I’m with you 100%. You have to show up and do the work.

That being said, I’ve also seen manifesting work in my own life in way that did feel magical.

Example: I was losing a commercial campaign that I had voiced for five years. I put it out to the Universe that I wanted to book a car or a beer campaign within the next six months. Two months later, I almost booked a car campaign. Four months after that — at exactly the six-month mark — I booked a beer campaign that lasted the next two years.

Another example: One year, I was struggling financially and couldn’t afford to move to another city where income would be better. I asked the Universe to send me a sugar daddy that I could care about and actually hang with. (If you have moral issues with this, I’m sorry, but I do not.) Two months later, the perfect guy showed up, and he got me through my move and the rest of the year with love and support, both of the emotional and financial kind.

Granted, I went to the auditions, I submitted for the gigs, I worked as hard as I could to further my goals the whole time. But manifestation can be magical.