How to Get Into Alignment With Your Desires: What I’m Learning About Manifesting a Big Goal at Midlife

I’m going to tell you something I haven’t spoken about publicly until now:

Every time I think about my manifestation goal of reaching 100,000 monthly blog readers, I feel a tiny tightening in my stomach.

Nothing dramatic.
Nothing panicked.

Just a flutter. A wobble. A little “Can I really handle that?” moment.

For a while, I thought that meant I didn’t believe in the goal enough. That maybe I needed to hype myself up more, visualise harder, or repeat affirmations like I meant them.

But recently, something clicked for me that changed the entire shape of this journey.

Sometimes the body isn’t resisting the desire.
It’s resisting the old pattern that used to come attached to desire.

And for me, that old pattern was always the same:

Overwork → Little return → Exhaustion → Keep pushing.

So when I started imagining 100K readers coming into my world, my stomach wasn’t saying “It’s impossible.”

It was saying:

“Is it really possible for you… if you’re not overworking?”

That’s when I realised something huge, something I wish someone had taught me decades ago:

This is the universal journal sentence we come back to again and again in this work:

Who do I become when receiving feels safe for me?

That question alone will shift more energy than a vision board ever could.

What Alignment Really Means When You’re Manifesting a Goal

I used to think alignment meant positivity.

Or enthusiasm.
Or clarity.
Or being “high vibe.”

But that’s not how it actually works, not at midlife, when our nervous systems are wiser, more protective, and far less tolerant of pressure.

Alignment, as I’m learning firsthand, is a combination of two things:

1. Belief that feels quiet and grounded
2. A nervous system that feels safe to receive the outcome

All these teachings point to the same truth:

You manifest what you feel safe holding.

And at midlife, this becomes even more important because:

• Our stress thresholds shift
• Our burnout history makes us more protective
• We crave spaciousness
• We reject old overworking patterns
• We desire emotional steadiness over adrenaline

So alignment is no longer a mindset exercise.

It becomes a whole-self experience.

Why Wanting Something Isn’t Enough (and why so many women get stuck here)

Here’s another way to put this:

• You can want a desire badly.
• You can visualise it.
• You can script it.
• You can say affirmations with absolute devotion.

But if your body thinks the outcome will bring:

• More pressure
• More work
• More exposure
• More responsibility
• More overwhelm
• More eyes on you
• More expectations
• More chaos

…it will quietly protect you from it.

Not to sabotage you, but to keep you safe.

This is why many midlife women feel like they are “stuck” or “blocked” or “pushing” when trying to manifest a goal.

It’s not a block, it’s safety.

And when I finally recognised this in myself – in that little stomach tightening – it softened something inside me.

It made me kinder to myself.

It made me realise that nothing was wrong, but my nervous system simply didn’t trust that receiving could be gentle.

And that was my aha moment!

The Truth I Had To Face: Is it really possible for ME?

I had watched other bloggers grow.
I had studied their analytics.
I had pinned their posts.
I had seen the success stories over and over.

So the question wasn’t:

“Is it possible?”

The question was:

“Is it really possible for me?”

And even deeper:

“Is it possible for me without overworking?”

That last part was the key.

Because I have spent most of my adult life in a pattern of:

• Work hard
• Work harder
• Push through
• Receive nothing
• Start again

So the thought of receiving through:

• Softness
• Steady action
• Emotional ease
• Letting content compound
• Allowing support
• Trusting timing

…felt foreign to me.

Not bad. Not wrong. Just unfamiliar.

So I’ve had to remind myself gently:

This is the real alignment work.

Not polishing the desire.
But unlearning the belief that receiving requires sacrifice.

I now often remind myself…

“I don’t have to earn my desires through exhaustion anymore.”

The Simple Equation That Changed How I Manifest

A few weeks ago, in a moment of clarity, something clicked into place:

Belief sounds like:
“Of course this is possible for me.”

Safety sounds like:
“I can hold this without losing myself.”

Alignment sounds like:
“My mind, body, and emotions all say yes!”

And manifestation is simply the outcome of that harmony.

This is why your nervous system affects your manifestation, and you’ll see me expand on this even more in my post about how the nervous system behaves after 50.

What Alignment Looks Like In Real Life (It’s quieter than you think)

When I check in with myself now, these are the signs I look for – and the signs you can look for too:

Calm curiosity
You’re interested in the desire, not obsessing over it.

Steady action
You show up consistently, not frantically.

No rushing energy
You trust the unfolding instead of forcing timelines.

Emotional softness
The desire feels like an expansion, not a tight grip.

Generosity of spirit
You start thinking about how receiving will help others, not just you.

Body neutrality
Your body doesn’t panic when you imagine receiving.

This is alignment.

And it is so much quieter than the hustle space ever taught us.

How To Get Into Alignment With Your Desires (The midlife version)

Here’s the part I wish I could hand to every woman over 50 who is trying to manifest something meaningful:

FOCUS ON SAFETY BEFORE STRATEGY.

Ask yourself:

• What part of this desire feels unsafe?
• What old pattern is being challenged?
• What would receiving this require me to unlearn?
• Where in my body do I feel the wobble?
• What would make this feel easier?
• How can I bring softness into the process?

And then journal with this prompt:

“What would help my body feel safe receiving this desire?”

Maybe it’s:

• Slowing your pace
• Allowing more rest
• Trusting compounding rather than instant results
• Giving yourself permission to be supported
• Rewriting old money/power/work stories
• Imagining the desire arriving gently, not all at once

Alignment isn’t a thought, it’s a felt sense.

And once your body relaxes into a desire, manifestation accelerates naturally, because you’re no longer resisting the very thing you’re calling in.

The Alignment I’m Practising Right Now

Here’s where I am in my journey with the 100K readers goal:

• I’m building belief through consistency, not hype.
• Consistency is me taking aligned action i.e. publishing two blog posts per week.
• I’m teaching my body that growth doesn’t equal overwhelm.
• I’m allowing this to be gentle.
• I’m trusting my content.
• I’m honouring my energy.
• I’m releasing the old “overwork = worthiness” story.
• I’m letting receiving feel normal, not dramatic.

And interestingly, the more I relax into safety, the more aligned I feel. And the more aligned I feel, the more natural the desire becomes.

This is the path from wishing to receiving.

Not force.
Not pressure.
Just alignment.

Final thoughts

If you’ve been trying to manifest something; a goal, a shift, a new identity, a new doorway, and you feel that little stomach tightening the way I did… pause.

It doesn’t mean you’re blocked.
It doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.
It doesn’t mean the desire isn’t meant for you.

It simply means your nervous system is learning a new pattern of safety.

And that is the doorway into true alignment.

What you learned

• Alignment = belief + nervous system safety
• Wanting isn’t enough if the body feels unsafe
• Midlife manifestation requires gentleness, not hustle
• Old patterns (overworking, scarcity, hyper-independence) affect receiving
• Alignment is quiet, steady, and emotionally grounded
• You can teach your body that receiving is safe
• Alignment accelerates manifestation far more than effort