Manifesting.
It’s one of those words people use a lot thanks to the slew of new books, infomercials and movies that proclaim that nothing is earned and nothing is worked for, but that things “manifest” in a person’s life, as long as they “ask for” or “think” the right things.
You want a car? Visualize it. Think about it. Feel it. And then ... *BAM* ... It will “manifest” in your life.
How about a million dollars? No problem! Again, visualize it and feel it, and then ... *POOF* ... Buy that lottery ticket and drive to pick up your winnings.
Does that sound silly to you? I hope it does. Unfortunately, that’s what’s being taught as personal development these days.
I hate the word “manifest” or “manifesting” - at least the way I used it in today’s personal development lexicon. Instead of working for something or earning something, it led many people today to believe that they can “manifest” anything just by thinking about it. Unfortunately, this is not only a stupid notion, but one that seriously ruins many people’s chances of having a successful life.
I surprise many people when I say that I don’t read many self-help books. When I read one, I stick to the old ones, the classics. Of course, Haanel is at the top of the list, but there’s also Napoleon Hill, W. Clement Stone, Claude M. Bristol and a few others.
When you read the classics, you see that hard work and service are integral to success. Yes, it is important to have a positive mindset and good thoughts, but it is not as important as getting to work. Only through action and service to others can one achieve any type of success, whether it be in business, a career, or a relationship.
In The Master Key System, Haanel uses the word “manifest” (and its derivatives) 111 times. Does he mean you will materialize your wants and desires as the modern day flappers claim?
The quick answer is no, it does not. The first instance of the word “manifest” in the machine key system appears in week one -
"13. If we find wisdom in the world within, we shall have the understanding to discern the marvelous possibilities that are latent in this world within, and we shall be given the power to make these possibilities manifest in the world without."
Haanel writes that what we dream, we can achieve in the world. We all have more potential within us than we give ourselves credit for. We sometimes think we can’t do something. “I’m not good at math.” “I’ll never get that promotion because I can’t do what my boss does.” “She’s too good for me.” Whatever. When we get past these preconceived notions and start striving to achieve our goals, we become a bit like Edison, who, with barely a school education, changed the world with his inventions and discoveries, the light bulb being just one of hundreds of inventions that came out of his mind.
But it takes work. Edison, even though he visualized, planned and believed he could do it, didn’t wait for the Universe to answer his call for a light bulb. He performed over 12,000 (twelve thousand!) experiments until he found the one that worked. He “manifested” what he had in mind, but that “manifestation” only happened because of his actions. It was not a “gift” from the Universe; it was the reward for his years of hard work. He earned it.
(For the record, the concept of a “gift” from the Universe is also pretty silly. It’s another word in the new self-help lexicon that really needs to be thrown out.)
According to the definition of the word “manifest”, “manifest” means “to display or show or be evidence of something”. For example, if you have too many viruses in your body, they will manifest as a cold - stuffy nose, fever, aches and pains. A person who has pleasant thoughts will more than likely manifest them by doing pleasant things, like holding doors open for others.
Let’s go back to Edison. He was an intelligent person. How do we know that? His inventions and discoveries made his intelligent thinking manifest.
In the same vein, a courageous person is courageous because he does courageous things - they manifest his courage in his actions.
In Week Seven, Haanel wrote the following.
"4. This is another psychological fact which is well known, but unfortunately reading about it will not bring about any result which you may have in mind; it will not even help you to form the mental image, much less bring it into manifestation. Work is necessary - labor, hard mental labor, the kind of effort which so few are willing to put forth."
It have literally flogged me at the stake for using the phrase “hard work.” Of course, these verbal attacks come from the wealth-without-labor crowd. But here’s Haanel saying exactly what I’m saying: you have to work hard, otherwise, don’t even try!
Here’s how Haanel describes the “protest” in no uncertain terms.
You must see the picture more and more complete, see the detail, and, as the details begin to unfold the ways and means for bringing it into manifestation will develop. One thing will lead to another. Thought will lead to action, action will develop methods, methods will develop friends, and friends will bring about circumstances, and finally, the third step, or Materialization, will have been accomplished.
Note that Haanel wrote that thought will lead to action. That methods will be developed. That friends will create the circumstances.
Does this sound like a gift from the Universe?
Does this sound like something that materializes out of thin air?
Does it sound like the drivel of the latest books and movies?
Perhaps some confusion develops when people read lines like this in the Master Key System -
"27. If our thought is constructive and harmonious we manifest good; if it is destructive and discordant we manifest evil."
What this really means is that if we are “basically” a good person, we will do good things. Likewise, a bad person will probably not do good things, like Charlie Manson, Osama Bin Laden, or the schizophrenic who mutilated his family while they slept. Once again, we see thoughts lead to action - not thoughts that create a tear in the Universe's fabric to bring into reality what you have thought.
Finally, to quote Haanel once again, this time from the “Questions and Answers” of the Master Key system
To labor is to serve and all service is honorable. But a "hewer of wood" contemplates blind service instead of intelligent service. Labor is the creative instinct in manifestation. Owing to the changes which have taken place in the industrial world, the creative instinct no longer finds expression. A man cannot build his own house, he cannot even make his own garden, he can by no means direct his own labor. He is therefore deprived of the greatest joy which can come to man, the joy of achieving, of creating, of accomplishing, and so this great power is perverted and turned into destructive channels. He can construct nothing for himself so he begins to destroy the works of his more fortunate fellows. Labor is however, finding that the Universe is not a chaos but a cosmos, that it is governed by immutable laws, that every condition is the result of a cause and that the same cause invariably produces the same effect. It is finding that these causes are mental, that thought predetermines action. It is finding that constructive thought brings about constructive conditions and destructive thought brings about destructive conditions.
Haanel finds that work (read: labor) is of the highest and noblest nature. He notes that as men work less; they think of destroying the work of prominent men. One only has to read Haanel’s biography to know that he worked - and worked hard - to accomplish what he did. He did not materialize it from heaven. His thoughts lead to plans that lead to actions that lead to his success.
What I’m trying to say in this article is that the world of self-help has been infected with a plethora of terms that promise much but deliver little - the primary term being “manifest” or “manifesting.” I believe these words have been manufactured and/or perverted by a new generation of snake oil salespeople to appeal to the crowd of those who get rich without working or to play in the hopes of people who are weak but want more. This is their business - and their business has always been good and thriving. And it has never been more obvious than it is today.
But when these authors and “teachers” make people believe that the life they dream of is just a thought, because the Universe is just asking to give gifts upon us, we enter an almost diabolical realm. While the crowd of those who get rich without working will fall prey to these “ideas,” as they usually do to anything that promises something for nothing, it is the people whose hopes we played upon and ultimately disappointed who are hurt the most. Instead of giving the hungry man a fishing pole or even a fish, they tell him we can permanently appease his hunger - just by wishing for it.
The result is that he starves to death when he could thrive without the critical information he has been given.
So I propose we put an end to the inane and inept use of the word “manifestation.” In its place, let’s bring back terms that make sense - and that actually work.
How about bringing back the words “work” and “service”? These are two words that have been forgotten for far too long. I think a return to “goals” would be healthier. Along with goals, the word “plan” should be revived. No more letting the Universe take care of the person. And the word “win.” That’s a word you rarely hear these days. People feel “entitled”; they also believe they are receiving “gifts”; but few will actually earn anything. Let’s let them know they can!
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I think that would be a good start. If you don’t know these words yet, familiarize yourself with them. I can guarantee that once you know them, you will be more successful than you ever imagined, because you discover that work gets results while wishes and “manifestations” get ... nothing.
Remember that Rome was not built in a day, but it was built, not manifested.
