“Manifesting is simply expecting good things to happen, which is a very anti-British way of thinking. We tend to expect bad news, bad people and bad politics,” says Candice Brathwaite, the author, podcaster and speaker, who has had a long and hard journey with manifestation. In her new book, Manifesto, she explains what brought her to manifesting practices in the first place and how each of us can start our own journeys.

So many of us tend to expect the worst, but according to Brathwaite, manifesting is all about expecting the best. “That doesn’t mean that every day is perfect, but I genuinely wake up every single morning and expect something good to happen that day,” she told the Stylist Live crowd.

However, Brathwaite accepts that many people may be turned off by the messaging around manifesting because they may not feel represented in the messaging and language. “There are so many societal hurdles I had to jump through, because when I turn on the TV or look at the front cover of magazines, I don’t see people like me. I’m not represented in a way that says I’m deserving of a good thing or a good life,” Brathwaite shared.

For the author, writing Manifesto was a way of understanding how many people forget the starting block is not equal for everyone.

“Start small and test drive your dream”: here’s how to get started with your manifesting journey, according to Candice Brathwaite