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Lewis HowesHow To Use The Law Of Attraction To MANIFEST ANYTHING In 2023 | Dr. Tara Swart Bieber
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Chapter summaries
Manifestation as Goal-Setting and Neuroplasticity
Lewis Howes asks what manifestation is and how neuroplasticity supports it. Dr. Tara Swart Bieber defines it as turning dreams into tangible reality and describes how neuroplasticity let her turn hard times (divorce, grief, career change) into opportunity. She shares how switching her gratitude lists to internal qualities was a game changer.
- •Manifestation is setting a goal and achieving it, making dreams real in the tangible world
- •Neuroplasticity means the brain can change at any age or mindset
- •Hard times like divorce and grief taught her resilience
- •Gratitude lists of internal qualities (creativity, vulnerability, resilience) built confidence in her own tools
- •Emotional regulation gives autonomy and agency
Defending the Science Against the 'Woo-Woo' Label
Lewis points out that gratitude lists and visualization can sound like self-help rather than science. Tara explains the risk of merging science and spirituality, her journey beyond job titles, her action boards, and how colleagues at MIT respond. She also covers the brain-body connection, emotions as information, and the gut-brain link.
- •Merging science with spirituality in her book The Source carried risk, but staying only in medicine would have been the bigger risk
- •A dinner-party comment, 'you're so much more,' moved her to tears when she asked who she was beyond doctor or neuroscientist
- •Action boards are her version of vision boards, used for 15 years
- •Emotions are not bad; they are signals we need
- •The gut-brain connection is bidirectional, involving chemical messaging and the immune system
Mental Rehearsal, Uncertainty, and Learning New Things
Lewis asks about the evidence behind visualization and action boards. Tara explains that mental rehearsal makes new things less threatening to a brain that dislikes uncertainty, and describes learning languages, piano and tennis. She also tells how a coach prompted her to apply neuroplasticity to being happier during the pandemic.
- •Uncertainty and anything new are threatening to the brain, and loss aversion is a strong default
- •She makes herself learn something new every year, including languages and piano via the Flowkey app
- •During the pandemic a coach asked why she couldn't apply neuroplasticity to being happier
- •She began noticing small good moments rather than only what goes wrong
- •Pandemic life merged mindfulness into her whole day, such as giving her husband full attention
Imagined Weightlifting and Intentional Mind-Wandering
Lewis shares how he used mental rehearsal for pole vault while learning the decathlon. Tara cites a study in which people who only imagined lifting weights gained muscle mass, and Lewis recalls a similar free-throw study. They discuss intentionality, daydreaming versus intentional mind-wandering, and doing nothing instead of multitasking.
- •Lewis watched pole vault footage nightly and rehearsed it mentally before practicing
- •Tara describes a study where imagining weightlifting produced about a 15% muscle increase versus 30-40% for actual lifting
- •Intention changes the effect of an activity, as with intentional fasting versus forgetting breakfast
- •Intentional mind-wandering fosters creativity while slipping into daydreaming signals poor attention
- •Tara avoids multitasking and practices doing nothing
Belief, Aging, and the Retrofitted Homes Study
Tara describes a study of people in their 80s placed in homes retrofitted to look like 20 years earlier, who showed improvements in posture and coordination. Lewis shares his mother now saying she is a year younger each year, and they discuss how play and lifestyle affect looking young. Tara adds that stress is pro-inflammatory and ages you.
- •Study participants living as if 20 years younger were taller in posture, better coordinated, and rated as looking younger
- •A reminiscing group also improved, though less
- •Lewis's mother now says she is a year younger each year
- •Tara's advice for staying young: sleep, eat, hydrate, oxygenate, and don't stress
- •Chronic stress is pro-inflammatory and was widespread in the pandemic
Stress, Boundaries, and the Body: Lewis's Skin Rash
Tara explains how chronic pandemic stress affected skin and how family-system wiring and boundaries play a role. Lewis recounts a skin rash that disappeared the week he ended a relationship in which his boundaries were crossed. Tara says this shows why looking at a person holistically matters, and why her credentials help her speak about it.
- •Skin is both a physical and psychological boundary
- •Lewis's rash appeared during a relationship where he abandoned his values and went away after it ended
- •Allergy tests and diet changes found no physical cause
- •Tara says she would have recognized it as psychological and stresses a holistic view
- •Her PhD and MD make it harder for her to be dismissed as woo-woo
Believing It's Possible: Roger Bannister and Negative Self-Talk
Tara uses the four-minute mile to show that knowing something is possible helps, and advises drawing on your own past successes or finding someone who has done it. She explains negative self-talk as the brain's survival mechanism and how to counter it with positive statements opposite the underlying belief. She uses 'believe it until you are it' rather than 'fake it till you make it'.
- •After Roger Bannister's four-minute mile, others followed because it was proven possible
- •Think of your past successes or find someone similar who has done the thing
- •The brain is wired for survival, not thriving, so negative self-talk is protective
- •Find the belief driving a recurring negative thought and create the opposite positive statement
- •'Believe it until you are it' because neuroplasticity is physiological work
Neuroplasticity as Physical Work: Pathways and Learning Languages
Tara uses the image of a field of grass becoming a paved path to explain behavior change, and relates it to her struggle with Danish lessons. Lewis describes learning Spanish and reframing it as a fun experiment. Tara explains the brain work involved: synapses, myelination, glucose use, and neurogenesis, and how children versus adults learn languages.
- •Changing behavior is like treading a path in grass until it becomes a paved road
- •Learning is physical work that uses glucose, causing hunger, tiredness and frustration
- •Tara passed a tipping point in Danish lessons after about eight weeks
- •Three physiological aspects: synapses, myelination, and possibly neurogenesis
- •Children learn languages easily and bilingual upbringing works best with different people speaking different languages
Overcoming 'I'm Not Smart' and 'I'm Not Creative' Beliefs
Lewis shares his school struggles and strong memory for physical and social things. Tara describes believing she wasn't creative until 35 and how she realized she had never chosen to be a doctor. They discuss how narratives about being not smart, creative, or a writer can be rewritten.
- •Lewis felt he wasn't smart despite strong muscle memory and people-reading skills
- •Tara believed she wasn't creative because she wasn't good at art
- •She woke up one morning asking what she actually wanted to do with her life if she was so smart
- •She later recognized herself as creative and as a writer with a bestselling book translated into 38 languages
- •Many people carry limiting narratives and don't know neuroplasticity can change them
Brain Energy, Building New Defaults, and Forcing Function Immersion
Tara explains that the brain is a small share of body weight but uses a large share of dietary energy, and that new pathways must become stronger than childhood ones. She says emotional regulation and self-worth can be rewired. They discuss immersion, burning the boats, adult versus childhood language storage, and how Tara left a locum-style safety net behind.
- •The brain uses roughly 20-30% of what you eat, more when stressed
- •The brain defaults to the most energy-efficient pathway, so new paths must be built stronger than childhood ones
- •Emotional regulation, boundaries and self-worth can be built through neuroplasticity
- •Having no choice but to do the thing, like immersion in a language, speeds learning
- •Tara 'burned her boats' by refusing locum work when leaving the NHS
Reinvention, Creativity, and Doing the Work When Life Is Good
Asked what she is learning this year, Tara describes pursuing creativity, including co-writing a song, and her six ways of thinking from The Source. She names her biggest emotional triggers, being defined by her job title and fear of abandonment, and how her divorce led to change. Both agree on the value of doing inner work during good times.
- •Tara has co-written a song and now signs documents as a songwriter
- •The Source covers six ways of thinking: logical, emotional, intuition, physicality, creativity and motivation
- •Her triggers were being defined by job title and fear of abandonment
- •Mid-30s divorce and career change started her rewiring
- •Keep doing the work when life is good because it will serve you when needed
How to Build an Action Board and Her Story of Manifesting
Asked which practice is most crucial, Tara recommends making an action board by hand from magazines and leaving space for the unexpected. She tells how her 2015 board, with a tiny heart, led to a 2016 board with an engagement ring and 'joy comes out of the blue,' and she met her husband that February.
- •If doing one thing, Tara would make an action board in the next two days
- •Use magazines and by-hand collage so you're not limited to what your brain already knows it wants
- •Leave room for magic and be careful what you wish for
- •After divorce she became a workaholic and her 2015 board had only a tiny heart
- •She met her future husband on a plane in 2016 and they were engaged six months later
Why Action Boards Work: Value Tagging and Magnetic Desire
Tara explains the brain science of value tagging and selective filtering, why the board should be visible, and how repeated imagery makes you notice opportunities. She discusses patience, and the elements from her book including abundance, manifestation, harmony, and magnetic desire, which she describes as emotional intensity.
- •Visible placement reflects believing you deserve the things on your board
- •Value tagging helps the brain prioritize what matters among overwhelming data
- •Repeated exposure to images makes you notice related opportunities, as repeated exposure to 9/11 imagery can cause PTSD in the negative direction
- •Manifestation can take years, such as her TV show goal
- •Magnetic desire is emotional intensity, and neuroplasticity grows through repetition and emotional intensity
Gratitude as the Key: Feeling It's Already True
Tara and Lewis combine action boards with believing the goal is already true and feeling gratitude for it. Tara uses a 'manifested' section on her Pinterest board to reinforce self-belief. They argue that gratitude for what you have is essential and counters the brain's loss-focused default.
- •Create the board, look at it daily, and believe it's already true
- •Be grateful that the desired thing already exists, rehearsing the feeling
- •A Pinterest 'manifested' section reinforces to the brain that good things happen
- •Lewis says it's hard to attract more if you're not grateful for what you have
- •Overriding the brain's focus on what's missing helps you thrive, not just survive
Resources, Three Truths, and Greatness
Lewis points to Tara's book The Source and her podcast Reinvent Yourself with Dr. Tara. Tara shares how she changed her language about being on the show and gives her three truths. She defines greatness as neuroplasticity.
- •The Source and the podcast Reinvent Yourself with Dr. Tara
- •Tara reframed 'I can't believe I'm on Lewis' podcast' as gratitude
- •Three truths: you're more powerful than you believe, inner resources matter more than titles or money, and love as primary motivator
- •Greatness is the power to change and train your brain at any age
- •Lewis acknowledges her reinvention beyond what her parents expected
