Sabah Ali is an American manifestation coach, author and TEDx speaker whose YouTube channel covers identity, self-concept, manifestation and personal growth. Her core message is “You don’t manifest what you want. You manifest who you are.” [1] [2]
Who is Sabah Ali?
Sabah Ali built her audience early. In college, she became, as her TEDx profile puts it, “the world’s first person to document her senior year in college by doing a daily Facebook live.” [3] She also wrote a book for students, Enrolling in Confidence: How to Live the Lifestyle You Want in College, which her TEDx profile calls an Amazon number one bestseller. [3]
In 2018 she spoke at TEDxHarveyStreet on “Why you need to disconnect to reconnect”. The talk asks: “What if your pain could become your purpose?” It looks at why people suffer from past experiences and how that leads them to disconnect. [3] At the time she was the founder of Unforgettable by Sabah, a movement to inspire women to become a better version of themselves, as well as an entrepreneur and Instagram strategist. [3]
Today her focus is manifestation and identity. Her YouTube channel is “for the woman who knows she’s meant for more”, and her mission is to help viewers “break free from old patterns, rewire your mind, build unshakable self belief”. [1]
Her channel, started in 2016, has more than 80,000 subscribers and over 600 videos. [1] She often draws on books she has read, from Neville Goddard to Joe Dispenza, and shares how she applies them in her own life, including her marriage. [1] [4]
Her routine in brief
- Wake with gratitude. Before opening your eyes, name one thing you’re grateful for.
- Meditate and visualise. Ten minutes picturing who you’d be.
- Journal. Ask what is making your goal feel far away.
- Act, then live. Do what your future self would do, then enjoy your day.
At a glance
Key idea: Identity first
Programme: The Unforgettable Effect
Routine: Five daily steps
Influences: Neville Goddard, Joe Dispenza
YouTube: @TheRealSabahAli
Good fit if
You’re interested in manifestation but want a simple routine rather than a new trick every day, you like a warm, upbeat style, or you want to work on self-concept and identity.
Our take
An energetic, encouraging teacher whose routine is easy to try. Start with her daily routine video and keep the parts that suit you.
Sabah Ali’s techniques
These are the main steps she teaches, described as she explains them. Tap a card to read more.
Gratitude and an anchor
Her routine starts before she even opens her eyes. As she senses herself waking, she lists one thing she’s grateful for. Most days it’s the same: “I’m so grateful that I am alive.” [4]
Then she adds what she calls an anchoring statement about how she wants the day to go: “Today everything will work out even better than expected.” [4]
She explains why. She used to wake up anxious and immediately think about her problems. The anchoring statements, she says, let her shift her energy before she looks at her phone. [4] Gratitude practices have been studied by psychologists. [5]
Make it familiar
Step two is at least ten minutes of meditation and visualisation, sitting on her couch before checking her phone. [4]
Her twist is in the purpose. “I will not visualize and meditate to convince myself of the manifestation,” she says. “I will do it to make it familiar for my nervous system.” [4]
She visualises her identity as much as her goal: how she feels, thinks, talks and carries herself. She even pictures herself overcoming obstacles, so that taking action later feels as if she’s done it before. [4] If you’re new to this, she suggests starting with a ten-minute guided meditation. [4] Imagining your best possible future self has been studied too. [6] See our visualisation guide.
Find the block
After meditating, she journals for five to ten minutes. She says journalling helps her find solutions, whether she’s stuck on a mindset issue, a decision or a practical task. [4]
A question she often asks herself is: “What fears, doubts, emotions are making this manifestation feel difficult or far away?” On other days she journals on creative ideas, asking what would feel exciting to act on that day. [4]
She gives her own example. If she already had a much bigger YouTube audience, what would she talk about, and how would she show up? That, she says, is when the creative ideas start to flow. [4] Expressive writing is a well-studied practice. [7]
The maintenance state
She says one of the biggest misconceptions about manifestation is that you meditate, journal and then do nothing. In her view, “it does require taking aligned action.” [4]
Her test for what to do is simple: if you already had your dream life, what would you be doing every day to maintain it? She calls this acting from a “maintenance state”. [4]
She gives the example of fitness: if you already had your ideal body, you wouldn’t debate whether to go to the gym, you’d just go. Acting this way, she says, keeps her out of a “chasing” mood, where she used to keep asking what more she should be doing. [4] Our motivation guide has more on following through.
Presence by living your life
Her fifth step, which she calls one of the most important, is to practise presence by living your life. The minute you put your desire “on a pedestal”, she says, you make it harder, because you’re giving it so much importance. [4]
So once her routine and work are done, she lives normally: colouring, walking, going to the pool, trying a new recipe or going on a date with her husband. “The best act of surrender when it comes to manifestation is just enjoying your life,” she says. [4]
Her summary is that manifestations “don’t come to you through obsession. They come to you through emotional certainty.” [4] Our meditation guide covers ways to practise being present.
You manifest who you are
The idea behind her programme, The Unforgettable Effect, is that “your subconscious identity always wins.” Your current identity shapes what feels normal, what you expect and how you show up. [2]
So rather than chasing a single goal, her aim is to help you become the version of you whose thoughts, beliefs, habits and actions match the life you want. [2] She describes the programme as a five-step framework. [2]
Many of her videos explore the same theme from different angles, from changing your self-concept to her 30-day “identity lock-in” plan. [1] Our self-confidence guide looks at self-image in more depth.
Videos with Sabah Ali
Hand-picked and checked one by one: her daily routine, videos on identity and self-concept, and two of her guided meditations.
Start here
Identity and self-concept
Manifestation
Guided meditations
Articles about Sabah Ali
Sabah Ali’s books
Her own book is aimed at students. She often discusses two classic manifestation books on her channel.
Find Feeling Is the Secret in your country: US · UK · Canada · Australia · India.
Programmes and sessions
Her main programme is The Unforgettable Effect, which she describes as a five-step manifestation framework. [2] Her link page also offers a free two-minute quiz on what may be keeping you stuck, and a one-to-one “Manifestation Hour”, listed at $333. [8]
Everything runs online, so it’s open to people in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe and India. Prices are in USD.
What the Research Shows
Sabah’s daily routine combines gratitude, imagining your ideal future and journaling. Related research on those three habits:
- Gratitude. People who regularly wrote down what they were grateful for reported higher wellbeing and more optimism than comparison groups. [5]
- Imagining your best future. Writing about your best possible future self was linked to better mood and wellbeing. [6]
- Expressive writing. Writing openly about emotional experiences was linked to better health and wellbeing. [7]
Frequently asked questions
Who is Sabah Ali?
An American manifestation coach, author and TEDx speaker whose channel covers identity, self-concept and manifestation.
What is her core idea?
“You don’t manifest what you want. You manifest who you are.”
What is her daily routine?
Gratitude on waking, meditation and visualisation, journalling, action from a “maintenance state”, then living your life.
What is The Unforgettable Effect?
Her programme, which she describes as a five-step manifestation framework focused on identity.
Has she written a book?
Yes, Enrolling in Confidence: How to Live the Lifestyle You Want in College.
What was her TEDx talk about?
“Why you need to disconnect to reconnect”, on turning pain into purpose.
Where should I start?
Her video on her exact daily manifestation routine.
Sources
- Sabah Ali on YouTube: About
- The Unforgettable Effect
- TED: Why you need to disconnect to reconnect, Sabah Ali, TEDxHarveyStreet
- Sabah Ali: My Exact Manifestation Routine That Changed My Life
- Emmons and McCullough, Counting Blessings Versus Burdens, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- King, The Health Benefits of Writing about Life Goals, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2001
- Pennebaker, Writing About Emotional Experiences as a Therapeutic Process, Psychological Science 1997
- Sabah Ali on Stan
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