Is it possible to manifest health? That’s the topic of today’s post. But first, what does it mean to manifest?
Manifesting, also known as the laws of attraction, is the power to turn your dreams into reality by adapting your mindset and behaviors.
Whilst there’s limited scientific evidence to link manifesting with positive outcomes, adopting a growth mindset is proven to bring on behavorial change; a fundamental element necessary for creating a new healthy lifestyle.
In this post you will find 5 growth mindset strategies that will help your clients manifest good health and happiness. Read on to learn more.
The Origins of Manifesting
The origins of manifesting can be traced back to ancient Buddhist transcripts.
“All that we are is a result of what we have thought.” – Buddha
In the 19th century, the Laws of Attraction (manifesting) gained popularity as one of the pillars of the New Thought movement.
In 2006, the bestselling self-help book “The Secret” written by Rhonda Byrne, brought manifesting into popular culture, selling over 30 million copies, and spawning a Hollywood movie by the same name.
More recently, a new wave of manifesting enlightenment has gained momentum on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. This latest manifesting resurgence is led by Gen Z influencers as a way to navigate mental health issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The power of the human mind has been held in high regard for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Manifesting techniques have been used throughout history in the hope of manifesting money, wealth, love and perfect health.
No one can deny the power of positive thought, and if we scratch below the surface you will find that there’s more to manifesting than simply wishful thinking. In fact, if we break down the key elements of manifestation, they look very much like a well-established and scientifically-proven strategy to achieve lasting behavioral change. Ever heard of growth mindset?
The Importance of Having a Growth Mindset
Growth mindset techniques have hit the mainstream. They’re now used in schools, by elite sports teams, by entrepreneurs, and even large organisations such as Apple and GE.
A growth mindset is the belief that growth and success is the result of effort and learning, and was first proposed by psychologist Carol Dweck. Growth mindset principles place emphasis on the journey rather than the destination and have been proven to:
- Boost motivation
- Heighten resilience
- Increase enjoyment in learning
- Improve the likelihood of reaching your goal
Sustained behavioral change is something we as health coaches aspire to achieve with our clients. Interestingly, manifesting principles and growth mindset strategies share several similarities, and if used correctly, can lead to the formation of healthy new habits that actually stick. Interested to learn more? Read on!
Manifest Health With These 5 Proven Growth Mindset Techniques
The power of thought is central to both growth mindset and manifestation concepts. Here, we’ll explore 5 proven growth mindset strategies that will help your clients manifest health and happiness:
1. Set SMART Goals
The difference between a dream and a goal is a plan.
SMART goal setting can be hugely impactful on your clients’ success.
The SMART acronym stands for:
- Specific: Target a specific area of your client’s health
- Measurable: Identify how you’re going to quantify successful completion of your goal
- Achievable: Assess whether this goal is feasible
- Realistic: Is this goal achievable?
- Time: Set a defined endpoint for your goal
Let’s take a look at how SMART goal setting works, using a hypothetical client example.
Hypothetical client goal: To lose 20 pounds before their wedding in 6 months.
Your client’s main goal is to lose weight for their wedding in 6 months. A holistic health assessment of your client’s lifestyle identifies that they lead a stressful, sedentary life.
As their health coach you recommend they incorporate more low intensity movement (walking) into their daily routine.
Here’s what this new SMART goal would look like:
- Specific: Daily 15 minute walk
- Measurable: Track steps using Strava
- Achievable: Yes, it is feasible for your client to walk daily, either during their work lunch break, or immediately after they wake up in the morning
- Realistic: Yes
- Time: 21 days
Research shows that a new behavior can take anywhere from 18-254 days to become a bonafide new habit. Why 21 days? Because 21 days (or three weeks) is a manageable length of time for a client to commit to (in the first instance). You can always check-in with their adherence and make adjustments as needed, like lengthening or shortening their walk time.
Why do we like SMART goal setting? Because SMART goal setting breaks down a goal into actionable small steps. It emphasizes the performance of a task (daily walk) instead of fixating purely on the outcome (to lose weight).
2. Use Positive Affirmations
Affirmations are positive statements used to empower and motivate. Health coaches, personal trainers and life coaches use positive affirmations with their clients to help them overcome self-sabotaging and negative thoughts. Psychologists use positive affirmations with patients to treat mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.
Research has shown that affirmations can:
Affirmations can be used with your clients to help reinforce positive thoughts. They are most effective when repeated on a daily basis (or even several times a day), whether in thought, as a visualization exercise or when journaling.
Affirmations are usually short bold statements that leave no room for negative thoughts. Here are 5 affirmations that are sure to bring out the best in your clients:
- I can do this!
- I am resilient.
- I am proud of myself.
- I am bringing a positive attitude to my eating habits.
- I am honest to myself and others.
Positive thought can make you feel unstoppable and is essential for sustainable lifestyle change. Affirmations are a proven growth mindset strategy that will help your clients stay motivated through the ups and downs of their health journey. Or in other words, affirmations will help your clients manifest better health.
3. Meditate
Improved focus, calm mood and positive thoughts. These can all be achieved through mediation. Our modern world is filled with distractions, and our attention span is shorter than ever before. When we live in a world with tailored marketing campaigns designed to tantalize our tastebuds, having a tool to help your clients stick to their goals and focus on making the healthiest nutrition choices is hugely beneficial. As a health coach, being able to teach your clients a few basic mediation strategies can be a handy strategy to help them stay motivated to make the healthiest lifestyle choices.
But firstly, what is mediation?
Mediation is a set of techniques that promote a heightened state of awareness and focused attention. These techniques include deep breathing and practicing mindfulness (living in the moment). There are plenty of meditation apps available online that can guide your clients through a calming meditation practice. These include Calm, Down Dog and Headspace.
A daily 15 minute meditation session has the power to improve mood, enhance cognitive function and boost confidence. Incorporating meditation into your client’s daily routine is likely to help them stick to their other healthy habits and in turn help them to manifest psychological and physical health.
4. Visualize
Visualization is a powerful growth mindset concept you can use to help manifest health in your clients. Research has shown that imagining something can be just as impactful on many areas of your brain, as actually experiencing it. The more real you can make your visualization, the more impact it will have.
Sports psychologists use visualization techniques with injured elite athletes to maintain skills and fitness as well as aid in the healing process.
Visualization can be incorporated into your client’s meditation practice, and has the power to help them let go of any limiting beliefs and feel better about themselves.
5. Embrace Challenges
The growth mindset philosophy does not see failure as something to fear, but rather as an opportunity to learn and grow. By simply removing guilt and shame you will find there’s no need to “get back on the band wagon” because you never fell off!
If your client comes to you distressed about an indulgent weekend getaway filled with booze, fast food and processed sugar-laden treats. You can use this as an opportunity to help them learn and grow. Start by asking them how they felt before, during and after their vacation. Together, you and your client identify that the excessive indulgences didn’t bring the feelings of joy that were anticipated beforehand, and they certainly didn’t outweigh the insomnia, the throbbing headache and the churning stomach that lingered for several days afterwards.
In this example, your client learnt that excessive unhealthy choices do not bring joy while on vacation, and it’s unlikely that they will make those unhealthy decisions on their next weekend away. Upon reflection, your client is grateful for their learning experience, and this will help them to make healthier choices in the future, and in turn, manifest good health.
Recap
In this post, we have outlined 5 growth mindset strategies to help you manifest health in your clients, including:
- Set SMART goals
- Use positive affirmations
- Meditate
- Visualize
- Embrace Challenges
Help your clients become the change they want to be, and manifest their health using growth mindset concepts today!
