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Hello and welcome to the Momentum podcast, thank you so much for taking the time to tune in today.  I know there are so many amazing podcasts out there and the fact that you chose to listen to this one, I’m just so appreciative of that! 

 

 And you guys! it’s episode 100! This is crazy! I’m pinching myself in disbelief! I’m so proud of myself for getting here, it wasn’t easy, but as we are going to talk about today, the power of belief, I believed I could do it, and I worked through the ups and downs to get here!

 

I also have a big announcement to make!  To celebrate the 100th episode, I am giving out a $100 Amazon gift card to a lucky listener!  Head on over to TanyaValentinecoaching.com/100giveaway. For instructions on how to enter for your chance to win! And good luck! And thank you for being a loyal listener!

 

Ok, onto today’s episode.  So we are currently in the middle of our Month of Manifestation series.  In the first episode of this series I shared that I’ve been diving deep into the book The Secret as well as the book “The Science of Getting Rich” which fun fact, was the book that inspired Rhonda Byrne to discover and write the book The Secret.  But anyway with this being a New Year, it feels right to pair what I’m learning about manifestation with goal setting. They really do go hand in hand.

 

So our focus is on the creative process, which is essentially the process of manifestation, and it includes 3 steps: ask, believe, receive.

 

Last episode we discussed ask.  We opened up our minds, we worked our imagination, as we imagined all of the things that we would want if there were no limitations.  I talked about how it’s not about being realistic, in fact, it’s the opposite, it’s borderline getting delusional.  The exercise we did was meant to shed that hard realistic exterior we have worn to protect us from the harsh world around us, so that we could then be able to expand our minds and our hearts and gain access to the creative power within.  It was about connecting to the real us, what we would love to be, and have and do, if we weren’t so scared.  It was about discovery.  

 

So first we get clear on what we want, what we really desire, and we ask for it.  We claim it.

 

And with that I want to share a quote I heard from author and entrepreneur, Luke Burgis, that I thought was so good and underscores the importance of uncovering our wants and desires, and not immediately shutting our ideas down with doubts.  So he said,

 

"The greatest developments in history are the result of someone wanting something that did not yet exist—and helping others to want more than they thought was wantable,"

 

So don’t shut down your wants, desires, and “crazy ideas” because you are unsure how you could make it work, because you are allowing doubt to rule your life.  Think of what this world would be like if the amazing inventors of this world did that.  Where would we be?  We wouldn’t have electricity, cars, planes, the internet, our iphones!  I mean really, don’t forget these ideas started in someone’s brain as an idea before they came reality.

 

Like Luke Burgis says, progress happens when someone wants something beyond what seems “wantable” and helps others see it too.

Henry Ford is a perfect example. People thought cars were a fad, dangerous, unnecessary, and only for the wealthy. Investors didn’t believe in him. Experts said mass production would never work. Communities tried to ban cars altogether. Yet Ford didn’t let doubt dictate his decisions. He believed in his vision, stayed committed through failure, and refused to build for approval instead of purpose.

And that’s the lesson: doubt doesn’t mean you’re wrong—it often means you’re early. When you shut down your wants and “crazy ideas,” you’re not being realistic—you’re letting fear run the show. Innovation, growth, and fulfillment always look foolish before they look inevitable.

 

And now, we focus on Belief.

So let’s start by talking about what it actually means to believe.

In The Secret, the creative process is:
Ask → Believe → Receive

Most people misunderstand Believe as:

“I hope this works” or “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

But belief in manifestation means:

Living, thinking, and feeling as if the outcome already exists. It means being grateful ahead of time for the result you are creating.

Not pretending.
Not forcing happiness.
Not lying to yourself.

It’s about internal congruence.

When your thoughts, emotions, expectations, and behaviors align with the outcome, your brain starts acting like it’s real.  And this is harder to do than it sounds, and it is something that I am currently working on.  But it’s funny, there are times when we do this so effortlessly that we do not even realize we are doing it.  The law of attraction doesn’t happen just because you know about it.  It is always at work.  So you might have subconscious beliefs that you can’t do something, that you’re not any good at technology, and then what do you create, you create the result of you not doing that thing, you create more evidence that you are not good at technology.  This is not woo-woo, this is backed by science.  Have you ever heard of the Reticular Activating System? For short, it’s called the RAS, but this thing is the filter in your brain that decides what you notice.

 

So when you believe something is possible or already “on its way,” your RAS:

• Notices opportunities
   

• Connects ideas
   

• Highlights resources
   

• Filters in evidence that supports the belief
   

If you don’t believe it’s possible?
Your brain filters OUT those opportunities.

➡️ Belief literally changes what you see.

There’s also something called confirmation bias.

Your brain is constantly looking for proof of what you already believe. Above all else, your brain wants to be right. And it will keep you stuck—even in pain—just to prove its point.

This is where we get into trouble, especially in our relationships. Think about almost any argument you’ve ever had. At the core of it is the need to defend a position, to be right. But when we’re attached to being right, our vision narrows. We filter out anything that threatens our belief, and we miss the bigger picture.

If we could loosen our grip on needing to be right, our lives would feel so much lighter. We’d be more open to other perspectives. We’d get an aerial view of the situation instead of staying stuck in tunnel vision.

And this doesn’t just apply to relationships—it applies to manifestation, too.

If you believe, “This never works for me,” your brain will find evidence that it won’t.
If you believe, “This is unfolding for me,” your brain will start finding evidence that it is.

This is why belief has to come before results—not after.

 

 

Now, it’s not enough to intellectually believe something in order to manifest it, you must feel it.  This can be the tricky part.

You can say you believe something…
…but if emotionally you feel:

• Doubt
   

• Anxiety
   

• Scarcity
   

• Impatience
   

Your body is communicating a different message. It’s not in alignment with what you’re trying to manifest.

Manifestation responds more to emotional frequency than words.

That’s why gratitude is key.

 

How you shift yourself into the emotional frequency of attracting what you want in your life is by practicing gratitude ahead of time.

Gratitude is powerful because it sends a very specific signal to your brain:
“I already have this.”

You can’t genuinely feel grateful for something you believe doesn’t exist.

Gratitude:

• Shifts you out of lack
   

• Calms your nervous system
   

• Creates emotional certainty
   

• Reinforces belief at a subconscious level
   

From the brain’s perspective, gratitude is a receipt.

Think about it—when do you say thank you?
It’s always after you’ve received something.
You thank someone for a gift, for listening, for holding the door open. Gratitude comes after the experience, not before it.

So when you practice gratitude in advance, you’re signaling to your brain, “This has already been received.” And when your brain believes you already have something, it starts acting as if you have it. You feel differently. You show up differently. Your nervous system settles into expectation instead of desperation.

And that emotional state—the feeling of certainty—is what creates alignment.

This is why visualization is such a powerful tool—and why it’s widely used in elite athletics, including the Olympics.

Olympic athletes don’t just train their bodies; they train their minds.

Research in sports psychology has shown that mental rehearsal activates the same neural pathways as physical practice. In other words, when an athlete vividly visualizes their performance, the brain fires the same motor neurons as if they were actually performing the movement.

One well-known study on basketball free throws found that:

• Players who practiced physically improved about 24%
   

• Players who practiced only visualization improved about 23%
   

• Players who did nothing showed almost no improvement
   

Nearly identical results—without touching a basketball.

This happens because your brain does not clearly distinguish between something vividly imagined and something actually experienced. To your nervous system, a detailed visualization feels real.

That’s why Olympic athletes are trained to mentally rehearse:

• The day of the event
   

• The environment
   

• The movements
   

• The emotions
   

• The outcome
   

They don’t visualize hoping it works.
They visualize executing it.

 

Manifestation works the same way.

When you combine belief with gratitude in advance, you’re mentally and emotionally rehearsing the outcome. And your brain begins to treat it as real—long before the evidence appears.

You don’t attract what you want—you attract what you believe is already yours.

Wanting says:

“I don’t have this yet.”

Gratitude says:

“This is already mine.”

That’s the energetic difference.

 

Now, Here’s The Real Reason People Struggle to Believe:

People don’t struggle with belief because they’re bad at manifesting.
They struggle because belief feels unsafe.

They think, If I fully believe:

• And it doesn’t happen → disappointment hurts more
   

• If I hope but don’t believe → I’m protected
   

So the brain keeps us in “maybe” mode as emotional self-protection.

 

 

Now here’s the point I want to drive home. Belief Does NOT Mean Zero Doubt

This is huge.

Belief is not:

• Never questioning
   

• Never feeling fear
   

• Never having a bad day
   

Belief is:

• Returning to certainty after doubt
   

• Acting in alignment despite fear
   

• Choosing trust more often than skepticism
   

Doubt doesn’t cancel belief.
Chronic disbelief does. You have to know how to talk to yourself to bring yourself back to what it is you’re trying to create, to bring yourself back to that belief in yourself.

  This is why coaching is crucial when it comes to achieving success with your goals.  You have to know how to manage your brain.  And it for sure helps to have someone who can hold your vision for you when you are struggling with the belief.  You have to perform the mental hygiene practices so that you don’t allow your brain to control you.  Your brain wants to keep you safe.  It likes the familiar, even when what is familiar isn’t working for you anymore, even when the unfamiliar is hurting more than helping.  It thinks well I’m alive right now, and this is what I’ve always done so this must be keeping me alive.  If I try something new, then for sure I’m going to die.  So I’m just going to keep on doing what I’ve always done.  I’m just going to keep having a glass of wine or eating cookies whenever I feel stressed, or I’m just going to stay at home and never try anything new, because it’s safe.

 

So here are 3 practical ways you can start really believing in your vision:

1. Ask yourself these questions, and force yourself to answer, preferably writing down your answers.  Schedule a little bit of time in your day to answer these questions, I’ll include these questions in show notes in case your busy doing chores or driving, you can come back to this later when it’s convenient for you, but promise me you will come back to it.  So schedule 5 minutes of your day, get yourself a paper and pen, sit with yourself alone in a quiet place, pull up these questions, really give them some thought and force yourself to answer.  Don’t let yourself say, well I don’t know.  When you notice yourself start to enter the land of “I don’t know” just ask your brain to know and I promise it will deliver.

Ask (in regards to your goal)

1.“Who would I be if this were already true?”

2.How would I think?
 

3.  How would I act?
 

4.  What would I tolerate less of?
5.  What would I prioritize more?
 

 

 

Ok the 2nd way you can strengthen your belief is by making Gratitude a Daily Practice.

Here are some examples of things that you can say, believe, or write down.

• “I’m so grateful that this opportunity is unfolding for me.”
   

• “I’m thankful this is already working out behind the scenes.”
   

• “I trust the timing of this.”

 

Not desperate.
Not begging.
Just Grounded gratitude.

 

The third—and final—thing you can do to strengthen your belief is something I call evidence stacking.

Evidence stacking means intentionally collecting proof that what you’re manifesting is already as good as done—because you have done hard things before.

Start by making a list of everything you’ve created in your life simply because you believed it was possible.

That list might include big things, like:

• Learning how to walk
   

• Graduating high school or college
   

• Learning how to drive
   

• Getting a job you wanted
   

• Becoming a mom
   

• Running a race you once thought you couldn’t
   

And it also includes small things:

• Making dinner for your family
   

• Following through on a plan
   

• Learning a new skill
   

• Showing up when it would’ve been easier not to
   

What you’re doing here is building belief in yourself—that you can imagine something, decide you want it, and then execute it.

You can also stack evidence by remembering:

• Past manifestations you once doubted
   

• Moments that worked out even when you didn’t know how they would
   

• Experiences you can’t fully explain, but clearly benefited from
   

Belief grows through remembered proof.

 

My mentor, Brooke Castillo, gives an example that I think illustrates this perfectly.

Think about pouring a glass of water. You do it with complete confidence. You don’t hesitate, because you’ve done it hundreds—maybe thousands—of times before.

Now imagine that same pitcher is filled with gasoline instead of water. Would you suddenly lose confidence in your ability to pour it?

Probably not.

Why? Because the belief isn’t actually about the liquid—it’s about you. You trust your ability to pour because you believe in your capacity to execute the action.

And manifestation works the same way.

When you stack evidence, you’re reminding your brain:
I am capable. I have done this before. I know how to follow through.

That belief is what carries you forward.

 

 

You don’t believe after it happens.
It happens because you believed.

 

“Belief isn’t passive. It’s an internal decision.”

You’ve heard it said by so many. There’s the song that Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston sing from the movie The Prince of Egypt, which I love. It’s called “When You Believe”.  The lyrics are “who knows miracles you can achieve, when you believe. Somehow you will, you will when you believe”.-it literally brings me to tears every time I listen to it.

And nothing illustrates the power of belief more clearly than this story from the New Testament about a blind man whose vision was miraculously restored.

In the Gospels of Mark (10:46–52) and Luke (18:35–43), Jesus encounters a blind man named Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus is sitting on the roadside begging when he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. Even though he cannot see, he recognizes opportunity. He begins to shout:

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

The crowd tries to silence him. They tell him to be quiet, to stop making a scene. But instead of shrinking back, he cries out even louder.

Jesus stops.

That alone matters. Jesus does not seek him out—Jesus responds to his faith-filled action.

Jesus calls him forward and asks a simple but profound question:

“What do you want me to do for you?”

Bartimaeus answers clearly and directly:

“Rabbi, I want to see.”

Jesus then says:

“Go; your faith has made you well.”

Immediately, Bartimaeus receives his sight.

But here’s the part people often miss:
Jesus does not say “I healed you.”
He says “your faith has made you well.”

Bartimaeus already believed:

• That Jesus could heal him
   

• That he was worthy of asking
   

• That it was available now
   

• That staying silent would keep him blind
   

His faith showed up in action:

• He spoke before he saw
   

• He persisted despite opposition
   

• He asked without apology
   

• He moved toward Jesus when called
   

And once he could see, Scripture says he followed Jesus on the road—his belief didn’t end at the miracle; it changed his life.

 

Why this matters. This story perfectly illustrates the power of belief.

Bartimaeus didn’t wait for proof before believing.
He didn’t say, “I’ll shout once I know this will work.”
He acted as if healing was already possible.

His faith wasn’t passive hope.
It was certainty expressed through behavior.

Belief isn’t quiet.
Belief moves.
Belief asks.
Belief acts before evidence appears.

 

One more thing I want to say about belief is this.
I recently heard Tony Robbins share this example in a podcast interview, and I thought it demonstrated the power of belief perfectly.

He asked the interviewer if he ever watched a basketball game and known—before the ball even left the player’s hands—that they were going to miss the shot? He explained that you can feel it. And it’s not because the player lacks skill. It’s because their body language gives them away.  It communicates doubt before the outcome ever happens.

Now think about a player like LeBron James. When he takes a shot, you know—without a shadow of a doubt—that it’s going in. And most of the time, it does. Not because he’s trying harder in that moment, but because he believes the shot is already made. His body, his posture, his energy all communicate certainty.

And manifestation works the same way.
When you believe the outcome already exists, you stop showing up with hesitation and doubt—and you start moving through life with certainty, trust, and gratitude… before the evidence ever appears.

Doubt is the biggest killer of dreams.  The reason we don’t follow through on our dreams and goals is because we don’t believe its possible.  So then we don’t take the action necessary because we think why bother?  We don’t take the necessary action to protect ourselves from the disappointment.

I'll leave you with some questions I really want you to sit with and they are, What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?  How would you act if you knew that the outcome you desired was as good as done?  Who would you be?  How would you be with your kids? With your friends?Your partner? Your clients, coworkers? How would you make decisions?  Really think about that and see what comes up for you.  Notice what shifts.

 

So here’s what I want to leave you with today.

Belief is not about pretending everything is perfect.
It’s not about never feeling doubt.
And it’s definitely not about sitting back and waiting for the universe to do all the work.

Belief is a decision you return to—again and again—especially when it feels uncomfortable.

It’s choosing to think, feel, and act as if what you desire is already unfolding, even when you don’t yet have the evidence.
It’s gratitude before the proof.
It’s movement before certainty.
It’s trust before results.

And when belief becomes steady—not perfect, but steady—something shifts.

You stop chasing.
You stop forcing.
You stop trying to control every outcome.

And that’s where the final step of the creative process becomes possible.

Because belief doesn’t just help you manifest—it prepares you to receive.

Next week, we’re going to talk about what it actually means to receive—because this is where so many people unknowingly block what they’ve been asking and believing for.

We’ll talk about:

• Why receiving can feel uncomfortable or unsafe
   

• How self-doubt, guilt, or “this is too good to be true” thinking can sabotage results
   

• What it looks like to receive without forcing, grasping, or self-sabotage
   

• And how to trust timing instead of trying to control outcomes
   

Because without belief, people struggle to receive.
They question it.
They minimize it.
They push it away.
Or they miss it entirely.

But when belief is in place, receiving feels natural.
Aligned.
Almost inevitable.

So between now and next week, I want you to notice something:
Where are you still waiting for proof before you allow yourself to believe?
And where might belief be inviting you to soften, trust, and open your hands instead of clenching your fists?

Sit with that.
Let it stir something.

Thank you for being here with me—especially on this 100th episode.
I don’t take your time, your attention, or your trust lightly.

I’ll talk to you next week, when we talk about how to receive what you’ve been asking for all along. Take care!