35+ Words (and Phrases) to Avoid When Manifesting

Everybody talks about how to manifest your dreams and desires.

How to do it. What words to use when manifesting.

But there is one thing that people rarely talk about.

A thing that is well worth learning about—namely, what words to avoid using when manifesting.

Many people may easily overlook this small detail that it is worth exploring more in-depth.

There can be many mistakes that can stop you from manifesting, and in this article, I will go over the words and phrases you should avoid using while manifesting and why it is so important.

Words and phrases that should be avoided when manifesting

Avoid using words and phrases denoting wishes ,desires, neediness, or wants.
Avoid using words that convey lack or scarcity.
Avoid using words and phrases that have a negative connotation.
Avoid using words and phrases that denote future events.
Avoid using words and phrases that denote uncertainty or vagueness.
Avoid using words and phrases that denote inability or impossibility.
Words and phrases stating your readiness.

In comparison, you people should use words denoting faith and firmness in one’s belief instead of feelings of scarcity, neediness, or negativity.

That being said, this may sound easier said than done. In reality, people use many different words and phrases that may seem appropriate, but they are not.

So let’s take a more in-depth look.

Wish

“I wish” is easily the biggest beginners trap out there. Even experienced people may fall into the “I wish” trap. Starting your manifestations with “I wish” is a very easy mistake to make.

Wishing for something, after all, sounds completely natural, doesn’t it? If you want something, usually you find yourself wishing for it. But there is something more going on under the surface. And under the surface, we need to go.

Here’s the thing.

When you say “I wish for …” what do you think your subsections self or higher self pick up? What does the universe pick up? “I wish” is a phrase that alludes to scarcity to lack of something.

If you wish for something, then that means you don’t have it, which is the exact opposite of what you want to tell yourself and the universe.

Starting from here, what other phrases can you think of that are synonymous with and can replace “I wish”? I am sure you can think of several, and all of them—without exceptions—you should not use when manifesting.

A few other good examples of words and phrases that should not be used when manifesting are:

“I would like to”
“I should”
“I want”
“I dream of”
“I hope”
“I need”
“I crave”
“I desire”
“I fancy”
“I demand”
“I require”

As you can see, all of these—though ever so slightly different—denote and express a fairly similar feeling. A feeling of I don’t have it, so I wish for it.

Here’s the thing about manifesting.

This is something that Nevill Goddard and many others often talk about in their books and courses. That manifesting does not work that way. You need to live in the state of your wish fulfilled. And if that is the case, then you cannot wish for something that is already a fact.

What you should be saying instead is “I have,” “I own,” “I do,” “I can,” “I am”. The present tense is most widely used, although some people like to use the past tense as well.

When using the present tense, in this instance, you are making a statement. You are also showing the belief that you already possess, in your mind, that which you want. Now it is only a question of time for the physical world to answer and arrange itself according to your inner state.

Never

Many people may unintentionally use the word never when manifesting. The word never should not be used when manifesting. Never is a word that carries a negative connotation that can negatively interfere with the success of one’s manifestations.

This means that you may want to be extra careful while manifesting if you are currently not in a good state of mind.

For example, people can manifest even if they are depressed. But there can be a higher chance of their manifestations not working, taking longer to happen, or even lead to negative results.

Other words and phrases that should be avoided are:

“I cannot”
“I do not”
“I should not”

Of course, the word never can be used in a different way—for example, saying “I never lose to anyone.” or “I never find myself in need of more money.” By using these sentences , you are trying to say that you always win and that you always have enough money at your disposal.

Yet again, we stumble at a very subtle problem.

Each one of these words is carrying a certain amount of negativity with them. Why not just use the word “always”, “I do”, “I have”, or “I win.” instead? These are positive and concrete words.

Using the word never in your manifestations is simply a way of trying to use a negative statement in a positive way. Nonetheless, you are still coming from a negative place.

Will

Will is one of the words that should not be used when manifesting. The reason why the word will should not be used is that it denotes an event or state that will occur in the future. In other words, by using the word will, the person admits they do not possess what they want to manifest.

Other words and phrases that should not be used when manifesting are:

“It is bound to”
“Someday I”
“In the Future”

Will not

While you should not use the word “Will” when manifesting, you also should not use the phrase “Will not” or “Won’t” either.

“Won’t” carries the same negative vibrations “can’t” and “never” do.

Instead of trying to structure your manifestations around such words as “won’t”, always use positive statements that are in the present, are concrete, and to the point.

For example, instead of saying, “I won’t need to worry about paying my expenses anymore.” say, “I am rich. I am wealthy.”

While the first sentence in this example carries a certain feeling of worry, fear, and lack, the second is very clear and concrete, and it will help you to get in the right mindset when you start living in the feeling of the wish fulfilled.

Can

“Can” is one of these words that may sound deceivingly positive, but in the context of manifesting, it may be worth avoiding it.

Here’s the thing.

One can say, “I can receive an A on my test.”

However, that does not do anything for you if you are trying to actually manifest better grades.

You are simply stating and letting the universe and your subconscious mind know that you “can” receive an A on your test, but that sentence does not declare anything. Just because something “can” happen does not mean it “will” happen, right?

So instead of “can”, say that you passed your test with an A instead. A simple manifestation like that will easily put you in the right feeling if you give it some time. You can imagine what it feels like to have passed with an A. And this will surely warrant better results than focusing on the “can”.

Someday

The word “someday”, although very different in certain ways, works the same way other words like “will” or “future” do.

For example, you may say or write down your manifestation the following way “Someday I will be rich.”, however, the word someday refers to an undetermined moment in the future. At the same time, you are essentially confirming both to your subconscious self and the universe that you are currently not rich.

Remember that to manifest, you need to assume the right mindset that is associated with owning what you desire. And you have just assumed the feeling and state of somebody that is not currently rich because they want to be rich in the future. However, will that future ever come to pass?

You may remain a person whose wealth constantly lies in the future. Instead, you should assume the feeling of being rich now in order to manifest wealth.

Do you see the subtle way such words referring to the future can ruin one’s manifestations?

Can’t

“I can’t” is another word or a phrase that should not be used when manifesting. Much like the word “never” it has a certain level of negativity that it implies.

It also can be used in certain ways. For example, one can say, “I can’t go broke.” But doesn’t it feel a lot better to say, “I am wealthy.”?

Besides, does it not feel like you are tempting faith and the universe by using “can’t” in your manifestations. As if you are subconsciously challenging them to prove to you that you actually can go broke?

In any case, avoid these negative words as much as possible.

If

“If” is another word that people should not use when manifesting.

There are a lot of ways the word “if” can be used when people are trying to manifest something.

You can say:

If this happens, that will follow.
If I do this, that will happen.

For example, you can say, “If I work every day, I will get a promotion at my job.” However, read that statement again. Is it really a statement? A sentence that declares your 100% belief that you have what you desire to the universe?

It feels off. It is not really a statement, but more like a subtle ultimatum.

There are a lot of great stories that can be found shared by various people and experts in the field.

Some really good examples can be found in the book The Law and The Promise by Neville Goddard, where he shares many personal success stories from people who have practiced manifesting. (The Law and The Promise is easily one of Neville’s’ best books that everyone should read.)

There are no ultimatums, and if you are living in the end, this means you already possess what you desire. There is no need for if’s or should’s.

Do not

Another example of a negative set of words that should not be used when manifesting.

People can say things like “I don’t want to struggle with my finances.” or “I don’t want to struggle with my job.” But when you put these statements under some scrutiny, can you see that they are carrying a certain level of fear, sense of lack, and lack of faith? Some can say that these sentences are actually saying to the universe that you are already struggling and encountering difficulties hence why you don’t want to struggle anymore.

There is nothing wrong with this, but you may be undermining the success of your manifestations that way.

Similar words that you should avoid using are:

“Do not have to”
“Do not need to”
“Do not want to”
“No”
“Not”

Maybe

If you are serious about manifesting everything you want, there should be no place for both and uncertainty. This naturally means that one should spend some time exploring their deeper desires more intensely and meditating on them.

The reason for this is that some people may structure their manifestations along the lines of “I want to earn $10,000, that I can maybe invest.”

Uncertainty is one of the common problems preventing manifestations from happening the way they should or leading to questionable results.

If you want to manifest $10,000, be concrete—especially if you will be using them for something particular.

Of course, one can say that they just want to manifest $10,000, and that is it, which is more than enough since there is no need to have a particular reason to manifest something.

Avoid using words and phrases like:

“maybe”
“kind of”
“possibly”
“fairly”
“sort of”

I am ready

Last but not least, I’d like to go over some interesting phrases that people are sometimes recommended to use like:

“I am ready to receive”
“I am open to receiving”
“I choose to be open to the receiving of”

While these may prove some value in being used as some kind of personal mantras, they may not really help you manifest.

To a certain degree, you are saying to the universe that you believe that you are ready to receive something. For example, you may want to be richer and say, “I am ready to receive wealth,” or “I am ready to become rich.”

Experts have always been talking about the power of living in the end or of the wish fulfilled. This means that if you want to be rich, you need to live in the now as if you are already rich. To experience the feeling of being rich right now even though you are not.

But by saying that you are ready to be rich, this simply states to the universe and your subconscious mind that you are not rich. You are not living in the mindset associated with being rich.

Imagine for a moment if you were rich right now, so rich that you’d never need to worry about money anymore. How would you feel? Would you ever think of saying, “I am ready to become rich?” I am pretty sure you’d never think of saying such a sentence since you are already rich.