How to Manifest, According to a Life Coach

Beyond typing “manifesting!” on social media, life coach Kimi Lu shares her expert advice, tips, and insights for manifesting.

Last year, life coach Kimi Lu saw one of her manifestations come to life during a flight. Like other passengers on the plane, she remembers looking at the first-class cabin and taking a photo of it. Then, she posted on her Instagram stories that to be in first class is her next manifestation. On her next flight, as she was about to settle in her seat, she was told that she had been upgraded to first class. “It was such a ‘Wait… what?’ moment,” she says. “It felt like the universe gently saying, ‘See? You asked, you aligned, and here it is.’”

For her, it was less about the seat and more about a reminder about manifesting: “When you set an intention and allow yourself to believe it without gripping too tightly, things can unfold in ways you don’t even anticipate.”

Over the past few years, “manifesting” has been such a buzzword on the Internet. On TikTok, content creators broke down how Ariana Grande manifested her role in Wicked (2024). On Instagram, people share photos and videos of their manifestations. Users even comment on posts related to their manifestation, as if typing in “manifesting!” is going to make their desires come true. 

Though it does sound like manifestations are just proclaiming your wishes to the universe, manifesting is a practice that requires work. “Manifesting is not passive longing, it’s active participation,” she says. “The universe responds to momentum, not wishful thinking.”

She defines manifesting as a “mental rehearsal paired with intentional action.” To manifest, she says, you have to choose the direction you want your life to move toward, and train your mind to believe that it’s possible, then take steps to match that belief. “Manifesting is both an art and a science: the art of envisioning who you want to become, and the science of behaving like that version of you a little more each day,” she explains.

In a short interview with Vogue Philippines, the life coach shares her tips and insights for manifesting.

Know the difference between wishful thinking and actionable manifesting.

“Wishful thinking sounds like ‘I hope,’ Manifesting sounds like ‘I’m preparing,’” Lu says. According to her, manifesting requires desire to be aligned with the behaviors, boundaries, and beliefs you’re willing to shift. Actionable manifesting requires identity work. “You must become someone who can hold the thing that you want.”

That being said, she agrees that manifesting is a form of magical thinking. “It is magical thinking, because aren’t we magical beings?” she says. She describes the process as deeply mental, being intentional with the redirection of your thoughts, emotions, and identity that you want to create. Aside from the mind, taking care of the body and spirit is also equally important. “When you put all of that together, of course, it feels magical because it’s a holistic transformation. It’s you becoming the best version of yourself, which naturally leads to having the best life.”

Practice your personal manifesting framework.

For Lu, her personal manifesting framework is simple and heart-centered: decide, believe, embody, and S.L.A.Y. Decide your one desire with radical clarity, believe through rewiring rituals and language that supports expansion, embody the version of you who already has it, and S.L.A.Y., which stands for Show up, Love, and Align Yourself. “It’s not about perfection. It’s about devotion,” she says.

When life gets hard, she also advises starting small. “You don’t need a five-year vision, you need a next best feeling or next best step,” she shares. “Regulate first, dream second. Safety creates space for possibility, and also, celebrate even if it’s a cute success.”

She also recommends building daily habits based on three things: gratitude, micro-actions, and environmental audits. Describing gratitude as a “major ingredient in manifesting,” she practices gratitude twice a day, during mornings and evenings. Micro-actions are the tiny steps you’re taking every day to come closer to your goal, and environmental audits involve curating what and who influences your energy.

Remember that manifesting is not a straight line.

When things don’t work out, it doesn’t mean that you’re a failure. “Manifesting is not a straight line,” she says. “It’s a dialogue. Sometimes the timeline is off, the direction needs calibrating, or the desire wasn’t really yours to begin with.” For her, there is value still in redirection. “Nothing is wasted, everything is feedback.” According to her, it could also mean that there might be something better-suited for you. “You surrender it to a higher power who has greater plans for you,” she says.

Know and feel your worth.

Unworthiness, Lu says, is the biggest block that she often encounters with clients. “The quiet belief that they’re asking for ‘too much,’” she says. To help clients feel their worth, she teaches them embodied confidence, heart-centered boundaries, and micro-evidence practices. “When someone feels deserving, everything accelerates,” she says. “I teach them also how to have an abundance mindset. This means that there’s more than enough for everyone.”

Begin with one desire.

To begin manifesting, the first thing she advises you to do is to choose the one desire that excites and scares you in equal measure. Then, she advises you to write a letter from your future self, imagining yourself in a timeline where your manifestations already happened. “It snaps your brain into possibility, identity, and clarity immediately. It’s not magic, but it’ll feel magical!”

In this story: Photographs by ABDULL ARTUEV. Creative Direction and Styling by ALEXANDRE DORNELLAS. Makeup: Maria Olsson. Hair: Dalibor Vrtina. Video: Victoria Cliffe. Fashion Production: Kaio Berguer Photography Assistants: Sasha Favorov, Islam Berov. Video Assistant: Sebastian Jimenez Ruiz. Color: Daimon-Tay Bork Models: Yaxin Cao, Sija Kang, Shan Li. Casting: Mayak Productions. Executive Production: Ana Camiza.