I Tried Manifesting For Six Months – Here’s What Actually Changed

For a long time, I thought manifesting was just another internet buzzword, but over the past six months, I decided to try it properly. While living in New York last summer, I was broke and slightly panicked about returning to Ireland, so I decided to give it a go. After some research, I figured out the core of manifestation: writing your goals down, being specific, and working for it. Since then, I’ve manifested: an ideal hybrid job, an apartment in Dublin, an editorial internship, and even a modelling contract. Something seemed to shift, whether it was the universe or wishful thinking.

At the start, I felt oddly compelled to buy The Artist’s Way. I was so drawn to it, I convinced myself that it must be a sign (and slightly influenced by Doechii). I started writing in the book and it cleared the fog in my head. It helped me understand what I wanted from my life. To manifest something, you need to be clear on what you want, what it would feel like to have it, and who you need to become to get there.

I had to start preparing for coming back to Ireland. The thought of going back to Ireland with no money was so stressful. I was already penniless in New York, but it’s a whole other story being broke back at home. So I needed to find a job, I thought carefully about what I actually wanted. Manifesting doesn’t have to be complicated. I just wrote down my ideal job scenario, as vividly and as detailed as I could. I wanted a proper office job, something more sophisticated. On top of that, I wanted to work in a more female-focused industry. I also wanted a hybrid role, something I had no experience in. So I wrote down in detail every single little thing I desired about this job, including nice colleagues, a good manager, and a location within walking distance of where I lived.

Meanwhile, I scrolled relentlessly on Indeed, updating my CV for every role I saw, and sending follow-up emails, one after the other. I applied for basically every job I saw, and heard virtually nothing back, despite everything. Eventually, I did hear back, and I landed an interview. It was with a leading jewellery company in Ireland. It was a hybrid role, and I did not know it yet, but it would end up being a ten-minute walk from my future home.

I don’t need to go into renting in Dublin, we all know it’s diabolical. But I held hope that I would find somewhere to live. Every day I applied to houses on daft.ie, and I wrote out a list of everything I wanted in a place. At the very least, I did not want it to be a studio. My last apartment was a studio and I just hated having my bed in the same room as my cooker. I also wanted a little garden and somewhere within walking distance of my job. For the first two weeks at home, I commuted to my new job. This took two and a half hours every day from Longford. During this time I had lots of time to apply for apartments and think deeply about what I wanted.

Then I got an email about an apartment I could barely remember applying for, asking if I’d like to do a viewing. It was rare for me to even get offered a viewing so I jumped at the chance. I couldn’t believe it was a ten minute walk away from my new job. I walked towards the house and thought to myself: I’m just walking home after work right now, this home is mine. It is worth mentioning that I also had no money. As sceptical as others were, I held hope that if this apartment was meant for me it would be mine. During the viewing, the landlord turned to me and said “You seem like a nice girl, it’s yours if you want,” I couldn’t believe it.

‘Of course,’ I said, just before my landlord started talking about a deposit. “I just need to go home and gather my bearings,” is how I phrased it, but now I was freaking out because I had no money and I needed to live here. He told me that if I wanted the apartment, to send him €500 tonight. “Perfect,” I said calmly, deciding I would figure that part out later. I barely had enough money for the train home. I managed to muster up €500 which I then sent to the landlord that night. I couldn’t believe I had found an apartment in Dublin so close to where I worked.

Now that I had a house and job, I could settle and focus on my hobbies. Writing, photography and videography have also been passions of mine since childhood and I really wanted a career in those areas. But everybody has to start somewhere so I started researching internships. I wrote a page about my dream internship, wrote out a list of a hundred companies I wanted to email, spent weeks creating a portfolio, emailed each company one by one, and put all that information into a spreadsheet. That is the less glamorous side of manifesting: there is often a lot of admin involved. But the main difference was that I was doing all of this thinking: who knows who has seen my email? Who knows who has read it and taken note of my name even if they didn’t reply? I wrote to around 30 companies before Stellar got back to me, and was offered an editorial internship. I was so ecstatic. It felt like life was finally starting to unfold the way I wanted it to, all from getting specific about what I wanted and staying open to the possibility that it could happen.

I had never modelled professionally before. I’ve always wanted to give it a go. I wrote about it in detail and then tried to figure out how to go about it. I’ve done photoshoots before for a local Irish brand (shoutout Solidarity Studios). I made a modelling portfolio from those pictures and sent them off to a few agencies. I almost forgot about it, until I received an email with a contract offer. Suddenly, I was signed to a modelling agency in Dublin.

I often feel like a very lucky person, but I also know it takes work. It took me years to undo patterns of negative thinking and self-talk. When researching manifestation, I learnt that one of the most powerful aspects is how you speak to yourself. One of the core ideas of manifestation is that you have to act and speak as though what you want is already yours, in order to receive it. Not everything is controllable, but when you realise you are the one steering the ship, a lot can happen.

Manifesting works best when you’re in a positive mindset. I try to achieve this by assuming that underneath it all, my desires are coming true. I try to make a list of everything I’ve done in a day that brought me closer to achieving my goals. This doesn’t have to be a crazy list, sometimes it’s just working on a draft or doing a workout. I also try to journal my “morning pages” every day. This is an idea I got from The Artist’s Way, where you journal 3 pages of your stream of consciousness every day. You can do this however you like. Some people write to the universe; I write to God. When I begin to write I can’t help but blurt out everything I’m so grateful for. It was a process but comes naturally at this point. I try to be more conscious of the music I listen to, because so much of it can be negative or emotionally draining. I try to listen to music that gives off a positive energy, because the words you take in and speak are so important spiritually. One song that always reminds me of manifestation is ‘No Rush’ by Dina Ayada and Gunna.

Before learning about manifestation, I did not have the positive mindset I have now. I never got to feel its impact. Even if I never achieved anything I desired, I’d still keep these habits, simply because of how good it feels. Manifestation also changed my daily habits. I spend less time on my phone because I know it doesn’t help me feel positive. I spend more time focusing on creative endeavours instead, and that has greatly improved how I feel about my own life. Manifestation forced me to get specific about my goals, act like the person I wanted to become, and stop approaching life passively. Everything became intentional. Whether manifestation is spiritual, psychological, or just a very effective way of clarifying what you want, six months of it made me stop waiting for life to begin and start moving towards the version of it I actually wanted.

Words by Katie Walsh