Once you know the life that you want to manifest, you’ve cultivated self-love, removed fear and doubt, overcome tests from the universe, aligned your behaviour, embraced gratitude (without caveats) and turned your envy into inspiration, all that is left for you to do is to have trust: trust that the universe will provide you with everything that you need and trust in the magnificent magic of manifesting.

This trust can be described as a ‘knowing feeling’. It is knowing that, even if you have no idea how it will happen, you just know that it will. It is knowing, without doubt, that the things you desire most are coming to you. It is this belief and unwavering faith that will ultimately enable you to call in whatever it is you want to manifest.

One of the biggest misconceptions about manifesting is that it is about controlling your future. But manifesting is not about control. Manifesting is about surrender. It is about knowing and visualizing what you want, being proactive in reaching it but then surrendering to the journey that will ultimately guide you there. Remember when I said, at the start of this book, that visualizing what you want is like putting your exact destination into Google Maps? Well, imagine, then, that manifestation is the computer program behind the app. You allow it to direct you on which turns to take, which roads to avoid, which highways to travel down and to help you get you back on track if you take a wrong turn. You don’t attempt to control this process; you allow it to do its job while you do yours. So, to surrender to the magic of manifesting, you must trust in it in the same way.

Before I discovered manifesting, I viewed any kind of rejection as supporting evidence that I was unworthy or unlovable and I repeatedly allowed it to deter me from moving forward. I settled for less than I deserved because I doubted that the things I desired would ever come to me. I allowed envy to take over because I didn’t believe that the life I wanted to have was one I could create for myself. I was forever standing in my own way, because I didn’t have faith in a better future. Now, thanks to my unwavering trust in the universe and in manifesting, my life is very different: I see rejection as nothing more than a redirection to something better; I never settle for less, because I know that when I demonstrate high self-worth (by overcoming tests from the universe) I will be rewarded with abundance and I don’t waste valuable energy on feelings of envy but instead seek to be constantly inspired. I know, from deep within me, that the universe has my back. I trust that it wants to provide me with the abundance it holds. I believe that the universe is generous and that it wants to provide for us all. It wants us to know our worth, to let go of what no longer serves us and to step into our power. I know that the universe wants the best for me, and I want you to know that it wants the best for you, too.

This final step is arguably the most powerful of them all. Not only does it help you to overcome challenges with greater ease, it empowers you to transcend fear and doubt, the two biggest blocks to manifesting. There is simply no room for fear and doubt to exist when you have full faith in the universe and its ability and willingness to provide for you.

FEELINGS OF TRUST, ASSUREDNESS AND UNWAVERING CONFIDENCE ARE ALL HIGH VIBE AND THEY ENABLE YOU TO EFFORTLESSLY ATTRACT ABUNDANCE INTO YOUR LIFE.

Trusting in the universe supports your manifesting journey in another way, too: it allows you to cultivate that magnetic attitude of gratitude that is needed for manifestation. How? Well, when we are certain that something is going to happen we can surrender to the journey of getting there. This, in itself, removes a level of worry, anxiety and stress, because it removes the constant question of ‘How will it happen?’. For example, let’s imagine you are house-hunting: if you lack trust in it all working out the way you want it to, during your search you may find yourself constantly and desperately wondering, ‘When will I find it?’ and then feeling disappointed every time you see a house that isn’t ‘the one’. You might begin to panic that you won’t sell your current property in time and you may find yourself having sleepless nights worrying about how it is all going to play out. The whole process could become an incredibly stress-inducing situation. However, if you have complete trust in the universe and trust that the perfect house will present it to yourself at the right time, you will be able to let go of all the low-vibe worry and doubt and instead give yourself an opportunity to indulge in feelings of joy and excitement about the search for your perfect home and the start of a new chapter. When you’re not worried about how you are going to get somewhere because you just know that somehow you will, you can simply be more mindful in the present moment and practise greater awareness and appreciation for all that is already around you. This is how we really sink into that manifesting sweet spot that I mentioned in Step 5: Embrace Gratitude (without caveats) (see page 109): knowing what you want while being simultaneously and wholeheartedly grateful for all that you currently have.

Step 7 is integral to manifesting and it reinforces all the steps that come before it, but it is also the one that people struggle with the most. I will often hear people say, ‘I’m doing everything I am supposed to and it hasn’t happened yet. Clearly, this doesn’t work for me.’ They become frustrated and doubtful and begin to undo all the wonderful inner work they had committed to up until this point: they fall back into bad habits and begin to settle for things that compromise their self-worth because they no longer trust in the process. This usually happens because of one thing: impatience.

Impatience is the enemy of manifesting. This is because impatience interferes with a little something called divine timing. Divine timing is the timing of the universe, of an energetic force greater than ourselves. Trusting in divine timing is essentially a fancy way of saying ‘I believe that everything happens for a reason.’ When we trust in divine timing, we can surrender the need for control, for fixed timelines and for an urgency to rush our lives. Trusting in divine timing allows us to be present and mindful and to know that everything is unfolding in the way it is supposed to. It allows us to stay strong when things don’t go exactly as we imagined. It allows us to find joy and beauty and contentment in the journey and not just in the destination. Divine timing is the essence of manifesting and we have to trust in it so that we can allow the magic to really do its best work.

For most people, divine timing is rarely given the space it needs to play out. What often happens is that they become impatient and begin to interfere with the process, and ultimately steer themselves off the path to their dreams in the hope of finding a quicker route. It’s easy to understand why so many of us do this when we live in a world of instant gratification. It’s as though we expect to manifest our dreams as quickly as we receive an online order.

The process of waiting for something is a huge test of our self-belief and self-worth. When something doesn’t come to us straight away there is more room for our negative thoughts, limiting beliefs and insecurities to grow. Our instinct can be to lean into that negativity and to lower our vibration by allowing our fears and doubts to get louder. We may say things like ‘I knew I wasn’t worthy of it,’ or ‘I should never have believed I could have that for myself.’ What happens then is that we try to heal the insecurity by finding something that can temporarily put a plaster over the self-doubt. For example, I had a friend who was single for a year. She had decided at this point that she was fed up with waiting to meet someone. She kept saying to me, ‘Why isn’t it happening?’ I gently reminded her that, first, one year of being single really isn’t that long, and second, it was clear that she was still full of fear and doubt. I told her that I believed she needed to focus on healing her past before she could call in her soulmate. But she did what many friends do when receiving advice; listened intently then chose to totally ignore it. She decided she couldn’t be bothered to wait any longer, allowed her feelings of unworthiness to consume her and, unsurprisingly, went on to date someone who was never going to be able to offer her the emotional stability and commitment she deserved. She was interfering with her path to meeting her soulmate for temporary relief from being alone. It was only when she finally broke off that relationship and began to really commit to her own self-development and to raising her self-worth and let go of that need for it to happen at a particular time that she was able to meet the man who is now her fiancé.

The trick, really, is to let go of waiting. Waiting, especially when it verges on being ‘desperate’ for something to happen, lowers our vibration and disempowers us and our manifesting abilities. Make a choice not to wait but instead to live in the moment.

We come back, again, to the importance of letting go. Throughout this book, and throughout our manifesting journeys, we are asked repeatedly to let go: let go of the person we were, let go of the person we thought we should be, let go of our fears and doubts, let go of things that no longer serve our most empowered selves, let go of envy and, finally, let go of the need to control the exact direction of our paths. When we trust in ourselves and we trust in the universe, letting go becomes effortless.

IN THE PROCESS OF LETTING GO, WE SURRENDER TO THE UNIVERSE. THEREIN LIES THE MAGIC.

I’d like now to tell you about how I used all the steps you have just learned to manifest this very book that you are reading now.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved writing. It has always been my favourite and most comfortable way to communicate my thoughts, ideas and feelings. When I was at school, I would dream of becoming a published author and holding my very own book in my hands. I would tell people with complete certainty, ‘I’m going to write a book one day.’ But, as I entered a new phase of my life and began university, that dream was very much side-lined, as many of our childhood ambitions are.

A decade later, after I had discovered manifesting, realized my purpose and pursued my passion to become a self-development coach, the dream began to resurface. People would sometimes say to me, ‘You should write a book,’ and I would reply, ‘Yes, I’d love to, one day.’ The dream had re-emerged and I knew that I wanted to write a book – I was certain about that. But I wasn’t sure when or how or what.

Then, last year, a book agent got in touch with me via Instagram. She asked me if I’d ever thought about writing a book and we started talking. In our conversations, for the first time, I was able to gain complete clarity on what the book was going to be: my 7-Step Guide to Manifesting. Step 1 ✓. Then, about two months after we started talking about putting together a proposal for her to take to various publishing houses, the agent had to step away from working together for personal reasons. ‘This is probably a good thing as I didn’t feel entirely ready anyway,’ I thought. I stepped back and invested some time into looking at my own fears and doubt around writing a book – why did I not feel ready yet? I began to recognize some limiting beliefs that were stopping me from really believing I was capable, and then began to remove them one by one. Step 2 ✓. Then, around Christmas time, I made an internal decision: ‘I am ready to write my first book.’ I had simultaneously cultivated self-love and built my self-worth to such a place that I decided that I did not need an agent to help me find a publisher; instead, I was going to do it alone, with the magic of manifesting behind me. As I rang in the New Year, 2021, I wrote on my one-year vision board, ‘Book written, edited and ready for publication.’ I put it out to the universe. Then, I went on my Instagram and created a little Insta story that said, ‘Hi, I am looking for a book publisher. Anyone who is interested in talking, please get in touch!’ I aligned my behaviour by taking action, stepping out of my comfort zone and being proactive in moving forward with my visualization. Step 3 ✓.

A publishing house replied immediately; they were keen. I hadn’t heard of the publishing house before, but they were well respected within the industry. I spoke on the phone to the lovely lady who had approached me on Instagram and, within a week, I had received my first offer. It was a really good offer. But when I spoke to them again, something in me just wasn’t sure. I knew, in my heart, that there was one publishing house I wanted to sign with, and only one. It was the one that had published the book that first took me on my self-development journey, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers. The publisher I really dreamed of signing with was Penguin Books. Here was my test: an offer was on the table, but not from Penguin. I declined the offer on the Friday. Step 4 ✓.

The next day I met up with my good friend Olivia for a walk and told her about what had happened with the book deal. She said, ‘Why don’t you ask someone like Elizabeth Day for advice? She’s published some amazing books – perhaps you could reach out to her on Instagram?’ A lightbulb moment. I didn’t know Elizabeth and I didn’t feel comfortable reaching out to her out of the blue, but I did happen to know her agent, Grace, very well. I left Grace a voice note that night, and she replied explaining that the offer I had received was in fact a very good one for a first-time writer but saying she would have a think and let me know if she had any ideas on what I could do next. On Monday evening, as I was unwinding in the bath from a long day, my phone went. It was Grace. She said, ‘Hey, Rox, so, I totally forgot, but I actually had a Zoom meeting scheduled in this morning with Ione, an editor from Penguin’s non-fiction department. She said they’re looking for some new material. Here is her e-mail address.’ I smiled to myself. How serendipitous that she had a meeting in her diary with my dream publisher less than forty-eight hours after I had reached out. Still sitting in the bath, I typed out an email to Ione straight away. I had complete trust that the universe had presented me with this opportunity for a reason. Step 7 ✓. The subject line of the email was ‘The Manifesting Book’ and in it I wrote, ‘Hi Ione, I got your email from Grace just now. To introduce myself quickly, I am a self-development coach and manifesting expert. Each month I host self-development workshops on Zoom, one of which is my 7-step guide to manifesting. I want to turn it into a book. Excuse the forward email but let me know if you want to chat. Happy Monday! Roxie x’.

Five minutes later, I received a reply.

Hi Roxie, Thanks for getting in touch. I’m so glad you did. Manifesting is something I’ve been talking about with my team recently and keeping an eye on. So, I am very interested and would love to find out more. How does Thursday at 9.30 a.m. work for you to discuss a little more? Thanks again for reaching out. Warm wishes, Ione.

About ten minutes into that meeting, I noticed something. There was a book on Ione’s desk with a cover I recognized instantly: Susan Jeffers’ Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. I knew the moment I saw it that this was meant to be. Within a week we had made a formal agreement. I cried on the spot: Penguin would be publishing my first book – and I had found out exactly one year, to the day, from when I had hosted my first-ever manifesting workshop.

TRUST IS THE GLUE THAT HOLDS THE STEPS OF MANIFESTING TOGETHER.

As you begin to explore manifestation, look out for ‘coincidences’, or serendipitous moments, and for those times when you are thinking about something and it suddenly shows up for you. For example, if you’re thinking about a song you want to hear and it suddenly plays on the radio, or if you think about someone you haven’t spoken to for a while and they message you out of the blue. Take note of all these occurrences and allow them to help you strengthen your trust in the universe. Allow them to show you the powerful energetic force that exists in the universe and the powerful ability within you to create and alter your own reality. And then, when the things you want to manifest into your life begin to appear, see your trust strengthen tenfold and allow that to propel you even further into your manifesting journey.