What's stopping you from manifesting?
Words: Jordana Levin //@jordannalevin
Imagery: Courtesy Murdoch Books
Since entering the workforce at the age of twenty-one, I’ve landed dream job after dream job. My belief systems around my self-worth in the workplace have always been incredibly strong. My parents echoed my sentiments, colleagues always loved me and, like the Little Engine that Could, I had confidence that I could get where I needed to go in my career. Whenever I’d land one of these dream jobs, I’d hear comments like, ‘You are so lucky!’ Or, ‘You must know the right people’ and, ‘You’ve got the gift of the gab!’ And while elements of each of these things are true, the larger truth is I’ve been manifesting dream jobs my whole life, whether I was conscious of it or not, because, just like that little engine, I’ve never doubted that I could.
But when it came to the belief systems I held around my love life, I wasn’t as lucky. My self-worth in that department had been trampled on from the age of nineteen, and for years I struggled to manifest a healthy love in my life. In my early days of experimenting with manifestation, a dream man was high on my priority list, but the universe kept bringing me men who met me at the limits I’d placed on myself when it came to my belief of what I deserved.
There was Beau, the ‘love of my life’, my ‘soulmate’ who was tortured by his fear of commitment, denial of his feelings and his own self-worth issues. I spent more than five years in that relationship, and then four years after that emotionally stuck on the relationship and unable to move on because, on some level, I didn’t believe I deserved more.
Then there was Earl, the handsome knight in shining armour who defended my honour by yelling at a bunch of kids on the bus when I’d broken my foot and was standing propped up only by my oversized moon boot. He made them give me a seat, but it turned out Earl was the kind of guy who liked yelling, and not just at kids on the bus but at everyone: waiters in restaurants, people driving a kilometre below the speed limit and, eventually, me. He was also an emotional replica of the boss I had at the time. The victim role I placed myself in at work eventually became the role I assumed at home with him.
Then there was Callum, a poster boy for the ‘dream man’. He loved me from afar for three years and became perfectly unattainable when his job sent him abroad. This relationship was all about my fear of commitment and about being in a relationship without actually being in a relationship. Nailed it.
And, not to sound like a total hussy, but there were also a few more in the mix over the years: the boring-as-all-hell guy, who entered my life when I had no passion for . . . anything; the alcoholic who hid his addiction from me (or did I choose to ignore it?); the cheater whose tastes ran to the ‘ladies of the night’ variety; and then there were also three whole years where I was unable to manifest a man of any description! I recount my romantic (or lack thereof) past not to have my Sex and the City moment, but because this string of failed relationships is a wonderful example of how our limiting beliefs can become massive roadblocks when it comes to manifesting what we want in our life.
Which area of your life always feels a little harder than the others?
Finances? Career? Or perhaps you, too, struggle with love. If you don’t believe that you’re worthy, deserving or simply that you can do or have what you want, then it’s impossible to master manifestation in the areas where you feel limited.
IDENTIFYING YOUR LIMITING BELIEFS
We all have them. Some are more ingrained in us than others. A belief is simply a series of thoughts we have over and over again until we take it as gospel. But where do these thoughts come from and how do we overcome them?
Beliefs can stem from our parents telling us something is so in our childhood, and they can come from our cultural background, organised religion, the education system, friends, the media and even the barista at your local coffee shop if you’re particularly impressionable. And, if you allow me to dip my toe in a ‘woo woo’ reference, your limiting beliefs may even come from a past life (I know, how do we stand a chance?). The reason these beliefs manage to set up a permanent camp in our frontal lobe is because we never question them.
“If you don’t believe that
you’re worthy, deserving
or that you can do or have
what you want, then
it’s impossible to
master manifestation”
Limiting beliefs are not the same as bias. They will attach to you without conscious thought and they will bury their way into your psyche, going unnoticed until all of a sudden you realise there is a block in your life and it all leads back to this one thing that you’ve been telling yourself on repeat for god knows how long.
They are called limiting beliefs because they do exactly that—they limit us by creating unnecessary boundaries and self-built blockades that prevent us from accessing the things we’ve convinced ourselves are out of reach. They also happen to be wrapped up tightly in intense emotion, and, as you’ll discover in Chapter 4, emotions are full of vibrations. And according to the Law of Vibration, we are magnets for things vibrating on a similar frequency to us. If you believe that you’ll always be in financial debt and you feel fear around money, then you will attract more of those fear-based lack vibrations into your life.
And here’s the crazy thing about limiting beliefs: most of the time they’re false! But once that belief is set, we filter out evidence to the contrary, including the perfect relationship, ideal job and comfortable pay cheque. I filtered out Mr Right because he didn’t match the subconscious limiting belief I held about what sort of man I deserved.
Uncovering limiting beliefs is a process I return to again and again throughout my manifestation practice. It’s also the very first thing I encourage people to do when they keep hitting a proverbial brick wall with their manifesting. Russian playwright Anton Chekhov said, ‘Man is what he believes.’ When those beliefs empower, encourage and motivate us, our potential is infinite, but when we believe we are small, unworthy or undeserving . . . well, our lives reflect just that. This is why understanding your limiting beliefs so you can begin to question and change them is so important, especially when it comes to understanding manifestation and particularly the Manifestation Equation.
Humans have the innate capacity to create, and whether we’re doing it consciously, unconsciously or subconsciously, we are constantly manifesting and thereby creating our own realities. What the Manifestation Equation allows you to do is manifest consciously with intention by allowing you to identify your limiting beliefs and replace them with limitless beliefs. Sound good?
In Part Two of my book, I’ll walk you through how to apply the Manifestation Equation to all areas of your life, and you’ll hear me referencing limiting beliefs over and over again because I can say with absolute conviction that they are the number-one thing stopping you from manifesting. But there’s also something else preventing you from epic manifestation, and this one triggers people more than the fact that their own beliefs have been preventing them from realising their dreams. What is it, you ask? I’m preparing you with this suspenseful lead-up because you’ll probably feel the same heart pang I felt when I first discovered it.
IT’S JUST NOT YOUR TIME
(AKA IT’S JUST NOT MEANT TO BE!)
I mean, really. How demoralising! You work on your self-worth, you tell yourself you are deserving and then it’s just ‘not your time’? Give me a break! But the more I work with the Manifestation Equation, the more it becomes crystal clear to me that sometimes we just can’t see the bigger picture. The parameters we set ourselves are marked with specific timeframes, human impatience and experiential expectation, and it is in these instances that our faith is truly tested.
Perhaps that thing you’re so desperately trying to manifest is not ready to be manifested yet; perhaps it will never be ready! Maybe it’s not the thing that is in your highest interest. If you feel like you’ve missed out on something or an opportunity has passed you by, it’s probably because something so much more rewarding is on the way.
Does this bring you comfort? I hope it does. ‘This or something better’ has become the mantra that gets me through the darkest of days. Because even when you get this manifestation thing down pat, and even when you earn yourself the title of Manifestation Queen (or King), you’ll still hit bumps in the road. I’m telling you this truth at the beginning of this book because I want you to believe me when I also tell you that this equation works, I’m just being honest about the challenges you will likely face.
Shit’s gonna get real in the pages of this book. I’m going to tell you things you’re not going to want to hear, and if you do the work, you’ll uncover things about yourself and your belief systems that may just surprise you—and not necessarily in that delightful way you get surprised when you open the door to a flower delivery.
This type of work is called ‘shadow work’. It describes going into the darkness and having a look at the parts of yourself that make you uncomfortable. Past teachings of manifestation have tended to dance around and avoid this shadow work. And while I’m not here to make you face your demons, I’m not going to sugar-coat the work it’s going to take to master manifestation.
If you’ve tried manifestation in the past and failed, I’m here to be your cheerleader and encourage you not to give up! You’ve never tried it like this. The Manifestation Equation covers all bases. All I ask is that you’re honest, open and kind to yourself as you devour the pages of my book.
This is an edited extract from Make It Happen by Jordanna Levin.
Murdoch Books RRP $32.99.’ Out now.