Yes - you heard me right! And look, I’m all about keeping it real, so I don’t mind saying it was only JUST 6-figures, but actually, that was exactly what I asked for.
I ended up creating my practice and my brand quite by accident. I was on a long-term contract in March 2020, due to go on until at least July. I hadn’t even thought about what next yet, I was so busy. And then, of course, COVID struck. My contract ended abruptly. I was 30 days away from my last invoice payment and then… nada.
For a moment I was stunned. What the f*%k am I gonna do now? How the f*%k am I gonna get a job when businesses are actually shutting down? I’m screwed.
Then a wonderful thing happened. I remembered everything I’d learned over the last 2 years. The last 4 years. The last 6 years. The last decade.
I remembered that I had the awesome power to manifest.
My first real experience of manifesting happened when I was 26. I’d been single for…ever, and had always struggled with the idea of opening my heart to someone else. My heart had been broken previously many times, and not even by romantic relationships. Family, friends, leaders and unrequited loves had all given my heart a fair old beating up to that point. And of course, the older we get, the more we believe the stories we’ve been telling ourselves for a long time, the more inhibited we become and the more set in our ways we find ourselves. By this point, I had a career, a mortgage, a car, two cats, a bit of debt, huge responsibilities - all on my own. I was also still a virgin and had had crippling body shame issues as a result of surgical scars from a birth defect correction when I was a child - issues that made me very reluctant to trust someone else to even see me naked. The stories were deep and real and “true”.
I’d been on dates but I was never going to be into casual sex. I was going to have to trust someone implicitly before I made myself so vulnerable. I didn’t believe that it would be possible. So it wasn’t.
Deep and real and “true”.
To cement those stories – and to keep me safe - I would MANIFEST unsuitable suitor after unsuitable suitor. The straight friend I “fell in love with”. The ex-vicar who had no idea who he even was. The hairdresser 15 years older than me. The guy that lived on a boat in dry-dock who asked me out for a drink then brought another guy back to the boat with us. The internet date who asked me out for a drink…and then brought another guy back to a hotel with us… did I have “up for a three-way as my first sexual encounter” tattooed on my forehead or something? All of these experiences only served to embed the beliefs and strengthen the stories in my head that I won’t meet someone I can trust and I’m right to keep my heart under lock and key.
And I had manifested every single one of them.
Then one day, in my 27th year, I decided enough was enough. I stopped trawling the dating sites (we had websites back then, none of this “swipe right” App malarkey), and I did what I now know as “set my intention”. I decided that I was absolutely fine and happy on my own. I was grateful for the life I had created for myself and IF I’m going to be in a relationship, this is what I want from a partner.
He will be attracted to who I am as much as what I look like.
I will be able to totally trust him and feel safe to be as vulnerable as I need to be.
He’ll want kids.
He’ll be experienced, but not massively more so than me.
He’ll be kind, sensitive and gentle.
He’ll be patient.
He’ll love me unconditionally.
He’ll fight for me.
He is out there and he will find me.
And I let it go and gave it no more thought, but carried on living my life to the fullest. I finally began to trust that if I’m meant to be on my own, that’s absolutely fine, and if I’m not, the universe will bring me THIS person. It’s him or bust.
Now, here’s the thing about manifesting. Once you decide what you want, put it out there into the universe with complete faith and no expectation and GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY, things SHIFT!!!
Quite possibly around the time that I put it out there, a man sent me a message on one of the dating sites. However, as I had put an embargo on dating sites, I didn’t see it. A month or two later, curiosity got the better of me, and I logged on. There were about 15 messages in my inbox, and I was conscious that some of them were old and probably would no longer be interested, it being so long since they messaged. So without even looking at them, I deleted them all.
A month or two after that, I was sat at my desk one Tuesday night, tinkering about with song-writing, and something prompted me to log on to the site. It was the first time in months I’d even thought about it. After a few minutes, I was startled by a loud “ping” from the computer. The site now had an instant messenger facility, and someone had seen me online and sent me a DM.
“Hey you - why did you ignore me?”
Quick look at the profile - no idea who the guy is.
“Hi there - I didn’t ignore you?”
“I messaged you months ago and you never replied?”
“So sorry, I haven’t actually logged on in months and I just deleted a load of old messages. I wasn’t ignoring you!”
“Hmm… ok”
“Honestly! I promise I wasn’t ignoring you, I genuinely didn’t see it!”
“Oh right. Fair enough. How r u?”
“Good thanks - you?”
I won’t bore you with the rest of it, but suffice to say, we chatted online for a while.
A couple of nights later, we logged on and chatted again.
We agreed to log on that Saturday. After about an hour or so of chatting, we swapped numbers and talked on the phone. He was a bit tipsy as he’d been out with a friend (I would later learn that this gave him a bit of Dutch courage to be so forward - he’s not at all like that in reality), so we giggled and chatted for ages and it was lovely. It had gotten quite late, so we agreed to keep in touch and that we’d speak to each other again.
The following day, there were texts. We spoke on the phone for about 6 hours. About EVERYTHING. We talked about our dating history. I told him all about the disasters. I also shared with him that I was a virgin (hate that word). He didn’t run a mile. We agreed that it might be fun to meet up. I was going away for a few days on a course, so we said we’d get together when I got back. The first night I was away, he called me at my hotel and we spoke again. For hours. I even missed the televised screening of Madonna’s Confessions Tour because of it (those who know me know what a big deal that was!). We met for a drink the day after, he was the perfect gentleman, didn’t rush me, we kissed (a lot), I drove him home and we said goodnight.
His name was John. Our first date was 28th November 2006.
2 and half years later, he became my husband. And he still is now.
To this day I 100% KNOW that I manifested him. He was absolutely everything on my list. Even to the point that before we got truly intimate, I sat down with him and, a mere 10 days after meeting him in person, was able to talk about all of my insecurities, my fears and my inhibitions. And just as I’d asked for, he handled it beautifully. My/our first time was wonderful. It was exactly what I needed. Exactly what I’D ASKED for it to be like.
I don't know what even compelled me to log on that Tuesday night. I don't know what compelled HIM to be quite so forward when he saw I was online - he really isn't like that at all! It was all quite serendipitous, and not AT ALL how I expected it to be. But all I had to do was be really clear, put it out there, believe it was coming, let go of expectations and have faith.
This is the very definition of manifesting.
Since then I have manifested:
A home that’s exactly where I want to live.
New jobs after being made redundant twice.
3 professional awards.
My dream kitchen (I absolutely love cooking and feeding people, so this was a big deal, and was also a lot of work and expense).
Qualifications in Yoga, Mindfulness and Meditation teaching.
A new car – that was GIVEN to me!!!
A way out of a business partnership that hugely benefitted everyone involved and did NOT damage any relationships but in fact made them stronger.
A 13-year-long happy marriage from my first and only real relationship.
Pretty incredible, right?
Fast forward to March 2020.
“What the f*%k am I gonna do now?”
“What ARE you going to do now, Neil? You can do ANYTHING!”
Of course! I had already manifested my perfect partner; a beautiful home that was exactly where I wanted to live; friends and family that I could finally trust; and a bloody good living. Plus I’d overcome many of my deepest fears, the darkest and most horrendous grief imaginable, the rise and fall of a business, redundancy, anxiety, depression, homophobia and bullying, debt, desperation, birth defects…
Now is ABSOLUTELY the time for me to step into my awesome power.
I booked myself in with a couple of coaches. That's right, I actually INVESTED in myself at a time when I 'should have been' pinching the pennies. This is a different and much higher way to vibe. And I put manifestation to the test. I set my intention in March that by the end of April, I will have turned over what I expected to. Just to see. And I let it go, and let my vibes do the talking. I didn't know how it was going to come in, but it was. And then a few remarkable things happened.
A bid that I wrote for a client months earlier was successful, and I took 10% of the award.
A friend threw a bit of work my way.
I got an unexpected tax rebate.
My parents gave me one of their 'treats' (every now and again they bung us a few quid to have a night out on them).
When I added it all up, it came to about £20 shy of what I was supposed to invoice in April. Amazing! And it didn't stop there. By the end of 2020, I’d defined my brand, established a logo, built a website (myself - from scratch!), invested in my perfect home-office (space is very important), tripled my network and turned over £45k - all working fewer hours, doing things I loved, with people I enjoyed working with AND throughout a pandemic. Not bad for Year 1, eh?
By the end of 2021 I hit 6 figures.
The beginning of 2021 was rocky. I had work booked in for January and a few things for March, but nothing beyond that, and nothing booked in February. There was an air of panic that I had shrouded in a ‘positivity plaster’, so I set about beavering away for days, pulling together plans, spreadsheets, writing articles, creating 365-day Instagram plans. You know, the usual…
Then it hit me – this is what is known as MANIC MANIFESTING!
Manic manifesting is a term I learned from Gabby Bernstein (LOVE her), and it’s basically when we pick and choose when and how we manifest, rather than having a consistent approach to manifestation. Manic manifesting comes from a place of fear and doesn’t usually yield much. What others see of the ‘Manic Manifester’ is frantic, sporadic, pushing, 100-miles-an-hour, breathless, confused and all over the place. This is low vibrational, and therefore doesn’t attract much other than the perceived need to ‘do even more’ – usually because what you are doing isn’t working. This was the first two weeks of January 2021 for me. Urgh.
True manifestation comes from a place of trust, faith and love. You see, it’s only from a space of trust, faith and love that inspired action is born. It’s from this space that we find a sense of inner peace and acceptance that enables our true self to show up, and show up with high vibrational energy. What others see from true manifestation – manifestation from a space of trust, faith and love – is calm, peace, openness, acceptance, curiosity, excitement, wonder and philosophy. THIS is high vibrational. THIS attracts!
I took my ‘manic manifestation’ approach (thankfully, I’d spotted it and got a hold of it) to the yoga mat and I asked myself a few questions.
“If you’re always exactly where you’re supposed to be, could there be a reason why February is quiet?”
“If the universe wants nothing but good things for you, what could be the ‘good’ in a quiet month?”
The answer hit me like a truck.
“The universe is making space for you!”
Now, if I truly have faith, then I will accept this and become open to the possibilities that February will bring. I’ll accept the gift of space and trust that it’s there for a reason, with no expectation, and willingness and openness to those possibilities..
Now, holidays hadn’t happened in 2020, so I’d worked pretty much full throttle since the previous February. Almost a YEAR without much of a break. Anyone who’s self-employed can probably relate to cancelling time off if work comes in. I’d also set myself some personal development goals earlier that month based on my learnings from the previous year.
So I let go of the spreadsheets and the 365-day (yawn) plans - long-term plans like that have never worked for me, I’ve always believed that creativity is inspired and cannot be forced. How on earth do I know in January what I want to say in September? And the first thing I did was blocked a week out to have a holiday. Just some time off to rest and re-charge. What better time to do it?
Around the same time, I received a marketing email telling me that funding was available for professional development in my area. I looked at the offerings and found a Level 7 Coaching Qualification – running in February! I applied for the course and the funding, and was accepted for both. I now had a relevant professional qualification course aligned to my goals booked in. FOR FREE!
Just towards the end of January, an urgent piece of work that needed to be done in February came in.
What started out as a bleak month filling me with panic became a month of rest, reflection, learning – AND I billed more than my minimum target for the month. Isn’t it amazing what we can manifest when we let go, trust, have faith and vibe at a high frequency?
With all the proof I needed, I set about considering what else I could manifest for the year. I looked at my cash flow forecast and decided I wanted 6 figures. Based on what I’d earned the previous year, I believed it was absolutely possible. I plotted into my cashflow spreadsheet the minimum I needed to earn each month to make it, to solidify my intention. And I let it go. No expectation of how or where. Just total faith that it would come.
Within a matter of days (literally – about 3 days!), I got a call from 2 clients about some regular work required until the end of the year that would help me nail that figure. Job done!
And then even more work came in.
Now, I share these experiences not to brag or boast. For me, happiness isn’t just about wealth - the manifestations that have meant the most to me haven’t even been the financial ones. I share these experiences as proof that manifestation works. The right mindset, clear intention and faith create the highest levels of vibrational energy imaginable, and this is what draws what you desire towards you.
I’m not surprised that work has come thick and fast because I have been an absolute joy to collaborate with. People who vibrate highly usually are.
I’m not surprised I have a successful marriage because I’m a great partner. People who vibrate highly usually are.
I’m not surprised I have amazing, kind, generous friends that are a pleasure to be around because I am that kind of friend to. People who vibrate highly usually are.
And I look to the future with faith, excitement, curiosity, and a ‘just say yes’ approach to opportunities. This is what people who vibrate highly usually do.
So have a think about YOUR energy – are your vibes high? Get really serious with yourself and be non-judgemental about it. If your vibes are low, there will be good reason for that – you are NOT an idiot. But if they are low, what are you going to do about it? At any point you can choose to shift your vibrational energy by tuning into and adjusting your mindset, setting clear, manageable and achievable goals and intentions, and having FAITH. Believing in and trusting both yourself and the universe.
I’ve done years of personal work to get to this point. I’ve also helped countless others come to these same realisations and put actions in place to create these shifts. It’s a huge part of what I do as a coach and trainer even now.
And don’t get me wrong – even I still struggle sometimes! Life takes over, some patterns are more deeply embedded into our lives as well as our psyches than others. But I don’t worry about them. Because I KNOW, TRUST and have FAITH that at any point, I have everything I need to make whatever changes I want to and to manifest all I desire. And the universe always has my back.
Comments