You've been chasing the wrong thing. And it's kept you stuck for years.

You've been told to visualize it to get it.

Affirm it to attract it.

Believe harder, and the universe will obey.

They tell you there’s a you who can bend reality to your will, and you fall for it.

At least, I did.

For years, I repeated affirmations, wrote endless scripts, tried to "raise my vibration".

When it worked, I felt like a god. When it didn’t, I felt broken.

I was like Harry Potter waving a wand, only the magic stopped working when I needed it most.

And that’s when I realized something most people don't know:

The real trap isn't that manifestation doesn't work, it's believing there's a separate "you" trying to control reality. That separation is the void you’re trying to fill with new manifestations.

Stay with me. Because once you see what I'm about to show you, you'll never chase again.

Think and Grow Poor

Think and Grow Rich. You've probably heard about that book before.

That's where my journey started. I read the book back in 2018, and it felt like I've found the secret code to the universe. I studied every page slowly, trying to dissect every possible word.

If I'm the master of my reality. It means that I can "manifest" money at will, right?

So I did. I wrote myself a check back then: $100M (1B Swedish Kr).

It's been 7 years since, and I'm writing these words from a decent apartment.

Not a yacht. Not a mansion. Not from a 7th floor balcony in Dubai.

You can probably figure it out yourself. The check never cashed in. But something else did. Something deeper than your desire. Something that the manifestation gurus won't tell you, because they themselves don't know about it.

I didn't know about it back then, but I was about to find out.

You see, manifestation teaches you're a separate entity sending orders to the universe. This reinforces the split between "you" and "life" that creates all suffering.

What do I mean?

The "manifestor" is a wave trying to control the tide. It says, "If I just visualize harder, I'll reach the shore faster". But the ocean was always moving it anyway. The moment the wave surrenders its imagined independence, it realizes, it is the ocean.

That's when flow begins.

But most people believe they're the wave, separated from the ocean. It creates toxic relationship where everything bad that happens is YOUR fault for wrong thinking (abuse, illness, poverty, disaster).

If you've ever tried to manifest your way out of despair with vision boards and affirmations, you know the quiet moment when it stops feeling real.

Manifestation doesn't just fail you. The belief that you're separate from reality do.

Every affirmation you repeat from that place only deepens the illusion: the identity of someone trying to get there.

And that’s the trap.

Because as long as you keep trying to create from separation, you’ll keep creating more of it.

The False Secret

Imagine what would happen if all your thoughts "became things". Your life would be chaos.

But even though they don't, the idea that they might creates real damage.

You're reading the book The Secret (The Law of Attraction) and hit this line:

Now every intrusive thought becomes a curse.

• "What if I crash the car right now?"
• "What if I said something stupid back then?"
• "What if something bad happens to someone I love?"

You catch yourself mid-thought. Your chest becomes tight and you feel the rush of anxiety that slaps you in the face. You immediately repeat an affirmation to "cancel it out."

But then you think: Did I say it with enough belief? Did I accidentally want the bad thing?

You've repeated countless affirmations already today. One bad thought and it all feels ruined. Like you're back at zero.

So you start again. Reset the counter. Try harder.

The guilt piles up. The more you try to control your thoughts, the louder they get. That's the cost of believing you're a separate "you" with the power to manifest. Not empowerment but paranoia.

And the worst part?

The solution they sell you is more control. More affirmations. More visualizations. More trying.

Which only deepens the trap.

The Paradox That Changed Everything

I read all the books you could think of.

The law of attraction. The law of assumption. The law of vibration. You name it.

I spent years chasing the technique that would finally work.

But then I started noticing something.

The job offer I'd stopped stressing about came through. The trip I'd casually mentioned happened. Money showed up when I needed it, not when I was obsessing over it.

But the $100M check I'd written myself? The mansion I'd visualized daily? Nothing.

The pattern was clear:

The things I barely thought about appeared. The things I forced stayed stuck.

That's when I realized: maybe trying was the problem.

And the moment I stopped trying to control it all, I felt relief. Like I'd been carrying a heavy backpack for years and could finally put it down.

The Passenger Seat

But what was I actually letting go of?

It's not like I quit my job or ran away to live in a cave. I was letting go of something inside:

the fake "me" who thought he had to control everything.

The truth is, there's no separate "you" controlling reality, even if it feels like that. The "I" trying to manifest is just a thought that feels real.

Ramana Maharshi put it simply:

It's like being on the road in a car. All this time, you've been trying to navigate through storms, getting frustrated in traffic, rushing to the destination. But then you realize, you weren't even driving. You were being driven. The harder you tried to steer, the rougher it got.

So you take the passenger seat. Turn up the music. Enjoy the ride.

There's a strange peace that comes when you realize you were never in control. The weight slips off your shoulders, and life starts carrying itself.

And here's what surprised me most:

the things I thought I needed to force? They started showing up naturally. Not because I manifested them, but because they were always part of the path. The desire itself was just life signaling what was coming.

"But if I let go, won't I do nothing?"

Letting go doesn't mean you stop moving. It means the movement no longer comes from force. You still create, work, act. But now it's effortless, like life breathing through you.

What you can do right now:

Learn to let go by first welcoming what you've been trying to escape from.

Step 1: Notice the Pull

When you feel stress, urgency, or that familiar need to reach a certain point, pause. Ask yourself: What is it I truly want?

Maybe it's:

• Success with your business
• Money to travel and explore
• A meaningful relationship

Now ask why. And again, why? Keep going until you reach the real root beneath it all. You might discover: "I don't like being alone," or "I'm tired of feeling poor," or "My life feels boring and I need something new."

Write it down.

Step 2: Welcome the Feeling

Here's where the shift begins.

Can you welcome that feeling, just as it is?

The anxiety, the boredom, the hopelessness, the fear of not having enough.

Can you let it be here for a while? Breathe into it for a few minutes. Don't fight it, don't judge it. For perhaps the first time, actually let the boredom be here. Let the worry about money be here.

Step 3: Notice the Release

As you welcome it, something remarkable happens. The feeling begins to transform. Your thoughts shift accordingly. That urgent need to escape starts to dissolve.

You'll notice yourself slowly settling into the passenger seat, relaxing, letting go. From this true state of yours, peace flows naturally. Happiness, calm, wholeness, joy, they arise without effort. The journey itself becomes different now.

Instead of waking up anxious about whether you're manifesting correctly, you'll wake up present. Criticism won't send you spiraling, it'll just pass through. Decisions that used to paralyze you will feel obvious, because you're no longer trying to force the "right" outcome. You'll become someone who trusts life completely, not because you believe in manifestation, but because you've stopped fighting what is

Next week, I'm breaking down how reality actually works when there's no controller, and why the gurus don't want you to know this.

Until then, try the practice. Notice what you're running from. Welcome it.

Hit reply and tell me: where does separation show up for you? What are you trying to control right now?

I read every response.

— Tomas

P.S. If this hit you, share it with someone who's stuck in the manifestation trap. They'll thank you later.