Does Manifestation Really Work? The Neuroscience Behind Seeing More Opportunities

Photo by Nathan Dumlao (cropped to fit)

Does manifestation work?

The more I am reading about the neuroscience behind it, I believe the answer is yes.

I have always been an optimistic person, even as a kid. I just always viewed the glass as half full when many others would see the glass as half empty. I try to always see the positive side of things, not being naive to the negative possibilities but just choosing to view things on the brighter side. Some would say I live in a world with rose colored glasses on.

Up until recently, I never really thought much about manifestation, nor have I ever created a vision board. After doing some research, there are two aspects to manifestation that when they are in complement, can be very powerful.

Let's first start with manifestation itself. The simplest real example I can give is about 10 years ago, I was working with someone, and he pulled up next to me in the parking lot in his Toyota FJ Cruiser. I asked if it was new model from Toyota as I had never seen the FJ, of which he said he has had it for years and they are all over the place. He described the vehicle as a bit cult like that the people that drive them love them. I found it so interesting as I had never seen the car before. Or at least that is what I had thought. In that next week, I saw the FJ Cruiser about 10 times on the highway to and from work. The reality is the FJ just didn't magically appear, it was always there, my brain just chose to filter it out.

The neuroscience I just read is your brain takes in 11 billion bits of information a second but only chooses to present 40 bits at any given time. That is just a small percentage compared to 11 billion bits. Think about it, how many times do you drive by millions of blades of grass and thousands of leaves on the trees only to focus on a few things- the cars in front of you, maybe the cars to the side and behind you, and some of the street signs or stop lights. That's it. Millions of data points and you only focus on just a few.

The specific part of the brain that presents and processes this is called the Reticular Activiating System or RAS if you were interested.

Taking the FJ example and combining it with the 40/11 billion bits of information, your brain presents what you tell it to present. So, if you tell it to look for cars that are red in color, you will see more cars that are red in color. The same is true if you tell your brain to look for positive based opportunities. It's not that the negative ones just go away, it's just that your brain filters out the negative ones to present you the positive ones.

Do you recall the old Henry Ford saying, "if you think you can or can't, your right". Both answers are correct based on your manifestation.

The second part of the equation is the subconscious part of your brain. Your RAS is also programmed by your subconscious beliefs. If there is a conflict between your conscious and subconscious beliefs, your subconscious usually wins because it is 500,000 times more powerful.

The misalignment can be something like saying "I want to succeed" but your subconscious mind stating, "I don't deserve this". The latter might be based on a childhood trauma or a bad relationship. To get yourself in alignment, you first have to recognize the gap/conflicting information, work on getting to be more in alignment (maybe through writing or talking to someone like a coach or therapist). Lastly, once you worked to gain better alignment, focus on consistent repetition of the alignment. In the original example, its "I want to succeed" and "I deserve this".

If you then combine the manifestation of saying "great things will happen" and being aligned in your subconscious mind that "you deserve it", so many positive things will come your way.

A disclaimer, I am not a neuroscientist, just read across a variety of sources to compile this information.

Cover photo by Ahmed Zayan

Top 5 Ways to Be More Intentional

Photo by Lucas Calloch

When I first started working, my VP (2 levels above me) seemed like the busiest person. He had work, he was an avid golfer and had a wife and 2 kids. I was always curious how one of those three didn't suffer, which is typically family.

Then one day, during a conversation with a mutual colleague, the individual shared with me that when our VP is at home, he is solely focused on the family. When he is golfing, he is just focused on golfing, and the same with work.

He was being intentional.

It was my first experience to that concept and one that stuck with me ever since.

Today, the hardest part I see for most people is to be engaged with an in-person conversation. The go to is opening your phone, either to check messages or social media. Typically, it is when a conversation doesn't hold our interest, we opt to go to our phones, which provide that immediate hit of dopamine to the brain.

Another great example is going to a concert. I first noticed it many years ago when my in-laws got Mary Beth and I tickets to go see Taylor Swift on her Fearless tour. All of the tween and teenage girls near us weren't watching the concert, they were filming it on their phones. Instead of just being in the moment, they were abstracted from the concert with the phone as the barrier. I feel every concert since is that way as well.

Knowing all this information, how do you make the switch to become more intentional?

Here are 5 steps to be more intentional.

• Step 1) Recognize there is an opportunity to become more intentional

  • As with most things in life, recognizing the opportunity (or problem) is the first step in the process.
    

• Step 2) Make the decision you want to be more intentional

  • Deciding to be more present in your life and not living behind your phone or computer screen is a choice and you have to want to do it. There are lots of benefits that you will experience. There is a reason the term "stop and smell the roses" is so popular.
    

• Step 3) Breath

  • Yup, breath. Take time out of your day, ideally in a quiet spot but it doesn't have to be, and just breath. Actually, there is a bit more to it. You have to focus on your breathing. Sometimes you hear it as the breath is your anchor. Everyone breathes every second of every day. But take the time to focus on one part of your breathing. For example, it could be the movement in and out of your diaphragm, chest, or stomach (you can also put your hand on your chest or stomach to feel the movement). Other areas of focus could be on the cool air going in and out of your nose (or mouth). More than anything, just find something to focus on.
    

• Step 4) Come back from a wondering mind

  • It will most likely happen that your mind will wonder and your will lose focus on breathing. The idea is to recognize when this happens and come back to the focus on the breath.
    

• Step 5) Take the time to do it

  • I just read that 12 minutes is the ideal amount of time to get the most benefit and every minute thereafter is even better. If you are just starting out, maybe try for 1 minute or 5 minutes and work your way up.

Try to notice over time how this is helping. Are you not on your phone as often? Are you engaged more in conversations? Do you ask questions to the person you are with? Do you find your attention span is better? Are you reconnecting with hobbies you used to do like reading?

These are all signs of improving your wellbeing by being intentional.

For me, I don't do it every day, but I try a few times a week to work on these steps. Sometimes it is just sitting in my chair, other times it is when I am outside in nature or driving a car and focusing on the changing leaves (as it is fall now as I write this). There are companies that can help with this like Calm or Headspace. About once a week in the mornings, I listen to one of the 8 episodes of Headspace Guide to Meditation on Netflix which helps.

Today, I just sat in silence and as I was focused on my breathing, I was thinking of something happy like the warm sun at the beach in Aruba, and then it focused on the airline plane tickets, and then something else. When I realized I was wondering, I went back to focus on the breathing.

Again, you don't need any tools or to pay for anything. You just need time, the desire, and to follow the steps from above.

If you already do this or you have tried these steps, how has it helped you?

Cover Photo by Tom Dils

3 Simple Study Hacks to Boost Your Grades Fast

I was a solid B student in school.

Photo by Sigmund

In fact, my GPA in High School, College, and Grad School was a 3.12, 3.13 and 3.14 (although I can't remember the actual order). You could say I was very consistent.

I did struggle in high school in my early years, and then one day, my mom or dad (can't remember which), gave me a VCR tape titled "Where There is a Will, There is an A". It was this teacher who came up with these strategies to help students study better. For example, we retain our notes 3x more if we review them within 3 minutes of class.

To help you or your child/student perform better in school, here are three really simple strategies to improve your grades.

1) Short Study Bursts are Better than One Long Session.

This picture below is my best representation of how I remember the video. The concept was that you remember more at the start and end of each session. So, if you study for 1 long hour, your best recall is at the beginning and the end, with a big dip in the middle.

However, if you take 4 shorter sessions within that hour with 5-minute breaks, you have many more beginning and end points, therefore, you will have better memory recall.

I know in today's classrooms, rote memorization isn't as common as it was when I was a kid but the concept to help you learn better still holds true.

In this example chart below, the 1 long session will produce 2 peak retention sessions, while the Four Short Bursts will product 8 peak retention sessions. I think I know which one I will choose!

AI generated chart by Claude as my hand scratched example just didn't articulate what I was trying to share.

2) Use a Notebook

That may sound foreign to many nowadays who are typing all of their notes on a computer, or now using AI to listen, record, and summarize the notes for you, why would anyone need to write in a notebook.

Photo by Med Bad Chemmaoui

The value here is that writing, the concept of using your 5 senses, helps with recall. Writing your notes, reading them back out loud, and listening to yourself (or perhaps even a recording of yourself speaking), uses 4 of the 5 senses. The more senses you use, the better you will improve your learning experience.

3) Exercise after Studying

There was an experiment done in 2024 where students who cycled for just 20 minutes after studying sent a rush of oxygen to their brains. They recalled the information 2X better than the control group who stayed seated. I would also assume that this works for walking (probably briskly) jogging, or even light movement like yoga or dancing. The important factor is movement and getting the oxygen to the brain.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema

What you don't want to do is give yourself a reward by going on your phone and scrolling social media.

What are some of your best study tips?

Cover Photo by Tuyen Vo