A manifestation journal is a powerful tool for attracting anything; love, wealth, health, career advancements—you name it. Not only does a manifestation journal have a powerful pull on the universe, but it also helps you track your progress and keeps you accountable on your journey to achieving your dreams.

In this post, you’ll discover 5 elements to include in your manifestation journal to maximize its potential for your life. Each includes a prompt and an example to help you get started.

Let’s dive in.

manifestation journal

How to write a manifestation journal

1. Start with gratitude

Start your manifestation journal by listing 3 things you’re grateful for.

I often say gratitude is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It opens up your heart to receive the things you want. And if you’re angry or frustrated, thinking about what you’re grateful for is going to put you in a more positive and vibrant state for manifesting.

When you are grateful for what you have, your vibration rises and this helps you to manifest your goals more easily.

Gratitude attracts more good things into your life, while dissatisfaction pushes good things away. When you practice gratitude, you are opening yourself up to receive more blessings. It feels good to be grateful, and it creates a flow of positive energy that helps you to manifest your desires.

Being grateful for what you have allows you to appreciate the journey, rather than just focusing on the end goal.

Make gratitude a regular practice in your manifestation journal. Choose three things you’re grateful for that day. These can be big things or small things, but make sure to be specific. For example, “I am grateful for my bed because it’s so comfortable” or “I am grateful for my cat because she is so loving.”

As you focus on the good, you will start to see more and more good come into your life.

Tune your mind to the energy of the universe. This is a good time to acknowledge the progress you’ve made.

3 things I’m grateful for…

1. I have a well-paying job. There are a billion people in the world who live on less than a dollar a day.

2. My two beautiful daughters are healthy and get to grow up in a safe environment

3. Because I’m working from home today, I get to pick up my kids from school this afternoon

2. Define what you want

Define what you wish to manifest and be as specific as possible.

Manifesting requires us to be clear about what we want to achieve and manifest. So use your journal to hash out your dreams and goals until they’re formulated in specific terms.

Having a clear and specific goal in mind rather than a vague idea will help you focus your energy and help your subconscious understand what you’re asking of it. It is also helpful for you to stay focused and motivated as you work towards your goal.

In your manifestation journal, write down what you want as if it’s already happened. Include as many details as possible, such as how you feel, who you’re with and what you’re doing. It may help to visualize it first, then write it down.

If your goal is to lose weight, you might want to consider writing down specific details about how much weight you want to lose and by when. Describe what it’s like to be that weight. What do you see, hear and feel when you embody that new you? Engage all of your senses to paint a clear picture of exactly what it is you want.

Don’t worry about how it will happen or what all the steps will be, as you never know what route success will take.

Imagining yourself as having already achieved your goals sends out powerful vibrations into the universe. This, in turn, attracts the ideas and opportunities you need to make them happen.

Today, I am manifesting…

I am sitting at my desk when I get an email from my boss, Sophie, telling me to meet her in her office. I am nervous. I walk over to her office. My hands are sweaty. My throat is tight as I say “hello”. She smiles and asks me to sit down. She cuts right to the chase. She tells me how happy everyone is with my work. Then, she says she’d like to offer me a promotion and a pay raise. I’m ecstatic but I’m trying to keep a poker face. She finishes, I mumble a few words, and I walk out of her office. I want to scream but I can’t. I call Pat and tell him the good news.

man writing manifestation journal on a bridge

3. Identify limiting beliefs

Next, list 2 or 3 things you believe are preventing you from getting what you want. What are the reasons the things you want aren’t already in your life?

This exercise is an important step in your manifestation journal because once we unveil the negative thoughts that are incongruent with your goal, we can replace them with thoughts that will encourage action and forward momentum.

Whatever thoughts and beliefs you create, you sow. This is true of positive thoughts and emotions, but also negative ones. The universe is constantly listening to our thoughts and returns circumstances and events of similar vibration. So if there are thoughts and beliefs in the way, you first need to identify and replace them before manifesting can work.

Through journaling, you’ll discover beliefs you have about yourself, other people, your work, money, etc. You may discover that the reason you are not excited to go out and seek a romantic partner is that you believe all the good ones are already taken. Or maybe you believe that all rich people somewhat take advantage of people, which explains your distant relationship to money.

What’s stopping you from already having what you want?

I haven’t been with the company long enough for a promotion. I am too shy to become a manager.

4. Write down an affirmation

Next, create an affirmation that represents a thought or belief likely to propel you closer to your goal.

Affirmations are simple. By repeating positive statements about what you want to happen, you imprint new thoughts into your subconscious. And you vibrate with the energy of the things you want.

There are several ways to come up with affirmations.

The first way would be to take your limiting beliefs from the previous step and invert them. So if, for example, you believe all great romantic partners are already taken, your affirmation could be something like: “There is a perfect man out there waiting to meet me.”

A second way would be to put yourself in the shoes of someone who already has what it is you’re trying to manifest. Then, guess what thoughts and beliefs they must have had to attract what it is you want. What might Joe believe that you don’t? What thoughts have helped him get to where he is today?

Note that when creating affirmations, it is important to be clear and concise.

Once you have one or several affirmations ready, write them down and repeat them out loud every day for 2 minutes. Feel the emotions that come with them. And if any insights come up as you practice them, write them down in your manifestation journal.

The more you do this, the more you will accept the new beliefs as your own. And eventually, they will begin to influence your behaviour and reality.

What beliefs and thoughts would help me get what I want?

I am worthy of a promotion. And my subconscious mind is guiding me to success.

Celebrating success after journaling

5. Decide on an action you’ll take today

Lastly, commit to doing one thing that is going to help you realize your dream—no matter how small. Writing it down makes you accountable for it and increases the chances you’ll follow through.

To manifest your goals, positive thinking alone isn’t enough. You need to take action every day and put in the work. This is where many people fall short. They succumb to inertia and procrastination. To achieve the quantum changes that life offers, you must move beyond laziness into inspired action.

What is inspired action? It is an action that flows from your belief in your ability to reach your goals. It reinforces your new belief system and is in tune with the vibration of your desired outcome.

Don’t think about the results. Just do what you need to do today in order to get closer to your goal. And do that again tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow. Do it every day and trust that the magic of synchronicity will help you reach your goals.

This may be making a phone call, running around the block, or getting rid of something.

To get closer to my goal, today I will… 

Today I’m going to send Sophie an email requesting a meeting where I’ll tell her about my ambitions to take on more responsibility.

How does a manifestation journal work?

I like to think of the subconscious as soil that will grow any seed you plant in it.

Whatever thoughts and beliefs you create, you sow. This is true of positive thoughts and emotions, but also negative ones. The universe is constantly listening to our thoughts and returns circumstances and events of similar vibration.

If you constantly think about how unsuccessful you are, you are going to attract failure. But if you are used to thinking about wealth and abundance, you are going to manifest both of these things in your life.

When you write a manifestation journal, you are training yourself to have thoughts that are compatible with the things you want. Once you start focusing on the things you want to manifest daily, seemingly chance events will start happening to you and your life will change.