In this article I want to answer a common question about manifesting, which is:

Is it OK to have a deadline on your manifestation?

Examples of this would be having a financial goal with a deadline, such as earning an extra $1000 before the end of the month, or in another example, manifesting a romantic relationship before the end of the year.

Obviously externally imposed deadlines (i.e. circumstances forcing your hand) are something you have to work with no matter what. But I don’t recommend internally imposed deadlines.

Here’s why:

When you are manifesting a new 3D reality, it isn’t about changing the 3D or getting a result in the 3D (even if that is why you are doing it). Instead, effective manifesting involves changing the 4D – the world behind your eyes. When manifesting, you have to embody and become the person who already has the result in your consciousness and your mind (nothing materialises in the 3D without this process.) 

So, if you already had your result, such as a new partner before the end of the year, who would you “be being”?

You’d be someone who felt secure and relaxed in your new relationship and also in the knowledge that you are the creator of your life. You wouldn’t be worrying about having it, because you know you already have it. 

These energies of security and feeling chilled about it are not in alignment with a self-imposed deadline. A self-imposed deadline is usually saying:

“I really don’t have it yet in material reality, and I need to control when it appears because I’m feeling the lack of it.”

So self-imposed deadlines are often rooted in lack, and this only creates more of the ‘not having it’ in your reality.

The other problem with imposing deadlines is that it sometimes constitutes micromanaging the manifesting process. 

When we set an intention to experience something in the 3D, we are setting in motion a Bridge of Incidents (BOI), which is a path to our goal in the 3D. We don’t know what the BOI is going to involve and usually it’s a ‘cosmic surprise’ — a series of events that we could never have predicted that takes us towards our desire. Some Bridge of Incidents are long and others are short.

Sometimes we can be really far away from our goal or desire, energetically. For example, you wish to meet a partner by the end of the year but you’re not ready for a relationship for some reason. Maybe you have been in a long-term relationship that ended recently, and you haven’t moved on from it.

To manifest a good relationship, you need to become someone who embodies being in that good relationship now. If you are not remotely that person yet, your Bridge of Incidents may be extensive and maybe you won’t be ready for a relationship by the end of the year, even if you want one.

So, putting a deadline on your desire in some cases may be about trying to micromanage the Bridge of Incidents. And when it doesn’t happen by your deadline, you may become discouraged and give up on using the Law of Assumption to consciously create. In my opinion, that would be a great shame because you can use the Law to be or have anything you want.

So, that is the other reason I don’t recommend imposing deadlines on your manifestation. 

The only time I recommend setting intentions with a deadline

There is one exception to all of this: if you know that you don’t care about your desire that much and you can manifest it with the energy of fun, a deadline can be OK.

For example, let’s say that you are financially comfortable and make a good income, but you’d like to manifest an extra $1000 before the end of this month. If you can approach manifestation like a fun game, you don’t need the money and you don’t mind if you don’t get it, go ahead and set a deadline.

But in my opinion, it isn’t ideal to set a deadline to make more money if you need the money. In that situation, there will be importance attached to it. Instead I recommend choosing a financial goal and manifesting that, but with no deadline attached.

If you’re unsure of whether you’re ready to set an intention with a deadline, ask yourself how you would feel if your desire never arrived. If you feel something negative in response to this question, don’t set a deadline, because it will add pressure and importance, which creates resistance, and resistance can delay your manifestation. On the other hand, if you don’t mind that much if your desire never materialises, it’s fine to set a deadline.