In Instragramland, all are trending a review of 2025 as they are preparing to walk into 2026. I know for me, I’ve been journaling to get really clear on what I’d like to see of myself in this coming year. Manifestation Culture says to call on the gargantuan focus and efforts:
“I become a millionaire this year.”
“The love of my life enters with money, means, and passionate commitment.”
“My bank account ends in 2026 in the multimillions.”
And on and on. For some, all of these manifestation delulu affirmations makes sense. They are already almost to that point. But for some of us, when we reflect on 2025, we made small moves, that we were not able to fathom doing in 2024.
This is my story. I did small things in 2025 that were huge. These very steps are what I am using to seed my efforts in 2026. In this blog post I am asking you to consider your small advancements in 2025 as not so small. The leaps you made in 2025 you could not do in 2024. I am challenging you to not diminish or name those steps as small. For you to have accomplished all that you have in 2025, it took you stepping into a version of yourself that did not exist before. In essence you became new.
You pruned.
You dared.
You prayed.
You blindly leapt.
You trusted you.
You did some things in 2025 that are noteworthy of celebration.
I am highlighting these points, because to be honest, Manifestation Culture has become exhausting to me as it gives the energy of self-depreciation and a lack of acknowledgement of the small decisions that must be made to manifest higher, bigger, and expansive. I have spoken with a many of friends who speak in wispy voices of the higher, better, bigger that is coming to them to align with the ‘name it and claim’ rules of manifestation. I’ve been trapped here as well, to later be disappointed that all of the wishboarding, affirmations, and visualizations did not work. I remember a former guy friend of mine quitting his job because for him, he was manifesting his mansion and millions. The only issue is it did not work, and he ended up returning back to the job to sustain and maintain his life. My point is Manifestation Culture, also, has to make sense.
Consider these Laws of Manifestation:
1. The Law of Divine Oneness Everything is connected. Your thoughts, actions, emotions, and intentions affect the whole, and return to you through the web of life. Manifestation insight: What you send out energetically is never isolated.
2. The Law of Vibration Everything vibrates at a frequency, thoughts, emotions, desires. Manifestation insight: You don’t attract what you want; you attract what you are resonating as.
3. The Law of Correspondence “As within, so without.” Your outer world mirrors your inner state. Manifestation insight: Inner healing and belief shifts are prerequisite to lasting manifestation.
4. The Law of Attraction Like energy attracts like energy. Manifestation insight: Focused intention + emotional alignment draws experiences of similar frequency.
5. The Law of Inspired Action Manifestation requires movement, not force, but aligned action. Manifestation insight: Intuition nudges you toward the bridge between desire and reality.
In looking in depth at these laws, one string of truth resonates: To be able to manifest what you desire internal work has to be done. Periodt.
In this year, I made decisions that were first internal. I had to sit with myself for days and months to be able to think that I was worthy of coming out as an author to appear at a bookfair. As I spent money to purchase the booth, researched for hours how to set up an attractive booth, spent hundreds on credit cards to buy the things I needed for the event- each step was an act of questioning and fracturing the idea of who I wanted to be. I had to challenge who I’d always shown up as emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally, and financially. Being able to manifest is not just vision boards and rhythmic affirmations. Manifestation is a fiery action that confronts, focuses on the underlying belief to elevate, and heal. Manifestation is not magic. Manifestation is an internal work.
As you approach this 2026 year with the next steps you’d like to birth, do yourself the favor of allowing a deep dive into the underlying script, soundtrack, and thoughts that lie beneath the surface. To not shed light and to dishonor this undercurrent disempowers what you are really trying to do. It is okay to doubt you alongside of the belief that you are totally capable. It is okay to feel disbelief that what you want to see in you can live alongside your knowing that you can absolutely do it. Just because you have doubts does not mean that you negate the manifestation. No one highlights this in the Bible, though Jesus knew he was the Son of God, in Matthew he listened to Lucifer question him with “If you are” statements. It is okay for Doubt and Belief to live together.
I want to encourage as you approach manifesting in 2026 is to be okay with looking at, uncovering, excavating, bringing to light, and exposing that shadow of doubt that is there and present. After shining that light, I promise you that a wider space opens as truth expands to what is possible for you to achieve in the coming year. Allow this space of exploration that will reveal your next greatest steps for 2026 which will honor, respect, and ingratiate who you are and what you are truly capable of manifesting now.
Never. Ever. Despise small beginnings. And truly, the small beginnings are not small, they are seeds for growth and expansive bounty!