For when it feels like business isn’t working… Even if you’re trying really hard.

I’m not a manifestation expert. I don’t coach on this stuff. I’m just speaking about my personal experience in this blog post. My own learnings alongside trends that I’ve noticed among my clients. If you’re feeling stuck in business and are wondering how to manifest what you want, and want some real-talk advice, this is where I would start.

First, a major PSA. Something I realized through my year-end reflection, goal setting for 2024, and maternity leave planning… this statement is more true than ever:

You don’t need to push more or work harder to scale.

Before you click away thinking I’m gonna dive into some woo woo sh*t that just tells you the reason why you didn’t hit your goals last year is because you weren’t ~~~HiGh ViBe~~~enough… Pause. Hear me out because that’s not what this is.

This is actionable advice on how to manifest what you want from your business

Love me some woo, but coaches who consistently oversimplify like this aren’t doing you any favours. You deserve the honest truth combined with actionable things you can do—starting now—that aren’t just “fix your mindset.”

And manifesting what you want requires more than just fixating on your goals with the perfect timing and level of emphasis for the universe to grant your every wish. That sounds hard to me. It sounds like an uphill battle that no perfectionist, high-achieving entrepreneur can reasonably overcome. And we like realism around here.

In this post, I’m going to walk you through a few things. First, how I manifested a business and life that aligns, even though I couldn’t quite see all the details clearly in the beginning. Then we’ll talk about how to manifest what you want to, going over some common mistakes I see other entrepreneurs getting caught in on the way. And throughout, I’m going to share tangible actions you can take to manifest what you want because I can assure you that this work requires more than high-level positive mindset BS.

How I manifested the business and life I wanted

I talk a lot about my business journey here on the blog and over on YouTube. The business that I get to run now is so much better than I imagined it could be when I was just getting started.

Here’s a video if you want to dig into that story…

The SparkNotes are that I’m the girl who started freelance writing for $25 / gig, which evens out to pennies under minimum wage with the hours of work I put into each piece. From there, I figured out how to position myself and attract ideal clients. That allowed me to go full-time in my business in 2018, and I haven’t cold pitched for work since then. Then I set up to scale, grew my team, successfully took maternity leave 1.0 (and got paid during this time), and continued growing my business in part-time hours after returning to work.

Basically, I cracked the code to work less and make more while selling my copywriting services online.

But there’s more to life than business

I love my work. That’s no secret. But beyond business, the entire goal is to build a lifestyle that aligns with what me and my family want.

I shared a Reel on Instagram a while back. It’s a short clip of the city I live in now, and at the time of taking the video we knew we wanted to move here. By June we had sold our house in Ontario and found the perfect home in British Columbia. We can walk to wineries and farm markets. We can see the mountains and lake from our windows. And we can walk to trailheads from our front door.

We checked everything off the list—a list that was supposed to be saved for retirement, until one day we said, “Why don’t we just go now?”

So we did.

And if my business weren’t set up how it was, the move wouldn’t have been able to happen so quickly.

Call it luck, manifestation, focus… Whatever. This sh*t works. Knowing what you want from life then systematically going after it works.

Working more isn’t how to manifest what you want

Why is this statement so true? Not only does the law of diminishing returns apply here, but I’ve noticed that working more for the sake of clocking more hours just tricks people into thinking they need to work more.

Too often, I see freelancers and creative entrepreneurs fill up their time with unproductive tasks. These are things that aren’t meaningful, don’t produce results, and just distract from bigger goals. Not exactly a good example of how to manifest what you want, right? It sounds more like a self-fulfilling prophecy of chronic burnout to me.

Why it’s not working… and how to manifest what you want

Let’s look at some other roadblocks that are probably the reason why you can’t manifest what you want in your business. Read these knowing that it’s not your fault. Our upbringings and society programs to think and act in certain ways, and learning how to manifest what you want requires unlearning a lot of these arbitrary rules.

Your brain tries to keep you safe.

The cool thing about our brains is that they’re wired to keep us safe. If you’re trying to grow your business, there may be a limiting belief in there that’s keeping you small. For example, so many new business owners think they need to grind in the first few years. They think it’s impossible to make a profit in the beginning, which isn’t always the case.

There are business models that allow you to start making money almost immediately. And there’s no badge of honour rewarded for how many hours you worked before feeling successful. Thanks brain, but I don’t need you self-sabotaging my growth for the sake of trying to keep me safe.

The universe gives you what you ask for.

I see this all the time with my mastermind clients. They ask for space, then they get it. They ask for a certain type of client, then they get it. Sometimes the thing they receive isn’t what they originally intended, but it’s always what they needed in the end.

I see it with myself too. When you’re wondering how to manifest what you want, you need to be extremely specific. Otherwise it might show up in a way you didn’t exactly imagine, although technically what you asked for.

You need to let go to create space.

A big lesson to learn: You have finite capacity. If you’re clinging onto things, you won’t have space for the next opportunity. And the longer you cling, the more likely it is that the universe will do the hard job of creating space for you.

The first time this happened to me in business, I was devastated. I lost my biggest client at the time and half my monthly revenue with a single email. But I wouldn’t have been able to grow in the way that I did with that client and other ones like it, so it was a good thing.

Now, every time I experience a technical loss, whether it’s losing a client or not winning an opportunity, I look for the thing that’s supposed to fill that space instead. I know that something better and more aligned is coming my way.

I see this with my clients as well. They say they want to take on bigger projects, more responsibilities, and command higher rates. But, for example, they hold onto things like small retainers for too long. These are things that feel consistent and safe at first, but are taking up valuable space that would allow for bigger and better. Sure, it might feel risky at first to make a big change… Because it’s new. But what’s riskier is holding yourself back because it’s comfortable where you are now.

You’re working towards sh*t you don’t want.

I’ve found myself in this spot so many times: Do I keep pushing to try to make something work that I know deep down doesn’t feel aligned, but seems like the thing I should do? Or do I scrap it all to go after what I really want?

Similarly, I see others holding themselves back because they aren’t showing up authentically. I’ve been guilty of this too! I talked about this before, maybe not on this channel because I grew beyond that point before getting here. But there was a time when I was trying to be likeable. To be vanilla. To be “professional” and fit in.

It was terrifying to think of what could happen if I showed up online as myself. People might not like me. What would they think? I had to work through a lot of head sh*t around my character traits, specifically the things I used to think were embarrassing or unlikeable. I had to grow personally in order to show up authentically professionally.

The moment I stopped doing vanilla and started showing up as myself, everything felt so much easier. My business grew exponentially, and a weight was lifted. Again, the correct option might feel riskier. But when you take calculated risks in business, they pay off.

You’re making it harder on yourself.

We’re conditioned to not just let sh*t be easy, but it can be. You don’t need to grind yourself into the ground to be deserving of the success you have. You don’t even need to work 8 hours a day.

Along the same lines, you can make money doing things you love. And it can be easy… My biggest month in 2023 was also one of my fullest in life. I traveled, went skiing, saw family, etc. It felt like I wasn’t trying at all, but things were just clicking. I’ll get to why this was possible, and tangible things you can do too in the next section here!

You need to recharge.

If you’re thinking about how to manifest what you want, but all your solutions just revolve around pushing yourself more, remember the law of diminishing returns. The more you work, the more tired you’ll be. More overtime amplifies that issue.

Think about the answer to this question: How are you right now?

When you’re constantly in survival mode, you’re never going to be able to tap into your flow. You need to fill your cup—I don’t say “rest” because we instantly think of napping, and I’m not that kind of person, but you do need to take care of yourself and find ways to recharge.

Remember that every time you’re tempted to add one more thing to your list, say yes to that misaligned lead, or clock the late shift at your desk for the 3rd time this week. Do you really need to work right now, or are you just choosing to at the risk of diminishing returns?

Let it be easy to manifest what you want

The times when I’ve let things be easy and followed my intuition are when I’ve seen the most return: Success, greenlights, money, opportunities, good vibes… whatever you want to call it. Most biz growth came when I stopped pushing and trying to keep up with trends, and instead leaned into what I felt was right.

What do I mean by that? Let’s talk about some specific actions you can prioritize instead. Here’s what you can actually do to manifest what you want from your business and your life.

Get clarity on your ideal work-life situation.

I’m a big fan of designing offers (and your entire business) around your ideal day-to-day. Don’t want to take meetings 3 weeks out of the month so you can travel or live your life? Cool. Let’s make that happen.

Look at the data in your business.

Always start with your numbers. What’s selling well? Vs what’s maybe selling, but wasting your time? What’s getting decent traffic, but not converting? Do you actually have a conversion issue or do you just need more traffic

Cut what’s not profitable from your business.

Can we please let this be the year where we stop doing sh*t we don’t want to do? Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should.

Ex. Designers stop offering copy audits under the radar even though you’re not 100% comfortable with doing this. Refer your clients out to someone who actually offers this.

Dedicate time and resources to systems.

Anything that you’re going to do more than 2 x in your business should be systemized. This is a habit you can develop so you start to set up systems naturally as you work.

Ex. Write a step-by-step list and film a Loom of how you format a client deliverable. Then your future team can refer to this.

Break big goals into realistic projects.

I try to limit myself to 2-3 key priorities per quarter, month, and week at varying levels. For example, if a major internal project is to audit and refine our sales funnels in Q1 of this year, what categories of tasks need to happen each month? Each week? And is that realistic?

It’s eye opening to actually write down everything you want to do then try to fit it into the time blocks you have available. Often, you’ll find that you’re trying to cram too much in.

Let the rest go because it doesn’t matter.

This is the most important thing you can train yourself to do consistently. Stop adding sh*t to your list. No, you don’t need to build a new lead magnet just because a competitor you admire you did. No, you don’t need to launch a digital product at the same time as hiring a team to help with client work. Focus will get you farther, faster.

How to manifest what you want starting with personal development

Okay, you have your action items now. But there’s more to all this… I’m convinced that personal development is necessary for entrepreneurship. You can’t manifest what you want if you don’t know who you are as a person. Especially if you’re a personal brand, the 2 are closely intertwined. Why? Because understanding yourself is the only real hack to growing your business.

Knowing your weaknesses will help you overcome them. Seeing your personal strengths will help you leverage them. Acknowledging your tendencies will help you predict outcomes. If you dedicate time and effort to work on yourself, you’ll likely see the growth you want in your business too.

So where do you start? Here’s some ideas…

Self-awareness is how to manifest what you want

If you’re not self-aware, you’re going to feel stuck longer. Sorry, not sorry—it’s true. How do you gain self-awareness though? My go-to answer is always journaling. I encourage all my clients to journal regularly. At the very least, for their business growth. Even better if they create and stick to a routine that helps them personally.

Journaling is a consistent recommendation of mine, and I share a library of prompts and templates with The Inner Circle Mastermind members to help them start and refine their journaling practice. It’s cool to watch the transformation of those who specifically don’t journal at first, and how they build habits that help them self-lead and discover personal insights they didn’t know they had.

I think this is kind of like manifesting what you want: You have all the answers inside you if you know where to look for them. The key is to develop habits that help you find those answers or manifest your ideal work and life situation.

How to manifest what you want—not what others say you should have.

You don’t have to do shit that people tell you to. Only you truly know what you need. This is why the best coaches know when their clients need a coach or a consultant. If you want me to wear my consultant hat, I’ll tell you a recommended plan based on my personal and professional experience and insight. If you want a coach, I’ll provide tools to help you arrive at your own answer. Because despite what it might feel like sometimes, you often have the correct answers inside you. We just have to learn how to pull them out.

The importance of mindset: How to manifest what you want

Mindset work should be interwoven throughout all of the above. You need to work through your perfectionist tendencies, limiting beliefs, and negative habits if you want to grow your business in a healthy way. But that change also comes from taking action. It’s a journey of developing self-awareness, then rebuilding new habits that create change.

Because you’re a human being, not a robot. So you can’t just push yourself harder or clock more hours at your desk or think about what you want with enough emphasis to get there.

Stop waiting for the perfect fresh start

I get it—I’m a recovering perfectionist too. It feels good to start something new at the start of a week, at the new year, or the beginning of a new month. But why are we doing this? At the time of publishing this blog, the new year is a great chance to revisit. If you’re reading this later, don’t let that arbitrary timeline control you.

You’re in control. You get to ask for and go after the change you want. That’s how to manifest what you want.

If you like the above, this is exactly the kind of work we dig into inside The Inner Circle Mastermind. Learn more and apply here.