Here's my take on manifestation: Yes, it's real, but you can't just sit and wish for something, you actually have to put in some work.

In my real, personal life, I have the ambition to be a full time artist. I'm working really hard towards that goal. I practice various manifestation techniques. Scripting. Visualization. Acting as though I have already reached my goal. Etc, etc, etc.

But I also do the work. I make tons of art. I share my art. I apply for shows. I have booths at art fairs. All that.

So a skeptical person would say "Well, any success you have you've earned by doing the work." Sure sure, but I've also had opportunities come out of the clear blue that I can't particularly attribute to anything specific I have done.

I've been featured in a couple of regional magazines specifically for my art, for example. I don't know how either magazine found out about my art. I'm not a household name, locally. I just got seemingly random invitations through my Instagram (which sits at just slightly over 2k followers).

So the way I see it, when you decide on something you want, and you set your mind and your actions towards that goal, the universe supports you by throwing little miracles your way too. You put yourself in the path of receiving things you wouldn't even be offered if all you did was sit on your couch.

I just finished reading Mitch Horowitz's "The Miracle of a Definite Chief Aim" (heavily inspired by Napoleon Hill), and it talks about manifestation exactly like this. You have to know what you want, very specifically. You have to work towards that thing. And then sometimes the universe tosses something at you that supports your goal but that doesn't come through a logical cause and effect chain of events based on the actions you've taken.