The Two Words Kyrie Irving & Conor McGregor Used To Manifest The Successful Lives They Now Live
Words hold power.
Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley & Fred Duval | Shutterstock It’s one thing to set goals and something else entirely to achieve those goals. Half of any battle is mental, which means that the messages we tell ourselves matter in the long run.
There are two words that athletes Kyrie Irving and Conor McGregor used to manifest their successful lives.
The words they said to themselves were simple yet powerful: “I am.”
As Irving explained, in “Fourth grade, I went into my closet, I said, ‘I am going to the NBA.’”
“Anything you invoke with ‘I am,’ the power of manifestation and what can happen in the universe, comes true,” he said.
The point guard for the Dallas Mavericks has had his fair share of wins. In 2011, he was named Rookie of the Year after the Cleveland Cavaliers selected him as the first overall pick in the NBA draft. He’s been named an All-Star MVP. He has an Olympic gold medal and 8 NBA All-Star awards.
Irving and other athletes use manifestation to set their minds to what they want and then reap the rewards.
Conor McGregor explained how he used the words “I am” to set him on his path to success.
The mixed martial artist said, “I don’t want to be anything.”
“I am. I am everything I want to be, and I’m already there,” McGregor said.
The difference between ‘I am’ and ‘I want to be’ is subtle yet noticeable.
One phrase sets its sights on the future, while the other holds that a person already has the power and influence to bring good things their way.
According to one study from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the power of positive thinking can have very real effects on a person’s life, including their health.
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There’s a strong link between positivity and health. While the “why” isn’t quite clear, researchers believe that people who think positively have more protection against the inflammatory damage that stress can cause. Other studies posit that negative emotions can weaken a person’s immune response.
Health studies aside, thinking about yourself in a positive way can help the world’s opportunities open themselves up to you.
Brain coach and podcast host Jericha Szlo explained why manifestation and visualization actually work.
“There are so many people who think that manifestation and the universe are this majestical, woo-woo thing when in actuality, it’s a blend between quantum physics and neuroscience,” she said.
“Our brains have a filtering system, and within this filtering system, there is a phase where the brain will ask questions and find answers, and it is designed to find answers. It will always find an answer,” Szlo said.
“We typically ask yes or no questions without even realizing it, and because of the natural negative bias our brains have, it is most likely going to resort to the ‘no’ when asking a question that lies outside of your comfort zone, therefore, your life stays the same.”
Yet she noted that switching the questions we ask ourselves to something like, “How can I find an opportunity to do XYZ… your brain is now going to find an answer to that question. So, you’re asking it, how can I do this, it’s going to now find ways to do it.”
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With this retraining, your mind will focus on seeing the good over the bad, and the opportunities you might not have noticed before will become clear.
“By focusing on the good, you’re going to naturally raise your vibration and start attracting things that sit on that higher vibration,” Szlo said.
“Manifestation… is actually science, and if you learn to work with the science, your life changes,” she concluded.
Telling ourselves “I am” instead of “I want to be” or “I hope I can” takes the mentality of achieving and makes our goals accessible just by shifting how we think.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture, and all things to do with the entertainment industry.