How To Write A Manifestation Journal, According To An Energy Worker

Manifestation may be having a moment — the over 13 billion views on TikToks hashtagged #manifestion should be proof — but the practice has a long track record of helping people attract their dreams. Through the power of mindset shifts and visualization, people claim that practicing different manifestation techniques can help you attract love, career success, and even money. But where do you start when you’re trying to manifest?

“Manifestation can be as simple as daydreaming. The creative visualization that comes through dreaming is like the first stages of planning and bringing your desires to life,” Imani Quinn, astrologer and co-author of Astrology SOS, tells Bustle. When you can cement the details — like what color walls you want your house to be, or what your first big purchase will be after you get the promotion you want — you’ve officially planted the seeds for your future.

Quinn is a Quantum mystic who uses dreamwork, divination, and ritual work to help people manifest their goals — and she insists that a simple manifestation technique can make a world of difference. “Journal writing, once a day for five minutes, is my go-to, hyper-effective technique,” explains Quinn.

Whether you’re an esteemed writer or a novice diarist, journaling is known in the manifesting community to be the key to success, backed up by manifestation experts like Gabrielle Bernstein, a public speaker and author of Super Attractor and The Universe Has Your Back, who also says that journaling plays a critical role in her spiritual practice. While there’s no one best way to manifest your dreams, if you’re in search of an easy start, a manifestation journal is one simple exercise that energy workers swear by.

Why Manifestation Journals Work

Writing has myriad benefits, but the way it helps you manifest is that it supports mindfulness. And when it comes to manifesting your goals, having a peaceful state of mind is crucial.

“As far as manifesting, journaling is the simplest and quickest way to form healthy thoughts, which manifest your desires even when you're not actively thinking about them throughout the day,” explains Quinn.

Not only does writing down what you want to manifest help you get clear on your intentions, but it allows your brain to reframe your existing reality. Journaling helps your brain’s natural ability to adapt to your changing needs. For example, if you want to manifest a loving relationship, and you jot down ideas of what you want the relationship to look like — where you’ll meet the person, where you’ll go on dates, the kind of lifestyle you’ll have — you’re helping your brain pick up on those qualities while on your next Hinge date. (Hopefully.) By making the conscious choice to shift your mindset and change your attitude about a situation through repetition (or expressing gratitude instead of complaining, for example), it’s believed you can alter your brain’s habitual routines, paving the way for your goals to manifest.

“Journal writing is a powerful tool used for manifestation because it creates a tangible way for your thoughts to be materialized. When thoughts are repeated they become a belief, and our beliefs then shape our reality,” says Quinn. “Journaling your intentions invites you to bring your intentions into your consciousness, so while you're busy throughout your day your intentions are forming beliefs that are working for you.”

How To Write A Manifestation Journal

Before getting started, Quinn asks you to think about where you’re channeling your manifestations. “Write in your journal by first directing your entry to the universe and ask for them to help you with your intention(s),” says Quinn. “Then, write out what your intentions are, and try to be short and concise.”

Repeat your intentions daily in your journal for at least three weeks, or when you start to develop a habit. “Then throughout your day, you can speak these intentions as wishes to the universe in your mind or out loud. This ensures you have the law of the universe behind you in bringing these divine moments into your life,” says Quinn.

One major caveat that Quinn notes is that systemic disadvantages can’t be manifested away, and that’s important to be mindful of that when beginning your journaling practice. “Everyone has a degree of privilege, which can be based on race, class, education, gender, age, and other categories. These privileges or disadvantages, depending on your placement within each category, can create windows of opportunity or challenges that should be taken into consideration within the manifestation process,” explains Quinn.

When done diligently and with care, the simple manifestation exercise of journaling can offer clarity on your goals and shift your attitude. If your thought is the match, journaling is your conscious choice to light it — and this cements your aspirations and goals as you send them off into the universe. When you commit to writing your manifestations out, you’re opening the floodgates to your dream reality.