The Hustle-Free Way of Manifesting Goals

Stop rearranging the furniture in your burning house and learn to build from a new foundation instead.

Photo by Kareli Lizcano on Unsplash

First published on Medium

I (Sophia) was a six-figure freelancer, and I was exhausted.

My calendar was a mosaic of client calls, project deadlines, and content to be created. I had hit the revenue goal so many solopreneurs dream of, but the cost was my sanity. My time for rest, for freedom, for inspiration, for simply taking a deep breath — was gone. I was constantly “doing,” but I felt completely empty.

I was, as I now see it, expertly rearranging the furniture in a burning house.

I was so focused on the actions — sending one more email, tweaking one more design, going on yet another client call — that I ignored the roaring flames of my own burnout and misalignment. The house was on fire, and I was worried about whether the couch was in the right spot.

If you’re a creator, a solopreneur, or anyone trying to build a better life, you might know this feeling. The frantic hustle. The feeling that if you just do more, you’ll be more. It’s a conditioned lie we’ve inherited from a world that prizes effort over alignment.

My wake-up call came in a double-whammy.

First, I hit a wall. Despite using spiritual teachings for inner-peace and manifestation techniques to “attract” more money, I was still burned out. I realized I was just manifesting goals, not changing my identity. I was trying to get a new sofa for the same burning house.

Then, life forced me to stop. Last year, during Hurricane Helene, we needed to evacuate. Standing there, with the literal world I knew potentially crumbling, the metaphor became devastatingly clear. You can’t control the storm, and you can’t save a house that’s being consumed. You have to get out. You have to find a new foundation.

In that forced pause, the teachings of Neville Goddard, which I had studied for years, finally clicked in my gut, not just my head. He wrote, in The Power of Awareness (affiliate link to the book),

“Manifesting is experiencing the results of the concepts of yourself in the world.”

It’s not about visualizing a thing. It’s about becoming the person for whom that thing is a natural reality.

The fire wasn’t my client load; it was my self-concept. I was operating as a “struggling freelancer” who had to hustle for every dollar. My identity was the burning house. No amount of rearranging — no new client, no higher rate — would put out that flame.

I had to step out of the smoke and into a new identity entirely.

The Shift: From Goal-Getter to Generous Teacher

I stopped asking, “How can I make $X?” and started asking, “Who am I if I am already a financially abundant entrepreneur?”

The answer wasn’t about having a fat bank account. It was about the feeling. The feeling of security, of generosity, of being a valuable teacher who helps others transform their lives. I defined my new identity:

“I am a financially abundant & generous teacher of identity shifting.”

This isn’t “acting as if.” It’s feeling as if. You honor your present 3D reality, but you consciously choose to generate the feeling you believe you’d have if your desire was already true.

And then, a funny thing happened. The opportunities that aligned with that person started to show up.

A local community center invited me to teach a workshop on identity shifting. Our free Skool community, SYI, began to grow with beautiful, like-minded souls who genuinely wanted to learn from us. We weren’t chasing; we were creating value from a state of abundance, and the means to create a livelihood from doing what we love naturally unfolded. The money started to follow the value, not the other way around.

Your Practical Takeaway: How to Step Into Your New Identity Today

You don’t need a hurricane to start this shift. You can start in the next five minutes.

The process is simple, but it requires courage to stop “doing” and start “being.”

1. Get Crystal Clear: What do you really want? And more importantly, why? Dig for the feeling. Do you want more money for the number in your account, or for the feeling of security and freedom it represents? Do you want a successful business for the status, or for the feeling of creative expression and impact?

2. Define the “I Am”: Complete this sentence from the end result: “I am a person who…” Not “I want to be,” but “I AM.”
    → Instead of “I want to be a successful writer,” try “I am a widely-read author whose words transform lives.”
    → Instead of “I want to be debt-free,” try “I am a financially abundant and secure person.”

3. Slip Into the Feeling (The 5-Minute Practice): Close your eyes. For just five minutes, let go of your current reality. In your mind’s eye, slip into the identity of that “I Am” person you just defined. Don’t visualize objects; generate the feeling. What does it feel like in your body to be that person? Is it a lightness in your chest? A quiet confidence? A sense of expansive freedom? Let that feeling wash over you. Breathe into it.

4. Carry It With You: Open your eyes and go about your day. But let that feeling be your inner soundtrack. Let it infuse your decisions, your conversations, your work. Action will become intuitive, not forced. You’ll stop procrastinating and second-guessing because you’ll be moving from a place of alignment with your inner self.

Stop trying to save the burning house. The hustle, the exhaustion, the constant “doing” from a place of lack — it’s all smoke and mirrors.

Step out. Breathe the fresh air of a new identity. Build a new reality from the inside out.

Ready to stop hustling and start being?

This is the work we do every day in our free Skool community, Shift Your Identity (SYI). We host free calls where we practice these exact techniques together, support each other, and celebrate each other’s wins. It’s a safe space to put out your fires and build the identity you truly desire.

Join us for free at simpleandaligned.com/syi. We’d be honored to have you.

Remove These Two Blocks and Become a Money Magnet

How a simple grocery run conversation revealed why we were repelling abundance (and the identity shift that changed everything).

Photo by Greg Willson on Unsplash

First published on Medium

It was just a drive to pick up our grocery order.

The radio was off. The hum of the road was the only sound, until one of us started talking about love.

“You know,” one of us said, “when you’re desperately looking for love, you often don’t find it. Or you make compromises. But when you stop looking, when you’re just ready and open… that’s when you find your person.”

A pause. Then the spark.

“That’s how money works.”

The words hung in the air between us, Cristof and Sophia. It was one of those moments where a truth you’ve been circling for years suddenly lands, clear and simple.

You have to be ready for money, and the money has to be ready for you.

Stop chasing money. Let money chase you.

It sounds beautiful, almost too simple. But as we talked, we realized we’d spent years building invisible walls that repelled the very abundance we wanted. We were the ones who weren’t “ready.” And we discovered we weren’t alone.

The Two Biggest Blocks That Keep Money from Finding You

For this “letting money chase you” idea to work, you have to be open to receiving. We found two major ways we were slamming the door shut.

Block #1: The Comparison Trap (Cristof’s Story)

For the longest time, my reaction to other people’s success was a gut punch of self-doubt. I’d see a fellow writer hit the Staff Picks, or a solopreneur launch a successful course, and my mind would immediately spiral: Why them and not me? What’s wrong with me? Why am I not there yet?

This wasn’t just jealousy; it was a form of energetic repulsion. By focusing on my lack, I was broadcasting a signal of scarcity. I was essentially telling the universe, “See? I don’t have what it takes. Those people are the lucky ones.” I was so busy measuring my chapter 1 against someone else’s chapter 20 that I’d become completely un-coachable, closed off to the very inspiration and strategies that could have moved me forward.

Block #2: The Imposter Syndrome Freeze (Sophia’s Story)

My block was more internal, but just as damaging. It was the voice that whispered, “Who are you to talk about this? Your own life isn’t perfectly ‘fixed’ yet. You’re not a certified expert.”

This hesitation showed up as not taking inspired action. I’d get a nudge to write an article, reach out for a collaboration, or create a new offering, and the imposter syndrome would freeze me. “I’m not ready,” I’d tell myself. This wasn’t humility; it was a cleverly disguised form of self-sabotage. By refusing to put myself out there, I was ensuring I’d never become the person I wanted to be. I was repelling opportunity by refusing to open the door.

The Shift: How We Finally Opened the Door

Realizing the blocks was one thing. Dismantling them was another. It didn’t happen overnight, but through a conscious practice of identity work.

For me, Cristof, the breakthrough came from a concept we now live by:

imagine what the person who already has what you want feels like, and then hold that feeling in your heart.

I’m a beginner in CrossFit. In the past, seeing someone do a handstand walk would have triggered my comparison monster. Now, I consciously step into the identity of a “fit, healthy athlete.” From that place, I don’t feel jealousy; I feel pure awe and inspiration. I see a roadmap, not a reminder of my failure. I became coachable, embracing Ray Dalio’s principle of radical open-mindedness that I had read in his book Principles (Affiliate Link). The person I am becoming is eager to learn from those ahead of him, because he knows their success doesn’t diminish his own — it lights the path.

For me, Sophia, the shift was deciding to

be a contributor, not a guru.

In 2023, I started a YouTube channel despite feeling completely unqualified. The pivotal moment was a piece of advice from my money mindset mentor, Denise Duffield-Thomas, author of Chill and Prosper (Affiliate Link), that I paraphrase like so: “You don’t have to be the ultimate expert. You just have to be a contributor to the conversation.”

That freed me. A five-year-old can contribute a beautiful, naive drawing to the world of art. A 105-year-old can contribute a lifetime of wisdom. I realized that in the doing, I would become. By creating the content, I was embodying the teacher. I was stepping into the identity of “someone who shares valuable insights,” and through that action, I was becoming her.

Your Practical Takeaway: The “Magnet Mindset” Question

So, how do you start removing these blocks today? It starts with one simple, powerful question. Whenever you feel stuck, hesitant, or compare yourself, ask:

“What would the version of me who is already a money magnet do right now?”

• Would that version of you scroll mindlessly, or would they write 500 words?

• Would they gossip about a competitor’s success, or would they send a congratulatory message?

• Would they hide their work because it’s not “perfect,” or would they hit “publish”?

This question bypasses the faulty logic of your current circumstances and pulls you into the energy of your future self. This is the energy that money — like a happy dog — recognizes and runs toward.

And remember the most liberating idea from our car conversation, inspired by the book Dollars Want Me (Affiliate Link):

Dollars want you.

Money is not a scarce resource to be hoarded. It’s a form of energy that wants to circulate. It is drawn to people who will use it for good, for creation, for benefit to their families and communities. When you align your identity with that benevolent, creative force, you stop being a desperate chaser and start being a joyful receiver. You become a magnet.

Your journey to becoming a money magnet starts with a single decision who you want to become.

Before You Go…

If this resonated with you, you’re our kind of person. We explore these kinds of mind-shifts and practical identity upgrades every week in our Simple and Aligned Newsletter. Click here to get our weekly insights delivered directly to your inbox. Let’s become the people our future selves are already proud of.

— Sophia & Cristof

The Sacred Pause: The Solopreneur’s Antidote to Burnout

How a simple question from Rainn Wilson’s “Soul Boom” helped me replace hustle with holiness and build a business that doesn’t cost me my peace.

Photo by Frank Leuderalbert on Unsplash

You know the feeling. It’s 3:17 PM on a Tuesday. Your to-do list is a tyrant, your inbox is a bottomless pit, and the glow of your screen feels more like a prison spotlight than a gateway to freedom. You’re chasing client work, algorithm updates, and revenue goals with a frantic energy that, deep down, feels hollow.

You started this journey to build a life of purpose. But somewhere along the way, the purpose got buried under the productivity. The meaning got lost in the metrics.

I (Cristof) was deep in this exact grind. As a freelance programmer, my worth was measured in billable hours and completed projects. I stacked them high, convinced that maximizing my income potential was the ultimate goal. The result? I was a husk. Stressed, burned out, and painfully disconnected. The romantic dates with my wife? A forgotten concept. Quiet moments with my cats? A luxury. My morning meditation? The first thing sacrificed on the altar of "busyness."

I had traded my inner peace for outer progress, and it was the worst bargain I’d ever made. I was doing all this work for my family, but in the process, I had become completely absent from my family. I was building a business to create freedom, but I had become a slave to it.

Then, I read a paragraph in Rainn Wilson’s book, Soul Boom (affiliate-link), that stopped me cold. It was a simple invitation—a plea, really—amidst a chapter on meaning. He asks:

“Please take five minutes to consider… What is holy to you personally? Where does sacredness live? What should be sacred to all of humanity? What is most definitely not sacred? What have we lost by not having more ‘sacredness’ in our lives?”

His hope was to spark one action: a moment of pause.

Reading that, I felt a deep resonance. I had already stepped away from the 24/7 freelance grind, but the mental habits of hustle culture were stubborn ghosts. The frantic energy, the guilt for pausing — these were my default settings. The word ‘pause’ in Rainn’s passage wasn’t a life raft from a sinking ship, but a validation for the dry land I was already standing on. It was permission to make my new reality feel not just like a break, but like a sacred, permanent shift.

So I closed the book, set my phone aside, and applied this new lens of ‘sacredness’ to the peace I was trying to build.

Here’s what I discovered in that sacred pause:

What is holy to me is not the output; it’s the process. It’s the sacred act of healing, writing, and creating between 8 AM and noon each day. It’s the time I spend journaling to untangle childhood traumas and insecurities, not just to become a better businessman, but to become a whole man. This is the foundation upon which a meaningful life—and a sustainable business—is built.

Sacredness lives as a feeling in the heart of my being. It’s not an abstract concept; it’s a tangible energy I can locate in the center of my chest. It’s the universal love and joy I can access through a momentary pause, a deep breath, a conscious re-centering. It’s my internal home base, and I had been away from home for far too long.

What should be sacred to all of us is getting out of the hustle culture. It’s making non-negotiable pauses to reflect, realign, and simplify. The endless heist for money, fame, and power is a hollow game. The true spiritual journey is the one that leads to an inner happiness independent of outside factors—the kind of success that no market crash can ever take away.

That Tuesday afternoon grind? The constant busyness devoid of meaning? That is the opposite of sacred. It’s what leads us away from our true path. But here’s the beautiful paradox I learned: that feeling of emptiness, that volcanic pressure of dissatisfaction, is also what eventually forces us onto a spiritual quest. It’s the catalyst. As Thich Nhat Hanh said,

“in the sunlight of awareness, everything becomes sacred.”

Even our burnout can become a teacher if we pay attention.

So, what have we lost by not having more sacredness in our lives? We have lost our peace. And peace is the most precious wealth in the world. For this very reason, my current LinkedIn banner states:

“There is no greater wealth in this world than peace of mind.”

See it here and connect.

Without it, we cannot serve others or ourselves in our highest possible way. We just spin on the hamster wheel, wondering why we’re so tired but getting nowhere.

Your Practical Pause: A 5-Minute Business Strategy

This isn’t woo-woo; it’s the most practical productivity hack you’ll ever adopt. Your sacred pause is your strategic advantage. It’s what prevents burnout and fuels authentic creativity.

Here’s how to start, today:

1. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Do this before you check email or social media.

2. Ask yourself just one of Rainn’s questions: “What is holy to me personally in my work or life today?” or “Where can I find a pocket of the sacred in my schedule?”

3. Listen. Not with your brain, but with that feeling in the center of your chest. The first answer that arises without ego—that’s your truth.

4. Protect it. That thing that came up? That’s your new non-negotiable. It is more important than one more email.

When I started doing this, everything changed. I didn’t work less; I worked better. My creativity became more focused, my energy more sustainable, and my connection with my clients more genuine because I was no longer running on empty. I was serving from a place of overflow.

I regained my peace. And from that place of quiet wealth, everything else flows.

What is one thing that is sacred in your work and life? Share it in the comments below. Let’s create a living library of what truly matters.

If this piece resonated with you, you’ll love our weekly Simple and Aligned newsletter. Every week, we share one simple prompt, one insight, and one actionable tip to help you stay connected to what’s sacred in your work and life, so you can build a business that feels like a calling. Join us here and get free access to our ever-expanding library of PDF-guides for more conscious living and success.

With love and alignment,
Cristof (and Sophia)

My Cure for Entrepreneurial Anxiety Came From an Unlikely Source: Rainn Wilson

I was drowning in doubt over my business metrics. A brutally honest sentence from "Soul Boom" led me to a 3-minute practice that changed everything.

Photo by Keegan Houser on Unsplash

Disclosure: This article links book titles to their Amazon.com listings using affiliate links. If you choose to click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

The knot in my stomach was back.

I’d just closed the tabs—our Medium stats, our affiliate dashboard—and the familiar script started playing in my head: “See? The numbers don’t lie. Maybe you and Sophia don’t have anything meaningful to contribute after all.”

I felt it physically. The weight on my shoulders, the tightness in my jaw. The material results of our fledgling company, Simple and Aligned, were all I could see, and they were shouting that we were failing.

I felt really, well, frigging unhappy.

And in that moment, a line from a book I was reading echoed in my mind like it was written just for this exact feeling. It was from page 76 of Rainn Wilson’s Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution:

“I needed to seek spirituality because I was really frigging unhappy.”

It was so blunt. So undeniably honest. It wasn't a complex theory; it was a survival instinct. My own search for spirituality started from a similar place.

My whole life, I’ve been fascinated by the non-material. I grew up in relative material abundance; whenever I had a wish that wasn't too outrageous, I could usually put it on my list for my birthday or Christmas and get it. I remember wishing for an electric guitar, and boom, a month or two later, I had it. I wished for an amp to go with it, and boom, I got that too.

It felt nice to have them, to play around with them. But I already had so many "toys." I had a computer, golf equipment, two bicycles, a closet full of clothes, an acoustic guitar, a cello, and shelves overflowing with books and games. The truth was, I had accumulated so many more things than I had time to actually use them. And in that realization, they became completely meaningless. The joy of acquisition was fleeting, replaced by the quiet burden of possession.

By 15, that feeling had crystallized into a genuine curiosity. If a new guitar or gadget couldn't provide a lasting answer, what could? It was this search that led me to a conversation I’ll never forget. I happened to run into my religious education teacher while walking across town. We fell into step together, and I found myself asking him the biggest question of all: “What is the meaning of life?”

He didn't offer a textbook answer or a complex philosophical theory. He just stopped, looked at me with genuine sincerity, and said, “That is a very good question.” Then he added, “It’s one I also don’t have an answer for.” His humble admission was surprisingly powerful. It didn't shut down my question; it validated it. It signaled that this was a real quest, not something with a simple answer in the back of a book.

The answer began years later, thanks to my wife, Sophia, who introduced me to meditation, and a book I got from my dad, The Diamond Cutter by Geshe Michael Roach, which showed me how ancient wisdom applies to modern problems. I learned that the answer wasn't in the next viral post or product launch; it was inside me. Rainn Wilson defines spirituality as that which is “not of material… not tangible.” It’s the meaning, the purpose, the connection—the stuff that truly matters, but you can’t put a price tag on.

My moment of despair over our stats was the latest alarm bell, signaling that I’d forgotten that. I’d become attached to the material outcome and disconnected from the non-material why.

Rainn’s quote was the spark that brought me back to that teenage feeling. It was the permission slip to admit the material world wasn't enough. But the solution? That didn’t come from his book. His blunt honesty inspired me to reflect and consciously excavate a practice from my own toolkit, built from years of meditation and introspection with Sophia.

It wasn't created in the moment of despair, but in a quiet moment of reflection afterwards, specifically because his words resonated so deeply. I asked myself: "What is my actual, practical response to being 'really frigging unhappy'?" This is what I developed:

The 3-Step “Body & Breath” Reset

1. Play Sentinel. Your first job isn’t to fight the feeling, but to notice it. Mentally acknowledge it: “Ah, there you are, doubt. And you, unhappiness.” Stop seeing these thoughts as “you” and instead see them as visitors. Just naming them—“I see you”—creates a tiny sliver of space between you and the panic. You are the watcher, not the storm.

2. Breathe and Locate. Take one slow, deep breath. As you breathe out, scan your body. “Where does this doubt live?” For me, it’s a definite tightness in my jaw and a heavy pressure on my shoulders. Don’t try to make it go away. Just shine a light on it. Okay, it’s right here. This moves the problem from the abstract mind into the tangible body, where it’s easier to work with.

3. Smile and Send Love. This part feels a little weird until you do it. Put a gentle, soft smile on your face—not because you’re happy, but as an act of kindness toward yourself. Then, direct that feeling of compassion inward, right toward the area of tension. Mentally whisper, “Thank you for trying to protect me. I see you. It’s okay. You can relax now.”

Radiate acceptance instead of resistance. The tension may not vanish instantly, but its power over you will. It dissolves from a screaming alarm into a quiet whisper you can calmly listen to.

(For extra credit, ask that tension, “What are you here to teach me?” and journal the answer. It might be about a deeper fear of being irrelevant—a much richer insight than just “the stats are low.”)

That three-minute practice completely shifted my energy. I stopped frantically thinking about what was wrong with our strategy and remembered what was right with our purpose: to be of service. The doubt was a passenger, not the driver.

The material results of our work will always ebb and flow. But my ability to return to a place of joy and purpose in the process? That’s a spiritual skill no algorithm can touch.

And it all started with a sentence in a book from an unlikely spiritual guide, giving me the courage to admit I was unhappy, and the inspiration to find my own way out.

If Rainn Wilson’s blunt honesty speaks to you like it did to me, and inspires you to find your own tools, you can find his book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, here.

If this personal journey and practice resonated with you, and you want more insights for aligning your mind and your work, join our Simple and Aligned Newsletter. We share the tools and discoveries that don't show up anywhere else.

What’s a quote that recently inspired you to create a change? Share it in the comments below—I’d love to hear what’s sparking your own solutions.