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

Why Investing in Yourself is the Best Investment You Can Make

Photo credit by Wang Sheeran

Every day when we make a purchase, we make an investment. It may not be the traditional investment like buying a stock, but you are choosing to invest your time and dollars on that product or experience.

Even buying necessary products, like clothes are investments. For example, you may buy an outfit for work or for a night out. Technically, any piece of clothing would do but your decision to purchase that special outfit may make you feel good or at the very least, not feel out of place compared to everyone else.

We make these investment decisions every day. However, how many times do we make investments in the products we purchase, even if they are expensive, because it's worth it.

Let me give you an example. Once the pandemic came, I started to work from home all the time. I used to be out visiting customers a few days a week and my physical activity was a lot more including simple things like getting up more often, moving around, walking from meeting to meeting, etc. Now, and for the last few years, I have been stuck to my desk. While I try to walk around and move as much as I can, sometimes I am just beholden to my computer, desk, and chair.

As a result, my body just started to get tight. It wasn't necessary stress from the job, just a lack of inactivity (and change of routine) from what I was used to. Plus, I was getting older and things don't move as effortlessly as they did in my teens and 20's. I would try all sorts of things including yoga and stretching but no matter what I did, my body was tight.

I found myself on the couch at night watching TV and moving my legs up in the air to try to stretch out the muscles. No matter what I was doing, nothing was working, and more than that, I just assumed it was something I had to live with. Not because I was old or stressed, just part of who I was. It got to a point where I didn't know any different.

Then I met Louie. As mentioned in my post, The Olive Oil Conversation That Transformed My Kitchen, Louie started talking about how there was a specific olive oil had a significant amount of polyphenols (refer back to the link above to learn more), which help reduce inflammation (most good Italian olive oils have some level of polyphenols, but there are certain ones that provide more than others). By the way, there are other foods like honey and blueberries that also offer high quantities of polyphenols.

During the conversation, my first thought was this would be a great olive oil for Mary Beth to use as she has been complaining about tight muscles for years following her acoustic neuroma surgery and a few subsequent surgeries. Louie shared that a tablespoon a day was a good amount to see the benefits.

Mary Beth tried it. Now here is a fun fact. A really good olive oil will have a peppery aftertaste, especially if you try it straight. Because of this, it just wasn't something she could get down. She finished the bottle putting it on salads and other food items but for the sole purpose of helping with inflammation, she opted to pass due to the strong taste. At this point in time, I didn't try it yet.

About 2 months went by and I was on my ongoing quest to get better performance out of my daily activities. Much of that was focused on building a routine around eating better and exercise, all to get optimal performance out of my day.

My ultimate goal is to be at my 100% best all day long, all week long, all year long, for years.

I remembered during my initial conversation with Louie that this specific olive oil helped him with focus. One of the things that come naturally to me is good focus. For example, when the kids were little and would play "Star Wars" with lightsaber battles or LEGO and I wouldn't even hear them (with my office right there with a 1/2 wall and no door). I don't know how I do it, but I can just tune out the noise and distraction. However, if I could improve my focus even a bit more, that would be another advantage I could have.

So I decided to try the olive oil myself. After about a week of a tablespoon a day, I didn't see any improvement in my focus. But I figured I would give it one more week.

At the end of week 2, I still didn't notice any improvement in my focus. But I did notice something unexpected. I started to feel looser. My body wasn't stiff anymore (same job, same routine). My legs didn't need to be stretched at night, and I wasn't doing stretching exercises during the day either.

I was amazed at the results. I felt 10 years younger. The great thing about this olive oil is it is not some off the wall infomercial type product It is a genuine Italian olive oil that just has some specific nutritional properties to it.

For about 3 years now, I take a tablespoon a day straight and just chase it with water. Recently, I have been putting a little Himalayan salt to help cut down on the peppery taste. Mary Beth, and our son Matthew put it in their smoothies as a means of cutting the bite. They aren't as religious as I have been in doing it every day, but I stand by it personally (note, I am not a doctor or medical professional).

Long story to share that this olive oil costs about $48 a bottle and it lasts about a month. Even being out of work, which I currently am, the investment of the $48/month is an investment in myself.

Regardless if you drink olive oil or do something else, the idea is to take the time (and money) to invest in yourself. If you do, your performance will improve, and thus the other things you are focused on, whether it be a promotion, a new job, getting to the next performance level in a sport, etc, will be easier to achieve.

Investing in yourself should be necessary, not optional.

Cover photo by Micheile Henderson