179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization?

No Stupid Questions

Is there any scientific basis for the law of attraction? Are people who believe in “cosmic collaboration” more successful? And what happens when you write yourself a check for $10 million?

• SOURCES:
  • Rhonda Byrne, writer and TV producer.
  • Jim Carrey, actor.
  • Christopher Clarey, sports journalist and author.
  • Peter Gollwitzer, professor of psychology at New York University.
  • Dave Levin, co-founder and executive director of KIPP Public Charter Schools.
  • Gabriele Oettingen, professor of psychology at New York University.
  • Wallace Wattles, self-help writer.

• RESOURCES:
  • "'The Secret' to Success? The Psychology of Belief in Manifestation," by Lucas J. Dixon, Matthew J. Hornsey, and Nicole Hartley (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2023).
  • "Making Dreams Come True: Inside the New Age World of Manifesting," by Stuart McGurk (The Guardian, 2022).
  • "TikTok's ‘Manifesting’ Craze, Explained," by Stuart McGurk (GQ, 2021).
  • "From Feeling Good to Doing Good," by Gabriele Oettingen and Peter M. Gollwitzer (The Oxford Handbook of Positive Emotion and Psychopathology, 2019).
  • "Self-Regulation of Time Management: Mental Contrasting With Implementation Intentions," by Gabriele Oettingen, Heather Barry Kappes, Katie B. Guttenberg, and Peter M. Gollwitzer (European Journal of Social Psychology, 2015).
  • "Olympians Use Imagery as Mental Training," by Christopher Clarey (The New York Times, 2014).
  • “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy,” by R. Rosenthal (Encyclopedia of Human Behavior - Second Edition, 2012).
  • The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne (2006).
  • The Science of Getting Rich, by Wallace Wattles (1910)