What Conor McGregor Taught Me About Manifesting

Conor McGregor

Digital Artwork by Brian Knocks

What Conor McGregor Taught Me About Manifesting

Kathy Dale | Mindset Coach for Women Post-Divorce

Several years ago, I found out that my friend Michelle was a closet MMA fanatic. Her favorite fighter was Irish born and bred, Conor McGregor.I learned about this odd obsession when she told me that I would be hosting an upcoming UFC fight. I would be in charge of cooking a “traditional Irish feast,” comprised of stew, soda bread and Irish Car Bombs. (I later learned that Irish Car Bombs aren’t traditional at all, and would probably get you kicked out of a real Irish pub if you ordered one!)About a week before the fight, Michelle sent me an article on Conor McGregor. He sounded cocky and more than a little insane, but he had made mention of how the book “The Secret” and the principles of the Law of Attraction had changed his life. I was intrigued because I had heard of the book and what a big phenomenon it was but had never read it, nor did I know anything about the Law of Attraction.We decided that we would rent the movie “The Secret” and watch it before the big fight. This is going to sound crazy, but that movie literally changed my life. The very next day after watching “The Secret” I created my very first Vision Board. I vividly remember each item pinned on my Vision Board because EVERY item on my Board (no matter how unlikely or impossible it seemed at the time) manifested. I had created the exact life I had wanted by intently focusing on my vision several times a day, and by taking action on opportunities that seemed to appear out of thin air.Within TWO WEEKS of watching “The Secret”, I packed up my apartment and relocated to a city 90 miles away, was working remotely from my new home (for a company that had never in thirty plus years allowed non-attorney staff to work from home), and quickly changed the course of my life.I began a daily meditation, visualization, and gratitude practice, and became even more engrossed in personal development and Law of Attraction principles. I had more time and freedom to read books, listen to podcasts, and attend seminars and workshops. Along the way, I learned techniques to manage stress and anxiety, and ways to eliminate fears that had been holding me back.

As I looked at my own transformation, I realized this was something I wanted to share with others.Within a year, I embarked on a completely new career path helping women overcome fears, blocks and challenges using the exact same tools and strategies I had learned myself. At midlife, I had finally found my purpose in life! I realize at times how impossible this all sounds, but this really happened. And you know what caused it? My unwavering faith and belief that it...was... possible. The belief that you are the cocreator of your life. The belief that when you combine empowering thoughts, with positive and uplifting feelings, and take daily (sometimes massive) action towards your goals...nearly anything is possible. Unlike Conor, I wasn’t able to anticipate the ways in which my life would unfold, but I followed my intuition, remained steadfast in my positive expectations of life, and took inspired action every day.I became curious about Conor and how he used the Law of Attraction to manifest his status as an infamous UFC Champion. What I learned (which closely paralleled the teachings in “The Secret”) was that our thoughts hold some sort of mystical power/energy. Of course, there’s much more to simply thinking something into existence. You need to feel the emotion of your wish fulfilled and take action in order for The Universe, God, Source (or whatever your particular beliefs are) to bring forth your desire into reality.Conor had apparently envisioned each of his fights down to the smallest detail. While Conor researched and studied his opponents’ strengths and weaknesses, he also, frame-by-frame, visualized the outcome of the fight where he ended up victorious. When asked about the correlation between the Law of Attraction and the power of visualization Conor said:“In this struggle, when things are going good and you visualize good things happening , that’s easy. What’s not easy is to do this when things are going bad and you’re visualizing the good stuff. And that’s what I was able to do. … Visualizing good things in times of struggle, when you can do that, that really makes the law of attraction work.”My biggest takeaway is that the Universe doesn’t care so much what you think about -- it simply delivers what you are placing an order for -- good or bad. When you stop and realize that a majority of our thoughts (we have roughly 50,000- 70,000 thoughts per day) are negative looping thoughts, it makes sense to pay close attention to the thoughts you’re thinking. Once you become aware of your thoughts, you have control over their direction. It requires focus and daily practice, but it can be done.

Mindfulness/meditative practices help tremendously with this because they keep you focused on living in the present moment. By focusing on the present, you aren’t anxious or stressed about the future or ruminating on the past. After being a student of these teachings for some time now, I believe that manifestation is a result of three components: your thoughts, your emotions, and the actions you take as a result of your beliefs about what is or isn’t possible. Like Connor says, I realize that it’s hard to visualize success when you are struggling with finances or to visualize the perfect partner when you’re single. Our subconscious mind communicates in symbols, metaphors and visuals, which is why Vision Boards and visualization work so well.If you see visuals reminding you of the life you desire (i.e. a plane to represent travel, a glass of champagne to symbolize celebration, a picture of a couple holding hands while walking the beach to represent love and companionship) your mind searches for ways to make this happen and keeps an eye out for opportunities it otherwise may have missed. You can’t let yourself get caught up in your current circumstances. If you continually focus on lack and scarcity, you’ll end up attracting more of the same. You also can’t control how things are going to come into existence. You simply have to trust the process.Instead, focus on all the good things that are already in your life. An example of this is if you’re looking to bring more abundance into your life, what areas of your life are already abundant? (i.e. your relationships with family or friends, a fulfilling hobby, etc.) It doesn’t have to be directly related to a financial goal. Think symbolically about what abundance means to you and apply the concept where it already fits into your life.If you’re not happy with what you’re attracting into your life, I invite you to start examining your current thoughts. Set an alarm on your phone to go off several times a day. When the alarm goes off, check-in to see where your thoughts are. If you’re thinking about something upsetting, immediately change the thought. Remember to always focus on what you want, not what you don’t want or on what’s missing in your life.And never underestimate the power of synchronicity. Specific people, circumstances, ideas, and inspiration are brought into your life for a reason. They’re always an indicator of what you’re focused on. Set an intention for what you want, pay attention to the signs you’re given, take inspired action, trust the process, and watch as beautiful things begin to manifest into your life.

NOTE: I’d like to offer my sincere thanks and immense gratitude to Brian Konnick for allowing me the use of his digital artwork for this article. His work can be viewed on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ ikonnick.