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October 1, 2025 17 mins

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In this fiery solo episode, I’m breaking down why waiting for signs, perfect alignment, or endless clarity rituals is keeping you stuck — and why decisive action is the real activator that rewires your brain, shifts your energy, and moves you closer to the life and business you want.

Inside, I share:

  • The dark side of manifestation culture (and why it keeps entrepreneurs broke and passive)
  • The neuroscience of decision-making and why your brain craves it
  • How indecision is silently draining your income and confidence
  • The simple shift that moves you from waiting to creating

If you’ve been journaling, visualizing, or manifesting without much to show for it — this episode will light a fire under you.

Listen in, then grab the links I mentioned:

Stop manifesting. Start deciding. Because the version of you who has everything she wants already chose.


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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to Tried and True with the Dash of Woo, where
we blend rock solid tips with alittle bit of magic.
I'm Renee Bowen, your host, lifeand business coach, and
professional photographer.
At your service, we are allabout getting creative, diving
into your business, and playingwith manifestation over here.
So are you ready to get inspiredand have some fun?
Let's dive in.

(00:24):
Hey, hey, welcome back to Triedand True with a Dash of Woo.
I'm your host, Renee Bowen.
Okay, so today we're goingthere.
We're talking about whymanifestation culture has become
kind of a trap and why the thingthat's actually gonna get you
unstuck in your business andyour life is not waiting for
signs.
It's not endlessly journaling,and it's not meditating yourself

(00:48):
into clarity.
It's deciding.
Okay.
So this might feel a littlecontradictory.
And before you clutch yourpearls and your crystals, don't
get me wrong.
I love the magic.
Low, you know I do.
I believe in energy andvibration and frequency.
And I use hypnosis and theunconscious mind with my clients

(01:11):
every day.
But I've also watched way toomany brilliant creatives,
entrepreneurs, and coaches siton the sidelines of their own
lives because they're waitingfor proof instead of creating
it.
So here's the deal Themanifestation industry is a
multi-billion dollar business.
Vision boards, workshops, apps,everywhere, right?

(01:31):
But here's the dark side ofthat.
The more we obsess over waitingfor the universe, the more we
actually reinforce theunconscious belief that we're
not in control and that we haveto wait to be chosen.
It keeps us in this victimmentality.
And let's be real in thiseconomy, waiting is the most
expensive choice you can make.

(01:52):
Inflation is rising.
AI is disrupting entirebusinesses and will continue to
do so at a rapid rate that mostpeople are not ready for.
The landscape is shifting fasterthan it ever has before in our
lifetimes at least.
So playing passive is keepingway too many entrepreneurs
broke, burnt out, and invisible.

(02:12):
And yeah, I'm talking aboutphotographers here too.
Manifestation without decisionis just daydreaming.
Okay.
And there is some value to that,but here's the thing:
neuroscience backs it up.
When you make a decision, yourbrain literally reorganizes
itself.
There's a study from the Journalof Neuroscience that shows how
decisional commitment reducesanxiety because your prefrontal

(02:35):
cortex can finally stop spinningin loops.
In other words, clarity is notsomething you wait for, it's
something that you generatethrough choice.
That's why in my clarity method,the very first step is create,
get curious, create your vision.
But then you have to live itwith action.
And that's where the magicreally meets the strategy.

(02:57):
I did a whole podcast on theclarity method.
I will link it in the show notesfor you guys so you can go back
and listen to it.
It's a really good one.
This is the basis for all mycoaching, how I live my life,
how I run my businesses.
Um, I've done talks on this.
I have some speaking events nextyear about this as well, where
we're gonna go deeper.
And I go actually pretty deepwith it, obviously, with my

(03:20):
one-on-one clients because wecan really dig into how this
looks for them in theirbusiness.
But let me give you a realexample.
Years ago, I was stuck in thatexact loop.
Okay.
I was an early adoptermanifestation girl.
I had the vision board, I waslistening to all the
meditations, but I wasn'tdeciding, okay, taking action.

(03:40):
I wasn't raising my prices.
I wasn't putting my offers infront of people consistently
enough, showing up consistently.
And what I got was exactly whatI decided unconsciously I
deserved, which was not much.
So it wasn't until I made thisuncomfortable decision, raising
my rates, cut out, you know,free sessions, favors, I

(04:04):
invested in my own coach thatthings actually started moving.
And the thing that was reallyinteresting is that these signs
from the universe they showed upas I was taking this action and
even after.
So it was like a confirmation.
So let me coach you here for asecond.
Where are you sitting inindecision right now?

(04:26):
Is it your pricing?
Is it whether you should launchsomething new that's been
sitting in your Google Docs forsix months?
Are you sitting on a book?
Is it whether you should finallyhire someone to help you with
editing or outsource things oradmin?

Because here's the truth: indecision is still a decision. (04:42):
undefined
It's a decision to stay stuckand it's a decision to keep
playing small.
And I know that's hard to hear.
But if you're listening to this,I trust that you can handle that
truth.
Manifestation is really powerfulwhen it's paired with
decisiveness.
Okay.
The energetics are real.

(05:04):
Your frequency matters.
The frequency without action islike static.
Decision is the activator and ittells your unconscious mind,
your nervous system, and yes,the universe.
I'm in.
Think of it like Wi-Fi.
You can have all the bandwidthin the world, but unless you
actually connect your device,nothing's going to download or

(05:25):
upload, right?
Decision is the connection.
Look around you.
We are in what I call thecourage economy.
The entrepreneurs who thrive inthe next few years will be the
ones who choose faster, takebolder risks, and move with
clarity.
Playing small is no longer anoption.

(05:45):
There's a lot of noise in ourindustry, in every industry.
And waiting is really costingyou clients.
Indecision is costing you money.
The reason that you're sittingin the spot of indecision,
though, is because yourunconscious mind just wants to
keep you safe.
Okay.
I want you to keep rememberingthat.
Its only job is to keep you safeand alive.
That's it.

(06:06):
So if you keep listening to yourunconscious mind, you're going
to stay exactly where you are.
So here's my challenge for youtoday.
I want you to decide.
Okay.
I want you to decide whatever itis that you're sitting on.
Decide that you're going toraise that rate.
Decide that you're going to stopdiscounting your genius.
Decide that you are worthy ofbeing fully booked, fully paid,

(06:28):
fully supported.
Because once you decide, thestrategies do fall into place.
Your nervous system calibrates.
The universe aligns.
And remember, the universe isnot on a budget.
Okay.
She's got the cash.
She's got the goods.
You really need to be asking formore.
So if you have a hard timeasking for more, that is

(06:49):
something to look into.
Like, why is that?
Why are you having a hard timeasking for more?
The universe is not thinking interms of like, oh, well, so and
so is not worthy.
So I'm only going to deliver somuch to her and this other
person gets more.
It's it's not like cake, right?
Just because somebody else inyour market seems to be doing

(07:12):
really, really well and gettingwhat they want doesn't mean
there's less for you.
We live in an abundant universe.
But you have to decide that youare going to look at it that way
because it is a choice.
You can you can choose whetheryou want to look at it that way
or you want to look at it as,oh, there's really not a lot

(07:33):
going on right now.
People aren't spending money.
People are absolutely spendingmoney.
If you're not seeing it, you'renot looking for it, and you're
probably not talking to theright people.
That's a whole messaging thing,and we're not going to go into
that in this podcast.
I just want you to realize thatyou are going to find whatever
you're looking for because,yeah, I'll say it again.

(07:53):
It's the reticular activatingsystem in your brain.
It's a filter and it's part ofwhy we do what we do.
Okay, if you have decided thatnobody is spending money, that
no one is booking, you know,luxury photo shoots or no one is
signing up for coaching orwhatever it is, then you're
gonna find more proof of thatbecause that's the filter you've

(08:15):
created in your brain.
But I want you to actively startlooking for proof of the
opposite.
All you need is like one or twoexamples, and then you're on
your way.
Okay.
The other side of it too is thatyou can't look at these examples
and get into that place ofunworthiness and not good

(08:37):
enoughness because a lot ofpeople do that.
They see people out there makinga lot of money, and the what's
the first thought?
Jealousy, well, must be nice,that she can do that.
You know, there's this littlespite or cynicism that pops up.
And here's the thing that is notsomething to judge yourself on,

(08:58):
that is information.
If you can step back and say,huh, that's really interesting.
I wonder why I'm having thatreaction to seeing someone
succeed.
Right?
If I were to tell you right now,I had a client this this summer
who spent right almost at$10,000for their senior portrait

(09:19):
experience.
And I did, what's your firstthought?
Is it that's awesome?
Go, Renee.
Good for you.
I I wonder what she bought.
That's so cool.
I want to know more.
Or does your immediate reactiongo to she's lying?
That didn't happen, nobody'sspending that kind of money

(09:40):
anymore.
Or, yeah, that's good for you.
You live in California where allthe rich people live.
I don't have that where I am.
Because I hear that a lot.
One of my coaching studentslives in middle America in a
pretty small town, and sheconsistently makes$5,000 sales.
That's because we created areally great system and she
knows what she's doing.
You obviously have to be good atwhat you do.

(10:01):
Okay, so you have to be good atwhat you do.
Let's not gloss over that.
But then you also have tobelieve it, and you also have to
look for what you want in youruniverse, in your world, in your
immediate environment.
You have to look for it and youhave to tell your brain that
you're going to get it.
That's why Tony Robbins alwayssays you got to be like super

(10:24):
obsessed with it, right?
Like become obsessed with whatyou want.
Okay, that's what he means.
It's like, yeah, no, I'm gonnahave this.
It's happening.
It's already happened, it'salready mine.
That's that, you know, quoteunquote manifestation piece of
it.
But it's really tricking yourbrain into, it's neuroscience,
tricking your brain intothinking that it is already

(10:45):
yours because your unconsciousmind is going to believe
whatever you tell it.
It's just that most people tellit what they don't want because
they focus on what they don'twant.
If I ask you right now, what isit that you really, really want?
Can you tell me that in theaffirmative?
Or do you immediately go to,well, I know I don't want this
or I don't want that?

(11:06):
First of all, again, nojudgment.
It's good that you have thatstarting point because that's
contrast.
Because if you know what youdon't want, you do lead yourself
to what you do want.
But I want you to start thinkingabout it in more affirmative
terms.
And in the terms of it is mine,I want it, it's mine.
Simple as that, right?

(11:27):
Yeah, right.
That's where that consistencycomes in.
Okay, you can't let yourself offthe hook.
What are you doing every day tosupport it?
That's the other piece of it.
What are you doing?
What are those non-negotiablesevery day that you do and do not
fall off the wagon, or at leastnot very much, that are going to
keep you in that place of notonly manifesting and dreaming,

(11:52):
but taking action.
Okay.
Because once you decide,strategies fall into place.
Your nervous system calibratesand the universe aligns.
So if you're sitting therethinking, yeah, Renee, but I
don't know how.
Okay, well, that's exactly whatI do inside of coaching.
My clients don't just walk awaywith strategies, they do, and
they're customized for them,which is the beauty of

(12:13):
one-on-one.
But they also walk away rewiredto trust themselves, to move
faster, to actually build thebusinesses that they've been
manifesting in their journals.
Because I bet you have.
I bet you've been doing this fora while.
And if you're sitting therethinking, why hasn't it
happened?

(12:34):
Okay, that's why I wanted to dothis podcast because there's a
lot of people sitting in thatplace.
It's because you're keepingyourself there.
Listen, journaling is amazing.
And you guys know I love all ofthese exercises that keep us
grounded and moving forward.
Journaling has always beensomething that I love.
I also love doing voice memosnow because like sometimes I

(12:57):
just have these amazing thoughtswhere I just want to kind of
verbally process something.
So I open my voice notes andthen later on you can get it
transcribed.
It's really cool because thenyou can look back on all this
and you can use AI to help you.
If you've got journals or voicenotes, you can transcribe
things.
You can feed it to ChatGPT andyou can ask it, okay, these are
my journals.
Where have I been?
What are the patterns I've done?

(13:18):
What are some things that youcan pull out of this that will
help me move forward, right?
I don't really think you need tobe using ChatGPT as your coach
because it's not a human, butyou can have it look for
patterns.
It's really great for data andlike things like that.
And then it's up to you to takeaction because chances are
you're sitting on something thatyou either have wanted to do for

(13:42):
a while, maybe it's like go allin on your business, right?
Or maybe it's start a podcast,or maybe it's go into something
completely different, or start aside hustle, something that you
feel passionate about.
And maybe it doesn't even haveanything to do with making
money, but it it has to do withhelping other people.
Maybe it's a passion project,but every time you try and move

(14:06):
forward on it, something willpop up, pull you back.
That is your unconscious mindkeeping you safe.
That's not an intuition.
There's a difference, and I'vedone episodes on that too.
Because if you had the idea andyou had the dream, it is already
happening in another timeline.
It is already there.
You wouldn't have had thethought, but you have to take

(14:28):
some action to get there.
So if you're done waiting andyou're ready to move from
manifesting to deciding and togetting what you want, I'll drop
the link in the show notes.
Book a call with me.
It's free.
30 minutes, we'll chat and seeif coaching is right for you.
We're gonna go through some ofthe things in your business,
some of the things that youwant, some of the things that

(14:48):
you've been doing that you knoware not working, and I'll let
you know if I can help you.
And if I can't, I'm gonna pointyou in a different direction.
Believe it or not, I don't offercoaching to everybody I have on
a call with.
Not everybody's ready for it.
And maybe there's a differentoption for you that would be
better.
Okay, that's really what I wantfor you is to find what's right
for you.
But let's get you in the room.
Let's start creating the life inthe business that you already

(15:11):
know is yours.
Stop just manifesting, startactually deciding and taking
action because the version ofyou who has everything she wants
already decided.
Now it's your turn.
Okay, and if this episode strucka chord with you, if it
triggered you, that's a sign.
Just information for you to lookat.

(15:33):
Why did it trigger you?
Why did it make you lean in?
Why did it make you annoyed?
Why did it make you go, hmm?
Where am I sitting with this?
Okay, that's just information.
The chances are you've probablybeen waiting long enough.
Okay, before we wrap up, I'mgonna remind you guys real quick
about the AI stuff I've gotgoing on right now.

(15:55):
I have I'm involved in summits,bundles, you name it, and
there's some really, really goodones.
Okay, so first of all, if youare a photographer, you really
need to jump on this.
It starts tomorrow.
The link is below.
It's from sync, and it is allphotographer-related AI.
It's a summit for two days, andI know it's busy season.

(16:16):
A lot of you guys are superbusy, but you can upgrade for 97
bucks, which is superinexpensive, and you can get
access to all the replays andyou can watch it as many times
as you need to.
And then the Her AI era summitis also happening right now, and
that is for more women in the AIspace.
It's all female centric and somereally cool out-of-the-box
trainings.

(16:37):
Again, it's free, but you canupgrade for an all-access pass.
The link for that is below.
And then there's also a freebundle, completely free.
And it's just a bunch of reallyawesome resources called the
Ease and Alignment AI Summit.
That link is below as well.
And listen, I'm gonna also dropa link to I have a master
document, if you will, of allthe testimonials that I've

(16:59):
gotten over the years fromone-on-one coaching clients.
And I think it's really, reallyimportant that you see proof
that coaching works.
Okay, you got to go deep.
If you got to vet people, ifyou're thinking about investing
in a coach, you need to makesure it's gonna be the right fit
for you.
So I'm gonna drop that as well.
You can look at it, it's just aPDF.

(17:19):
You can read through it.
And if that feels somethinglike, hey, you know what?
She sounds like somebody I'dwant to work with, you need to
jump in.
I've got two spots open goinginto fall because I'm going into
my busy season as well.
But I'd love to work with youand I'd love to help you take
that business to the next, nextlevel.
All right.
Because you've probably beenwaiting long enough.
So let's just make it happen.

(17:40):
All right, I'll talk to you guyssoon.
Love you.
Bye.
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