenges as opportunities, set ambitious goals, see failures as lessons, and challenge your underlying negative beliefs. Following these steps prevents negativity and uncertainty from halting your progress. As such, this tip will help you expose your excuses and push through barriers by giving you a positive, accurate, and motivated perspective.

Technique #2: Create Good Habits

Nafousi argues that truly altering your behaviors so you make progress on your goals requires you to take action daily. One of the best ways to do this is by creating positive habits—activities that are ingrained into your daily schedule.

To create positive habits, identify what you want and who you want to be. Then, identify the daily activities that will help you make these factors your reality.

For example, imagine that what you want is an expensive tropical vacation. You might practice the following habits to make this a reality: adding leftover money to a change jar at the end of each day, making your coffee at home rather than buying Starbucks, or researching some aspect of your trip like accommodations or activities for a few minutes each day.

Similarly, imagine that who you want to be is a good parent. You might practice the following habits to make this a reality: packing your child’s lunch every night so you don’t forget in the morning, letting your child pick their own outfits, or using consequences rather than spanking to correct behavior.

Create Habits to Change Your Life

In The Power of Discipline, Daniel Walter emphasizes the importance of creating good daily habits that help you make progress on your goals. Like Nafousi, he recommends forming habits that serve as a plan of action for achieving your goals; however, this is just one of many types of habits that Walter recommends. To ensure that you maximize your productivity in every area of your life and make the most progress toward your goals, Walter recommends implementing a few additional daily habits:

Regularly follow morning and evening routines—set activities that you diligently perform immediately after waking up and before going to bed. Creating a productive morning routine sets the stage for continued productivity throughout the day. A productive evening routine ensures you get proper rest and feel fully prepared to make the most of the following day.

Control your impulses. Walter explains that humans have a natural impulse to opt for instant gratification, like giving up on a hard task or something productive and choosing to do something fun, like play video games, instead. When we let these impulses control us, we struggle to perform the hard, productive tasks necessary to progressing toward our goals. To overcome these impulses, Walter recommends always pushing yourself 60% harder when you're ready to give up. He also suggests waiting 10 minutes before making an unproductive decision when you get the urge to do so, as after the 10 minutes, the impulse will likely fade. Practicing these techniques regularly will turn them into habits that combat your impulses.

Form positive associations with work. Walter explains that people often dread putting in the work necessary to achieve their goals because they have negative associations with work—for example, they don’t want to work because they associate it with being hard or boring. To overcome this and make work enjoyable, make it a habit to form positive associations with work. Do this by adding things you enjoy into your work routine—before, during, and after work. For example, make a nice cup of tea before you start work, listen to soothing music while you’re working, and cook your favorite meal after you finish—these actions will make the process enjoyable, or at least tolerable, from start to finish.

Principle # 5: Have Faith

Nafousi argues that having faith in the process is one of the most crucial principles for successful manifestation. This is because your beliefs about reality shape your reality. If you don’t fully believe in the process of manifestation—that the universe will return the positive vibrations that you emit—then none of the previous principles will work to attract your desires.

Having faith in the manifestation process requires you to believe that everything in life happens when and how it’s meant to, and that everything is leading you toward a higher purpose. Nafousi explains that the manifestation process isn’t a smooth and straight path to your desires. You’ll face obstacles and surprises along the way, but you must maintain your belief that things will fall into place, you’ll reach the end of the path, and you’ll achieve your desires.

(Shortform note: Nafousi argues that having faith—trusting that the universe will reward your positive efforts when and how it’s meant to happen—is the final puzzle piece for effective manifestation specifically. However, experts explain that having faith—not just in the universe, but in humanity, yourself, your values, your loved ones, and so on—is an important component of living a happy life in general and building resilience against trauma and negativity. Without faith, you’re likely to feel lost or directionless in life, doubt your abilities and past decisions, and feel doubtful or foolish about your beliefs. Ultimately, losing your faith will make you feel unhappy, which, as a low-vibration emotion, will sabotage the manifestation process.)

Nafousi makes two main recommendations for staying on course and keeping the faith:

1. Don’t settle. When we find something close to our desire, we often trick ourselves into thinking it’s our best option. Nafousi argues that this is a test of the universe—if you give up and settle, you’ll never reach your highest potential. Don’t stop working toward your goal until you’ve achieved everything you desire—“good enough” is not enough.

2. Overcome disappointment by finding the silver lining. Everything happens for a reason, so find that reason. For example, maybe your relationship didn’t work out because you need independence to become the highest, most confident version of yourself.

The Downsides of Having Faith

Is it healthy to follow Nafousi’s recommendations here and always have faith that things will work out for the best? Other experts and psychologists suggest not.

If you follow Nafousi’s first recommendation to avoid settling and instead keep the faith that something better will come along, you might take extraordinary opportunities for granted and reject them because you’re waiting for something perfect that doesn’t exist. For example, you might end a positive and loving relationship because you think your perfect partner is a painter while your current partner is a writer, and you have faith you’ll find your painter eventually. However, in reality, you might be squandering a relationship with an amazing person who makes you feel happy and fulfilled because you’re waiting for something “better.”

Similarly, if you follow Nafousi’s second recommendation to find the silver lining in everything and have faith that things will always work out for the best, you might develop an unrealistically positive view of reality. This phenomenon, called the “optimism bias,” may trigger inappropriate responses to dangerous or sensitive situations and ultimately harm yourself or others. For example, you might remain passive in a dangerous situation like an oncoming hurricane, thinking everything will work out fine due to your faith in the universe. In reality, you must take measures to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Ultimately, having faith and staying positive arguably aren’t entirely bad or harmful practices—just make sure that you’re being realistic and not following your faith blindly.