The Manifestation Game and How to Play It

By Matthew Joyce

Luke Skywalker can’t do it. Neither can Harry Potter. Even Gandalf can’t do it.

It goes against the rules of the Force, magic, and wizardry to be able to create something out of thin air. Yet I can do it. And so can you, because the rules of the universe are even more powerful than the rules of fiction.

What I’m talking about is commonly referred to as manifestation. That is, creating experiences, circumstances and things in your life–seemingly from thin air. Scores of teachers and books talk about the practice and refer it by names like “The Law of Attraction” and “The Secret.”

But it’s not really a secret. In fact, it’s not even a big deal. You’re probably doing it already and you don’t even realize that it’s happening. Oh, you may be wishing for a winning lottery ticket or a new job that has yet to show up, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t working in your life.

No, I don’t mean to imply–like some people suggest–that if you’re not happy with your current life circumstances that you’re somehow to blame for doing something wrong. I really dislike statements like that. Instead, I mean what I said, you’re already doing it and you’re just not noticing it.

One great way to start to notice your manifestation skills is to play a little game.

The Manifestation Game

The act and practice of manifestation works on all levels and for all things, but often times we have a difficult time recognizing or believing that it’s at work in our lives. That’s why the Manifestation Game works on the principle of starting small and gradually working your way up to bigger and more complicated creations.

To play the game, start by deciding on a small amount of money that you’d like to experience in your life. Let’s say you want to experience finding 25 cents. For the initial round don’t get too particular about how that money arrives. You might find it in your pocket. Someone might give it to you as change. You might find it on the ground or in a vending machine.

Similarly, don’t get hung up on what form it takes. It might show up as a 25-cent coin. Or it might show up as two 10-cent coins and a 5-cent coin, or 25 one-cent coins. For the first round the important thing is to just think of a small amount of money and envision it showing up in your life.

This simple initial step does several things. By making “the rules of the game” very relaxed, you allow the universe to deliver the experience you desire in the greatest number of ways possible. Also, by choosing something small and common you increase the speed and likelihood of quickly experiencing what you desire.

If you think this is too easy, don’t worry. You can make things increasingly more complicated in future rounds. The reason for starting small and working your way up is that by taking gradual steps you can seamlessly overcome your doubts about your ability to create the things you want to experience in your life. And doubt is the single biggest barrier to creating what you want.

After you’ve chosen the amount of money that you want to experience, the next step is imagine yourself having the experience of finding that 25 cents. The key to this step lies in the “having the experience of” and not in the “25 cents.”

If there is a so-called secret to manifestation, that’s it. The trick is not to try to create the 25 cents out of thin air. The trick is to create the experience–your experience of finding the 25 cents you want–out of the untold number of possible ways and opportunities that may unfold in your life.

So after you decide what you want–the 25 cents–then concentrate on the experience you want to have. Imagine reaching out to pick up the coins. Envision holding the exact amount of money you were looking for in your hand. Imagine yourself smiling and feeling pleasantly surprised as you think “Son of gun, it worked!”

The next step involves setting your expectations. The idea here is to readily accept that you’ll find the 25 cents, which is different than going out to look for the money. You’ll undoubtedly want to keep an eye out for its arrival, but setting your expectations is more like agreeing to talk to a friend on a certain day or at a particular time. Once you agree, you wait patiently and confidently. You know your friend will call, but you aren’t quite sure about the exact moment that she’ll do so. But no matter how far in advance you make that phone date, you’ll naturally be holding the expectation that she’ll call you at the appointed time. It’s the same thing with the 25 cents.

So be on the lookout for your 25 cents to arrive because you’re expecting it to do so. It may take a few minutes or a few days but it will show up. That’s all there is to it.

Taking It to the Next Level

Once you have success with the first round, you’ll be ready to move to the next level. With an increased sense of confidence based on the previous step, you now increase the complexity of what you’re trying to manifest.

So instead of manifesting any combination of coins, you might try to manifest 27 cents. And this time you might want it to arrive specifically as a 25-cent coin and two one-cent coins.

When that exact amount arrives in your experience, you can increase the next amount to $1.36 and then $5.93, $10, $23, or whatever you fancy. You can also broaden the number of possibilities of how it might arrive, such as by check, as a refund, dividend, contest winning, etc. Each time you build on your confidence level from the time before, and you increase the amount of money that you’re looking for. You can take this game to any amount. Janet and I manifested $20,000 a while ago. But that’s not really the point.

The point isn’t about the money. It’s that you’ll gradually get into the practice of manifesting the experiences that you want in your life. For instance, during the week I’m writing this article I’ve manifested a barter arrangement for a training course I want to take, an interview with an author I admire, and a car with a Rhode Island license plate, just because I wanted the experience of seeing one since they’re hard to spot here in Colorado.

So to recap, there are several steps to the Manifestation Game.

How to Play the Manifestation Game

To play the manifestation game:

1. Choose exactly what it is that you want to experience. Start small and be specific.

2. Use your imagination to envision the EXPERIENCE you want to have–finding the 25 cents (or whatever you want to manifest)–rather than merely focusing on the object of your desire by itself.

3. Hold a sense of expectation that the experience will occur in your life exactly as you’ve envisioned it.

4. Repeat these three steps as often as you like until the desired experience occurs.

5. Once successful, choose the next thing to manifest. Gradually increase the size and complexity of your manifestations. Being specific helps you to build confidence. Being less specific makes it easier for the experience to happen.

Making the Game Your Own

When you can do these five steps repeatedly, you’ll not only be doing something that Jedi knights and wizards can’t do. You’ll be using the manifestation game to create the life experiences you want–seemingly out of thin air.

If you’d like to learn more about manifestation check out our Manifestation & Creation workshop.

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