Manifest Differently Podcast

The Surrender Paradox: Why Letting Go Is Key for Neurodivergent Manifestors

• Carissa Andrews • Season 1 • Episode 11

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Letting go is one of the biggest challenges in manifestation—especially for neurodivergent minds. If you’ve ever felt like “surrendering” just means forgetting about your desire entirely (thanks, object impermanence), or you find yourself hyperfixating to the point of burnout, this episode is for you.

In today’s deep dive, I’m breaking down:
🔹 The difference between letting go and giving up (because they are NOT the same)
🔹 Why neurodivergent brains struggle with detachment—and how to work with your wiring instead of against it
🔹 Bashar’s formula for following your highest excitement and how it rewires your manifestation process
🔹 A personal story about how I had to let go of just writing paranormal fantasy—and why that led me to my most neurodivergent romcom yet!

PLUS: Stick around for the Manifest Differently Minute, where I give you a simple shift that will change how you approach letting go for good.

🎧 Listen now and learn how to let go—without losing sight of what you want!

📢 Resources & Links:
👉 Carissa Knight’s Patreon – Dirty Developments is live!
👉 Follow me on TikTok for more neurodivergent manifestation tips
👉 Leave a review if this episode helped shift your perspective!

🔮 Until next time, stay weird, stay wonderful, and keep manifesting differently!

Traditional manifestation advice wasn’t made for neurodivergent minds. Inside Manifest Differently on Substack, I share exclusive insights, nonlinear success strategies, and deep-dive content designed for ND thinkers. Plus, get access to Manifest Differently: The Deep End, my private podcast for paid subscribers. Follow now: 👉 manifestdifferently.com/substack

If traditional manifestation methods haven’t worked for your beautifully wired brain—I have something made for you. The Manifest Differently Starter Kit is a 5-day experience designed for neurodivergent creators who want to manifest with ease, embodiment, and actual results. Includes the Future Self Blueprint Challenge, ND-friendly tools, meditations, tapping, and more.

🎁 Grab it now: https://manifestdifferently.com

Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the Manifest Differently Podcast. I hope today’s story inspired you to trust the process and manifest in a way that feels aligned with your unique energy.

If you’re ready to dive deeper into neurodivergent-friendly manifestation techniques, head over to ManifestDifferently.com for resources, tools, and more. Want even more insights? Subscribe to my Substack at manifestdifferently.substack.com/subscribe for weekly inspiration straight to your inbox.

And let’s connect on TikTok! Follow me at @NeurodivergentManifestor for behind-the-scenes tips, quick mindset shifts, and so much more.

Until next time, remember: you have the power to manifest differently—and the universe is waiting to conspire in your favor. See you next week!

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Manifest Differently, the podcast for neurodivergent thinkers and anyone looking to approach manifestation in a way that truly works for them.

Speaker 1:

I'm your host, carissa Andrews, here to explore the science, energy and strategies that will help you create the life you love. Let's dive in and Manifest Differently. Hey, beautiful manifesters, welcome back to Manifest Differently, the podcast where we take all that manifestation fluff and rework it to actually make sense for our neurodivergent minds. I'm your host, carissa Andrews, and today we're diving into something that literally makes or breaks manifestation for us the science of letting go. Now, I don't know about you, but when people tell me to just let go, my brain completely goes into a full-blown what in the actual mode, because what does that even mean? Are we just forgetting about it? Are we pretending that we don't really want it? Are we throwing it into a mental storage unit and hoping that the universe pulls it back out before we do? Yeah, no, that doesn't work for us, and if you've ever struggled with letting go, there's a reason for it. Neurodivergent brains process things differently. We know that right, and today we're going to break it all down why it's hard for us, what surrender actually looks like, and even how we can use Bashar's formula for following our excitement as our guide to the art of receiving. Oh, and stick around, because I'll be giving you a manifest, differently minute tip at the very end that will shift the way you approach this whole letting go thing for good.

Speaker 1:

Let's get into it Now. All right, before I blow your minds with this episode, let's take a quick reset. I want you to take a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Now, if your brain has been clenching onto any idea, a desire maybe, or that one awkward text conversation from five years ago, because same imagine that thought drifting into a little balloon and floating off. You don't need to pop it, you don't need to erase it, just let it hang out up there. It's yours, but you just don't have to hold it so damn tightly. Feel better. Good, let's keep going. All right, let's talk about why letting go is an actual nightmare for neurodivergent minds like ours.

Speaker 1:

Number one object impermanence equals manifestation sabotage. You know how toddlers freak out when you play peekaboo, because they think you actually disappear. Yeah, welcome to our brains. Object impermanence means if something isn't right in front of us, it kind of stops existing. And when someone tells us to let go of a manifestation. Our brain translates that as forget about it forever. This is why vision boards, reminders and anchoring techniques are also crucial for us. If we don't keep our desires in our energetic periphery, we risk completely disconnecting from them, not in the good surrendered way, but in the well. I guess that's not happening because I don't even think about it anymore, kind of way.

Speaker 1:

Number two hyperfixation mode. When we want something, we want it hard. We think about it, we research it, talk about it to anyone who will listen, and even some who won't. Our brains thrive on deep dives, novelty and an unrelenting search for answers. But what starts as excitement can quickly turn into suffocation if we're not careful. The moment we start obsessing over how something will happen, we shift into desperation mode, and desperation. It's like trying to hug a cat that does not want to be hugged. The more you chase, the harder it runs. When we hyperfixate, we don't leave space for the magic of the universe. We micromanage instead and let's be real, that never ends well. So how do we balance this? By giving our brains a secondary hyperfixation A creative project, a new routine, something that lights us up but doesn't own us. That way our energy stays open and we stay receptive.

Speaker 1:

Number three is the difference between letting go and giving up. Neurotypicals often say let go and mean detach. We hear let go and assume that means quit caring about it. And because many of us have rejection, sensitivity, dysphoria, rsd, the thought of giving up on a dream feels like self-betrayal. But here's the thing Letting go is not the same as giving up. Letting go is about releasing attachment to the how and often the when, and not throwing away the whole damn dream. Right, it's about shifting from an energy of clutching and desperation and oh my God, when's it going to happen To an energy of flow and ease. And of course, it's going to come. Now. Imagine you're holding sand in your hands. If you squeeze too tightly, it spills out, but if you relax, it settles perfectly into your palm. That's what we're doing here Trusting that our desires are already on the way, without crushing them under the weight of our expectations.

Speaker 1:

Now story time. Here I want to tell you a little story about how I had to let go of something massive, and that was my identity as a paranormal and urban fantasy author. Now I've been writing since 2010, but back in 2022, I felt this pull. It was like a deep, undeniable calling to write something completely different. And the funny thing is I had this idea about six years prior. Like this idea popped in my head. I had no idea why because I'm a paranormal urban fantasy author. Why am I thinking of this romance setting and situation?

Speaker 1:

And I couldn't explain it. And honestly, like I said, I resisted it at first. Because when you've built a career on a certain kind of storytelling, shifting gears feels like betrayal, too Failure. Failure even, like you're giving up on what you originally set out to do. Right. But here's the kicker that resistance was actually what was keeping me stuck in a lot of ways, the more I fought the desire to write something different and break out of the norms of what I I guess I've learned about my craft and what I wanted to say, the more drained and misaligned I felt. So finally, I did the scary thing I let go of my old expectations and leaned into what excited me most.

Speaker 1:

And guess what? I was writing rom-coms using this idea that popped into my head, like eight years ago now. Craziness, but not just any rom-coms either. These are not just that. They're ones that dive deep into emotional growth, empathy and there's loads of neurodivergent goodness, because I like to read stories with that. I like to read characters who have depth and who have quirks, I guess. And now I'm so thrilled to say that, even this past weekend, I just finished writing my 23rd book overall.

Speaker 1:

So Dirty Developments is the third in my rom-com pen name, carissa Knight, and honestly, it's the most neurodivergent book I've written yet, and I absolutely adore it. It's up on my Carissa Knight Patreon right now. And oh, did I mention that the main male character is a rock star? Yep, this book even has two songs that I've written the lyrics to and have created the music for. So, because music is so woven into the heart of this story, and I'll share more about that soon, but for right now, I just want you to know that leaning into my highest excitement and letting go of the shoulds really just led me to some of my best creative work yet, and I felt so awesome being in that place, right, okay?

Speaker 1:

So how do we, when we're trying to be conscious creators of our life, how do we actually let go without losing our minds? Well, to me it's been very interesting, because I follow Abraham Hicks, I follow Amanda Francis, denise Duffield, thomas and obviously, bashar. Now, I like Bashar's formula for following your highest excitement, because I feel like it's the thing that can allow us to let go not only of our fear of forgetting, but it helps us to let go enough to the point where we can then trust ourselves, trust that this gets to be our best and highest timeline, right? So, number one, this is how the formula works. Okay, follow your greatest excitement in any given moment. No, really, this is the key, literally the key. Whatever feels most aligned, exciting or naturally pulling you in that direction, do that.

Speaker 1:

And yes, I understand sometimes you're having to do certain things with work, so there are some choices that might feel as though they're out of your control. Your job is to really be in alignment with those things, to shift your energy around them enough where you can still make that thing fun. So think about what in that job you could do right now that feels the most exciting or alluring, because your present moment is where it all happens, right, and even if it seems like completely unrelated to your manifestation. The key of following that excitement is how you shift the energy and what magnetizes you to the thing that you actually want, because the magnetization, the law of attraction aspect of it, it's not necessarily being 100% magnet for that one specific thing. It's about raising and elevating your vibration to be the person who receives all of the things that you want. Do you see the difference? I think a lot of us kind of hyper fixate on just the one manifestation, to the point where we forget we have multiples, we have lots of things we want to call in, and so then we're not allowing the rest of them to come in because we're so spiraling around all the stuff.

Speaker 1:

So step two is take your excitement as far as you can, with no insistence on the outcome. It's crazy to think about. Right, this is the part that really messes people up, because you don't force anything, you just follow the energy until it naturally stops, and then you pivot to the next thing that excites you, on and on and on and on. Like as your day goes, the entire time you're focusing on whatever lights you up the most, the thing that excites you the most, and when you're doing that, you're putting your energetic system, your nervous system, in flow rather than in resistance. So step three, then, is to trust the process. Oh, that's the hardest part, right, trusting the process.

Speaker 1:

But when we do trust that, excitement equals alignment. We don't have to force anything into place, we just keep following the breadcrumbs. And when we trust in our ability to manifest and we trust in our ability to trigger the universe to help us, we don't have to micromanage it. The universe, like when we make a decision on something we want, the universe knows that. Abraham Hicks talks about this a lot. Where it's the vortex, right, we put all of these things into the vortex and our job then is to just get into that high vibrational frequency where you're feeling tapped in, tuned in, turned on, and when you're in that state, when you're in that place, all of your manifestations can flow with ease. And the way you get into that tapped in, tuned in, turned on place is by following your excitement, by following and trusting and knowing that all of those things will guide you. So the only thing you have to remember then is to follow your excitement. So number four is you let the universe then handle those details. You don't have to do it all alone. You're not here to force and to effort.

Speaker 1:

Manifestation is never about obsessing over how it will happen, even though that's what we like to do, but it's just your inner control, freak talking, and it's okay because we all have one and it's okay. But when we can allow and not obsess over it, it happens so much faster because the resistance that we would have by holding that thought, by holding on to it so hard, feeds, feeds away, and we're able to just chill out and allow that's such a key word that allow. So when we're letting go, what we're doing in essence, it's not just letting go, it's not just surrendering to the moment and hoping that it's going to change. It's opening up our energy so that we can actually allow what we want in energy. So that we can actually allow what we want in. Does that make sense?

Speaker 1:

Here's your quick and powerful shift for today, our manifest differently minute, so to speak. Instead of asking yourself how do I let go, ask yourself what's the next thing that excites me? If your manifestation was already guaranteed to show up, what would you be doing in the meantime? That is where your focus needs to go. When we put our energy onto the next thing that excites us, we naturally step into the vibration of receiving the best part. It keeps us from falling into the hyper fixation trap. Letting go isn't about pushing something away. It's about moving toward what lights us up now. So, my fellow neurodivergent manifestors, let's recap quick Letting go is not about forgetting or quitting.

Speaker 1:

It's about releasing attachment to how it happens, to when it happens, so that we can allow things to come in. Our brains struggle with object impermanence, so we can freak out a little bit when we are number one, trying to let go, but also when we're trying to be intentional about staying in that energy of trust. Right, we also have Bashar's formula, which is a game changer, I think, for us, because when we follow our excitement which I think most of us want to be doing, that's how we're wired and we take action from that place, without attachment. We get to trust that it's unfolding exactly as it should. So there isn't so much that we have to hold on to the decision or to the intentional aspect of it. We get to trust that the universe has already done that for us, right? So then we have life without obsessing being the key.

Speaker 1:

And yeah, we still do it sometimes because our brains love to latch on to things. But if we can give ourselves some grace and remember that we're always allowed to pivot, always allowed to change our minds, always allowed to follow that enjoyment and excitement into a new area. We keep the energy moving in our favor. So the bottom line is let go, follow what excites you and let the magic unfold. If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who needs this as a reminder, and if you're loving Manifest Differently so far, leave a review. It helps more neurodivergent manifestors like you find their way here. Until next time, stay weird, stay wonderful and keep manifesting differently.

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Carissa Andrews

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