Manifesting for the Year Ahead

The beginning of the year comes with a useful prompt for us to pause and reflect, taking stock of what came prior and how we might wish to change or continue certain habits, hobbies and routines. For me, the New Year is in many ways a time to focus on my vision for the year ahead; how I want to feel within myself, what I want to do more of and how I would like to continue to expand as a person mentally, emotionally and physically. To kick off 2026, I consolidated some of the key points from different experts on how to achieve your goals and lead your happiest, "wealthiest" life. Keep reading to learn more.

Start by Figuring Out What You Do and Don't Want

Something I like to do before either creating my vision board or manifestation list for the year is, to clear my space and reflect on the previous year's board to see what came to fruition, and what didn't. I also like to have a moment of reflection to get clear on what it is I really want to call in. In the words of Sahil Bloom, "throughout your life, you've been led to believe that money is the only type of wealth. In reality, your wealthy life may involve money, but it will be defined by everything else." In his latest book, The Five Types of Wealth, he sets out to explain that wealth can be broken down into five categories; Time, Social, Mental, Physical and Financial Wealth. By encouraging us to think holistically about how we approach our lives and our idea of "success", he takes us out of our often limited mindsets asking us to think about how our bodies, minds and social connections feel. Are we energised? Getting enough sleep? Eating in a way which will actually nurture and nourish us? Are we moving our bodies enough? Do we have healthy interpersonal relationships? It is in the small daily habits and interactions, that happiness is really found and less so in the big-ticket items we had built up in our minds.

When writing out your vision for the year ahead, remember how it is you want to feel energetically, mentally and physically, before rushing to write a list of the accolades or things you want to acquire. Bloom argues that you can create greater clarity and perspective for yourself by creating an "anti-list". Meaning, should you wish to be promoted to Director of your company, write an anti-list stating the things you don't want should that goal materialise, such as travelling most days of the year, hardly seeing your children, being absent from key dates. Writing an anti-list can help us to re-prioritise and clarify what it is we actually want as opposed to chasing what we think we should want.

Write Your Goals Down

There are different approaches to how you can create your vision board: you can either take a piece of card/paper and simply create lists and bullet points under subtitles for the different areas of your life, or you can create more of a mood board including printed or cut out images alongside words. I have done both and personally really enjoyed the process of cutting out inspirational images alongside my chosen words for what I wanted to focus on. But in fact, both work and the process should always be enjoyable and intuitive. Trust your instincts on what feels best suited to you. The key is in writing things down.

According to the author of the bestselling book Manifest, Roxie Nafousi, "writing down your goals is a crucial first step in manifestation because it creates clarity and it makes success more likely. The process of writing down specific desires is scientifically proven to activate the brain's Reticular Activating System (RAS), which helps to keep those goals at the forefront of your mind, making you more alert to opportunities that can help you achieve them." By doing so we start to align our behaviours and our actions.

Maintain an Attitude of Gratitude

It's great to know what you want and where you want to go, but something which may seem less important, but is in fact crucial, is gratitude for what you already have. In the words of the legendary Oprah Winfrey, "the single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have right now. And the more grateful you are, the more you get." As an longstanding fan of Oprah's, I have often heard her cite Newton's third law of motion as one of her core life principles; "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." What this implies is that, what we put out into the world (positivity, negativity, hurt) always returns to us, ultimately shaping the course of our lives. If you put out positivity and kindness it makes sense that this would in turn create abundance; attracting a similar vibration.

One of my favourite ways to practice gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal which I write in every evening before bed. It's a great way to look back on your day and cherry pick all the small in-between moments which occurred which are otherwise so easily forgotten. Similar to meditation, it is also an act of mindfulness which trains our brain to refocus on the positives. The more you do this, the more you will start to notice these things as your day is unfolding. I find it especially helpful when life becomes stressful or challenging, as there will always be some good things happening to or around you, which you can focus on. Often when challenges pass, there are silver linings which later emerge, making you realise that those experiences were in fact necessary for you to go through, or that something was in fact later gained or unexpectedly put right.

Surrender

Once I've written my list or made my manifestation board for the year, I let it go and put it away. This is normally somewhere I can still take a look at it throughout the year, should I feel the need to, but more often than not, I don't. My board starts to feel like a little secret between the Universe and I, one where there is a private message delivered which carries with it implicit trust and acknowledgement that things will happen if they are meant to be and all in their own good time. Sometimes, I have had something on my board for one year which didn't materialise but does so later. When it does, I often realise that the timing was just right and that had it happened any sooner, it may not have brought about as much positive change. Surrender brings us to a place of trust. Trust in a higher power and the Universe's own divine timing and wisdom.

The core idea is that, the need to control or force a result creates resistance (think Newton's 3rd Law of Motion), which in turn pushes the desired outcome away. "Surrender is the critical final step that transforms anxious wanting into faithful allowance, opening the door for miracles to happen." There is a beautiful line from the book, A Course in Miracles, which has made its way into many of wellness and pilates coach Melissa Wood's meditations, which I try to practice daily. The words are, "Where would you have me go? What would you have me do? What would you have me say, and to who?" Something about these words stir deep within me and make me detach more from my overly conscious mind. Make a plan, align your actions, then let things flow and live in the present moment.

May 2026 be your best year yet; filled with positivity and abundance.