Manifestation used to be quiet. Something you did privately, a notebook hidden under a bed, a vision board made with old magazine cutouts. A few hopeful sentences you repeated to yourself, half believing, half cringing. Now it's everywhere, on instagram, on tiktok, on your explore page at 1 am when you’re already questioning life choices. It looked like an intention. Focus. Choosing to believe in something even when it felt uncomfortable. People didn’t wait for signs, they made decisions. Manifestation wasn’t passive, it was personal. Now, positivity has gone viral.

Manifestation shows up everywhere, affirmations on loop, perfectly lit reels promising alignment, captions reminding you to “let go and let the universe handle it.” Vision boards are aesthetic. Belief is content. And somewhere along the way, intention started to replace action.

The strange thing is, manifestation itself isn’t imaginary. Neuroscience suggests that the way we think repeatedly can rewire the brain. Our thoughts influence habits, choices and how we respond to opportunities. Visualizing goals, staying positive and focusing attention can genuinely help people move closer to what they want not because the universe delivers it, but because the mind starts working differently. That part is real.

What’s less helpful is the way manifestation has turned into a kind of surrender. For some, it has become a reason to stop trying altogether. People talk to the universe all day long, waiting for signs, while quietly giving up on themselves. Life happens good or bad and everything is labeled as something they “manifested,” even when no real intention or effort was involved.

At some point, manifestation stops being empowerment and starts looking like avoidance.

Belief without self-belief doesn’t create much. You can repeat affirmations endlessly, but if you don’t believe in your own ability to act, to choose, to take responsibility, nothing really changes. Manifestation isn’t about handing your life over to the universe, it's about believing you’re capable enough to participate in it. That’s the part the trend often skips.

Online, manifestation is packaged as effortless. Say the words. Feel the feeling. Trust the timing. If it works, you’re aligned. If it doesn’t, you doubted. This leaves very little room for effort, failure or the simple truth that some things don’t work out even when you do everything “right.” It also puts a strange pressure on people to stay positive at all times. Doubt becomes a flaw. Frustration feels like resistance. Normal human emotions get reframed as obstacles to success. That’s not neuroscience, that’s emotional bypassing.

And yet, it’s easy to see why people cling to it. We live in uncertain times. The future feels unstable. Systems don’t feel reliable. In moments like this, belief becomes comforting. Positivity feels safer than confronting how little control we sometimes have. Manifestation offers the illusion of certainty in a world that doesn’t offer many guarantees, but then belief was never meant to replace responsibility, right? 

Science doesn’t suggest that thinking positively removes the need for action. It supports it. Rewiring the brain works when intention is paired with effort, consistency and a willingness to show up even when things don’t go your way. Manifestation begins with belief, but it survives on self-trust.

Maybe the most honest question isn’t “Am I manifesting this” but “Do I believe in myself enough to act on it?”

Because the universe can’t do much with intention that never leaves the room. Maybe manifestation was never meant to explain everything that happens to us. Not every win is a reward. Not every loss is a lesson. Sometimes things just happen, and that doesn’t mean we failed to think positively enough.

Intention matters, but so does choice. So does showing up on days when belief is shaky and motivation is low. The quiet work rarely looks aesthetic, but it’s the part that actually moves life forward.

Manifestation isn’t about sitting back and hoping. It’s about choosing, trying, failing and trying again with belief as the fuel, not the substitute.

Positivity works best when it’s grounded in reality…. When it supports effort instead of replacing it, when it helps you believe in yourself instead of fostering the belief that the universe will do the work for you. Maybe that’s what got lost when positivity became a trend (not belief itself) minus the responsibility that was always meant to come with it.