Hi Claire, a question to share. Manifesting a thought and believing I already have it, this idea has always worked for me, but twenty years ago while in deep meditation 

for three months I experienced another realm in daily life. I realised I had nowhere to go, nothing to gain with no attachment, everything was perfect deep inside of me. and the world around me. So if the latter is the truth without going into a meditation practice, how do we navigate daily when wanting to create something or do we think of something and let the universal energy do the rest?