Manifestation Doesn’t Work Without This Step | Everything’s Energy Ep50
August 20, 2026
23:08

Manifestation Doesn’t Work Without This Step | Everything’s Energy Ep50

Michael and Roland dig into manifestation, separating the sticky-note affirmations from what actually moves the needle. Michael opens with his own history of vision boards and doorway affirmations, and makes the case that most people fail not because they can't set an intention, but because they skip the…

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Roland
Everyone on the planet at every second of the day is manifesting all the time. What I mean by that is someone who's stuck in stress and fear is manifesting that because of how they've set their frequency to reality. Someone who's always worried about something happening typically goes through life and their unconscious is guiding them until the moment that that thing that they think is gonna happen happens in front of them and that reinforces their beliefs. Like I told you, bad things always happen when you're on this highway kind of thing. So we're all manifesting all the time.
Michael Scalar
Hey. Well, you're tuned into the Everything's Energy Show. I'm Michael Scalar. I've got Roland. We wanna talk about manifestation, creating things out of thin air allegedly according to the secret and what the bleep do I do.
Roland
I write my reality.
Michael Scalar
Yeah. I mean, I there there's a lot to be said here. I believe that you can manifest things in a certain way. But it I think people are approaching it in the wrong direction a lot of times. When I was 16, started putting sticky notes on my doorway.
Michael Scalar
I'm walking through the door to success and positive affirmations. These things are are really great to incorporate into life, but the follow through tends to be most people's lack. And you can't sit here and meditate. I'm going to make a million dollars tomorrow. It's not going to fall out of Doesn't work that way.
Michael Scalar
No, it just doesn't work that way. The manifestation really is, is setting the pathway. It's setting the intention And you have to do the work after. You have to do the work internally and externally. You have to go out into the world, shake some hands and get that wire transfer for a million dollars somehow.
Michael Scalar
Or probably set the goal a little lower increments, maybe a thousand dollars a day, thousand dollars a week, something in real what's in realistic timeframe. If you're starting young at manifesting, it should be a pathway at where am I going go with success? What are your thoughts?
Roland
I mean, I think it's brilliantly described there in the sense that there are these groups of people that talk about the idea of manifestation. And fundamentally, everyone who wants to manifest something wants a greater degree of influence in the outcome of where their life goes. Mhmm. And I'll go even deeper in saying that everyone on the planet at every second of the day is manifesting all the time. Yeah.
Roland
What I mean by that is someone who's stuck in stress and fear is manifesting that because of how they've set their frequency to reality. Meaning, yeah. So it's like someone who's always worried about something happening typically goes through life and their unconscious is guiding them until the moment that that thing that they think is gonna happen happens in front of them and that reinforces their beliefs. Like, told you bad things always happen when you're on this highway kind of thing. So we're all manifesting all the time.
Roland
I think when we're talking about conscious manifestation, you're trying to create a reality of betterment in your life. And you're using specific steps in the process to allow yourself to get there faster or to increase the likelihood of getting there. It's like the concept of the occult and magic. The I I used to read about this stuff because it's always fascinated me. What you're basically doing is you're hedging an increased probability of an outcome within the reasonable reasonable boundaries of what's possible.
Roland
Example, I'm never gonna be an NBA basketball player no matter how much I want to work and and try to manifest it because I'm a six foot tall white guy who's basically 40 years old. It's past. It's not happening. Right? But could I manifest being a better athlete who picks up a basketball and starts playing?
Roland
Yes. That's a reasonable outcome. It's a very
Michael Scalar
And you start manifesting it by by setting setting the intention. I'm gonna go to the gym tomorrow.
Roland
And I'm gonna pick up a basketball. Exactly. I did that today. Yes. I want to improve my coordination.
Roland
But what a lot of people do when it comes to manifestation is they forget that you need to put forth the effort after you set the intention. And I was talking about this with a previous podcast guest last, last night at dinner. He said, if you can't hold the end result in your mind, you can't bring yourself somewhere. And he said it brilliantly. He's like, it's not a straight line.
Roland
Nothing in life is a straight line. It's a Mandarin trip. And I, I finished the example that he put forth by saying, long as the panoramic view is wide enough that you can always hold the end destination, it doesn't matter where you are on the meandering journey, you know where you're going. If you can't stick with something in life, there's nothing that you're gonna manifest but changeability. So you can't manifest an outcome that hasn't been defined.
Roland
And if you look at a lot of the strategies of the great, you know, manifestation teachers over the, the time, Napoleon Hill, Edgar Casey is another one of them, Brian Tracy. The thing that they always say is you have to imagine the outcome is done, and you have to wait for reality to catch up there, but you probably are gonna have to put forth some effort in order to get there in the first place.
Michael Scalar
Board or a computer nowadays or just straight to ChatGPT and AI, but it starts with creating a plan. Then you act on the plan. So we didn't bring in a chassis. And then we're like, well, what kind of engine do we want? Then we bring in an engine.
Michael Scalar
And we bring in all the parts. And we bring all of these physical reality things till eventually we have manifested a full car.
Roland
And it sounds so obvious logical and almost boringly three-dimensional, but that's really how these things work. I I I think that you said it best when you said there's a woo woo spiritual aspect to the concept of manifestation. And I like to demystify things that are too spiritual or psychic in nature because they're just potentialities of reality. Have you ever read the book, The Kybalion before? No.
Roland
An amazing book. I think anyone who's interested in this topic should read it because there are k y b a l I o n. And it's how I would describe it in a very short elevator pitch is it's a great fundamental manual for how the third dimension works. And it talks about the laws and principles that govern the place, things like gender, polarity, rhythm, the law of cause and effect. But the first rule, the one that predominates all is mentalism.
Roland
And this lines up nicely with what you just said. And their their opening topic is reality was a thought in the mind of God before it was created. If you think about that, this is ridiculous an example, a microphone was thought by someone before it was ever created so we can talk into it. We take these things for granted. When you wanna manifest something in life, it has to come from a place of somewhere into your thoughts because no one knows where a thought comes from.
Roland
But the thought coming into you will generate the idea that will then allow you to figure out what steps need to be taken in the action to get to the end outcome. And thought generated manifestation might have a gestation period of years of you refining the process. And the end goal might be realized in thirty years, twenty years, who knows? But I think that's where people get a little bit lost in the sauce because in 2026, we have instant access to anything. I want information, Google ChatGP.
Roland
It'll tell us
Michael Scalar
These are great manifestations. I I'm manifesting getting information on what the best supplement is.
Roland
Exactly. Boom. I get an answer.
Michael Scalar
I need all these people to come eat my dim sum. People need to know the dim sum's there. How do you do that? You physically go find these people. Not on the Internet because that doesn't work.
Michael Scalar
You need physical connection, dragging people into your business. The Internet might work
Roland
And you're generating an energy that has a momentum behind it to allow for the development of your goals and intended desires to be realized. Because in this case, need people to support you in purchasing what it is you have to offer so that you can build that thing naturally. And it will take on a reality of its own as an entity that will grow over time with you. Like what's something that you've manifested, like, that's an absolute your own thing, or what is, what is a topic that you think is a useful hack when it comes to manifestation that you've either practiced or have learned from someone else?
Michael Scalar
Mhmm. So there's a lot of steps. It took roughly six months of me sitting and manifesting. The start was using my mind and the power of meditation and creative flow. And then after that, it was what's the next step?
Michael Scalar
So you always need the next step. A lot of people fail because they don't go they don't follow through with the first step or they skip a step and say, oh, well, it's a failure because we missed this part. You have to be extremely diligent in creating the next solution to whatever problem next solution? What's our next step? Who do we need to bring on?
Michael Scalar
Whose responsibility is this going to be? It's extremely hard to manifest something if you don't get off your ass and find the solution. People are out there doing this dumb man who says, want all this money. Want a Lamborghini and guess what? Lamborghini cost money.
Michael Scalar
Or You've gotta do something to get the money.
Roland
Or you're not specific enough with your manifestation and someday someone buys you a Hot Wheels Lamborghini. You got your Lamborghini. And My homeland.
Michael Scalar
Hey. Yeah. Outside Toronto. And I'm I'm going to do the EESYS installation there. And she goes, well, do you need anything?
Michael Scalar
And I said, million dollars and a yellow Ferrari. I just threw this out all the time just as
Roland
a joke. Is your little tagline?
Michael Scalar
Right. Yeah. People can't get you anything else and I say world peace and some people glitch and some people are yeah. It's like, oh, we're fresh out of thing. But so I arrive and they have a box as a gift.
Michael Scalar
It is a toy car about eight inches yellow Ferrari. With it in the trunk was a wrapped up million dollar bill. They went so I manifested
Roland
it. Is amazing.
Michael Scalar
Dollars in your yellow Ferrari. I was like, you know what? Thank you for clarifying being more specific in my manifestation because you're right. I just manifested my yellow Ferrari and my million dollars, but I didn't specify how it was formed, and it came in a smaller package than I intended.
Roland
You didn't say you needed to drive this Ferrari. You just said you wanted a paperweight.
Michael Scalar
Yeah. What
Roland
I love about what you just answered there in that question is you proved a few things. First and foremost, with the concept of the cradle of life, it came to you as a thought or a potential thing before it was anything else. And then the outflow of how that became reality was actually not an overly spiritual, I'm gonna connect with another reality and kind of just materialize form from the formless. You cannot meditate your way into creating a physical screen of or a system a series of screens and the system in front of you. You have to actually put forth the effort.
Roland
There's a book I read. I haven't read it in a while, but I'm due for a reread. It's have you heard it? It's called, Illusions of Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. It's by Richard Bach.
Roland
It's a little, like, 93 page book. It's an amazing read. Super easy. And the whole concept is this guy was a messiah, but he quit because he couldn't take the fact that everyone just wanted to see miracles and no one wanted to take responsibility that they could perform their own. And in this book, there's the Messiah's handbook, and there are these little advanced quotes for the quotes for the advanced soul.
Roland
It's a way of navigating the reality. And one of them is you can manifest anything you want in this reality. You might have to work for it, however. And that one's always stayed with me because the path from here to there takes a lot of things that are very unspiritual. And they're seemingly monotonous and boring, But because they are, it doesn't mean that they're not spiritual.
Roland
I think a lot of people in our industry get caught up in things need to be mystical all the time. It needs to only come from mysticism. And if it doesn't just happen spontaneously or the universe guided it as a natural way of being, there's no spirituality and experience, but we are material having a spiritual experience. If you can get an insight and it gives you the ability and the power to create the reality that you want, you understand how to interface the physical and the nonphysical realities together and walk them both seamlessly, you can create a beautiful existence for yourself. And I think that's a really important thing because there is this notion that, you know, there are the 10 X people.
Roland
They wanna go to the Grant Cardone, you know, upgrade. There's nothing wrong with that stuff. It is very dense material.
Michael Scalar
Very motivational. It is. I don't see very many people leaving those and actually getting
Roland
10 x. Exactly. And then there's then they they feel like then there's the other side where I think people who have a very spiritually biased experience almost have an aversion to having material success or they don't want to, oh, I don't want to get too attached to having expensive things, but it's also a rationalization of well, maybe I just don't trust myself in my ability to create a life that I want. Because if I fail, it means I wasn't a good manifestor or I'm not able. So I live into this, oh, I'm just gonna be ethereal and I'll just wait for the universe to give me what I deserve rather than put forth an effort.
Roland
And I think that's kind of bullshit because you're only in this body one go around regardless of what you believe. So this notion of manifestation and various other things, everyone is equally powerful in their ability to create their realities. We are all in different positions of opportunity based upon who we are, where we were born, when we were born, the Exactly. But you all have the same ability to fundamentally know that you are in creation or how should you are in control of the creation of your reality to the degree of consciousness that you carry. If you wanna create hell on earth, you can.
Roland
If you wanna work and create a beautiful outcome, you may have to be super patient because
Michael Scalar
You're bringing up a really good thing. So a lot of people will sign up themselves into being annoying. Mhmm. I can't do this. You can't do this.
Roland
And you're right.
Michael Scalar
Steps. Think. How can I make a million dollars and then let the universe there's a lot of energy and ideas floating out there in the universe? Close Close your eyes and wait for a brilliant idea to come to you. And you might need three or four or five of these ideas.
Michael Scalar
Depends on
Roland
how Yeah. You might need to fail three or four times.
Michael Scalar
Dollars, then then it's I get the idea for how to make a million dollars. Then it's putting two steps in front of each other and going doing the physical work, continuing to do the work, and and not stopping until you've completed it. And most people, a lot of people out there, they they stop. And then they don't get back up. But it's the people who lose everything once or twice or maybe three times, you'll see them a billionaire.
Roland
Exactly. And that's usually the path. People who achieve that, and it usually happens in their fifties. And they've essentially rolled the donut multiple times, and that was the baptism by fire to make sure that they really had the resolve. Because I do believe the universe tests you every step along the way to see is your resolve really worthy or deserving of the outcome of what it is you want to manifest, or do you want to actually just kind of quick fix it, which I think a lot of people do nowadays.
Roland
What you were saying there reminded me of that conversation that I brought up earlier yet that I had yesterday. I think most people get in their own way more than anything else, not only because they try to convince themselves that they're no one. It sounds overly simple, and I have a saying that I like to use simple and easy are not synonyms. Right? Something can be simple in essence, but it can be very difficult to execute.
Roland
What I've always learned in my life is if I wanna do something and maybe there's this neurodivergent thing that I'm lacking because I can look at it a certain way, whereas other people are like, it can't be that way. I just simply know that I'm gonna do it. Like, it doesn't need to be more complicated than that. I'm just gonna do the thing. I don't put a limit on it.
Roland
I don't put conditions on it. I don't try to add things to like, no, I'm really going to push I'm going to push this across the finish line with my mind by yes. It's going to happen every day. If you just want to do it, you will co opt all the resources in the unconscious to make the decisions you need to make in the right sequence or the right order to allow for you to bring yourself to subsequent opportunities and experiences to one day arrive at the end result. I've talked to a lot of successful people because I'm very interested in like, how is it that they've done this?
Roland
And that's been the general theme that I've gotten from people is like, I just knew it was going to happen. But without conditions. Yes.
Michael Scalar
And you don't let someone else tell you you can't do it when someone says I can't
Roland
do something. Exactly. Exit this. A lot of it is this, the plausible deniability. Oh, I'm gonna overwhelm them.
Roland
Them doubting me actually fuels me. But most people who accomplish things just never let someone else's doubt or their own self doubt or any of these conditions of what's outside of them stop them. I think most people unconsciously talk themselves out of success because they put too many plausibilities of what can or can't happen in the way. If you just simply know you're going to do it and you just continue to be consistent and dedicated to the process, it will happen. But it's too easy for people to hear that and go easy for you to say.
Roland
It's like, no. It's actually easy for anyone to say if they really want. Yeah. I I mean, I think this was a just a fun conversation just to hopefully shake people out of, call it the stagnant monotony of their lack of progress and and forward motivation or moving in life because most people want to accomplish things. And the only way to get very clear inside of why you're not accomplishing things is to figure out what's limiting you that you're not aware of.
Roland
What are your blind spots? If someone wants to heal, why they're not healing is possibly rooted in the belief that they don't think that they can heal or that something's not going to work. If someone wants to better themselves in life, they may be leaning on the stories that have been told to them by other people of why they can't see something beyond the limiting window of belief that they have. So I think the best way to wrap this one is telling everyone, like, you guys are powerful if you wanna be. But if you don't, that's also okay.
Roland
I just I hope the opposite for you. Yeah. Writing really wires something into your unconscious reality in a way that typing never can. You know what just came to me in the concept of a whiteboard? It is the nothingness that is a space to manifest anything.
Roland
Like, it's just pure whiteness, so I love that. I love that, man. Beautiful.
Michael Scalar
Alright. Well, thank you everyone for joining us. Like, comment, subscribe. Tell us your manifestation secrets in the comments. Love you.
Michael Scalar
Peace.

Episode guide

A reader- and agent-readable map of what this conversation covers.

What this episode covers

Michael Scalar and Roland examine why manifestation efforts often stop at affirmations and intention setting. The central inquiry is how imagined outcomes become physical results rather than remaining wishes. The episode uses a practical lens of defined goals, realistic probability, sequential action, and sustained follow-through alongside The Kybalion's law of mentalism. Michael's Cradle of Life installation for Burning Man is presented as a meditation-originated idea that required roughly six months of planning and problem-solving. The yellow Ferrari anecdote illustrates how an underspecified intention can be interpreted in an unintended form.

Approximate moments

Timestamps below are approximate markers, not publisher chapter offsets.

  • ~0 minIntentions and follow-through
  • ~2 minUnconscious manifestation patterns
  • ~6 minThe Kybalion and mentalism
  • ~10 minSequential problem-solving
  • ~12 minYellow Ferrari and goal specificity
  • ~15 minSpirituality, material success, and agency

Discussed in this episode

  • Discussed in the episode: The episode defines manifestation as intention followed by internal and external work.
  • Discussed in the episode: Roland proposes that stress and fear can guide unconscious behavior and reinforce expected outcomes.
  • Discussed in the episode: Conscious manifestation is framed as increasing the probability of a realistic outcome.
  • Discussed in the episode: The law of mentalism is used to connect an initial thought with planning, action, and physical creation.
  • Discussed in the episode: Michael reports that Cradle of Life began in meditation and required about six months of sequential problem-solving.
  • Discussed in the episode: The yellow Ferrari anecdote shows how vague intentions can produce unintended interpretations.

Statements above describe what speakers discuss on the show. They are reported conversation, not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment guidance.

Topics

  • manifestation
  • conscious manifestation
  • intention setting
  • follow-through
  • law of mentalism
  • frequency and belief reinforcement
  • realistic outcome boundaries
  • goal specificity
  • cause and effect
  • physical and nonphysical integration
  • meditation
  • positive affirmations
  • vision boards
  • whiteboard planning method

Show Notes

Michael and Roland dig into manifestation, separating the sticky-note affirmations from what actually moves the needle. Michael opens with his own history of vision boards and doorway affirmations, and makes the case that most people fail not because they can't set an intention, but because they skip the follow-through. Their guest builds on that, breaking down the concept through The Kybalion and the law of mentalism: every thought starts as a potential before it becomes physical, but turning it into reality takes real, often unglamorous, work. From there, the conversation gets concrete. Michael walks through how he manifested Cradle of Life, his large-scale Burning Man art installation, from a single meditation to a finished structure, and shares the story of a client who took his joking request for "a million dollars and a yellow Ferrari" a little too literally. The two land on a simple framework: know what you want, get specific, and don't stop until it's done.

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EEShow is Everything's Energy Show, a long-form interview podcast hosted by Michael Scalar. The official site is ee.show. Subscribe for weekly conversations on energy and mindset, and comment below with your own manifestation method.


Chapters:

  • (00:00) - Manifestation: Setting Intentions Vs. Instant Wishes
  • (01:16) - Why Everyone Is Manifesting, Whether They Know It Or Not
  • (02:56) - The Kybalion And The Law Of Mentalism
  • (05:04) - Manifestation In Practice: Designing A Car
  • (07:02) - Marketing As A Manifestation Tool
  • (08:16) - Building The Cradle Of Life For Burning Man
  • (10:37) - The Yellow Ferrari Story: Be Specific With Intentions
  • (12:19) - Illusions And The Messiah's Handbook
  • (14:11) - Hype Culture Vs. Real Manifestation Work
  • (14:20) - Why Spiritual People Avoid Material Success
  • (15:35) - Everyone Has The Same Creative Power
  • (16:19) - The First Steps To Manifesting $1 Million
  • (17:03) - Why Most Self-Made Success Happens In Your 50s
  • (18:37) - Just Knowing It Will Happen
  • (20:39) - The Whiteboard Method For Turning Ideas Into Reality

People: Creators & Guests

  • Michael Scalar - Host
  • Roland - Writer

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