By Jasmine Browley ·Updated August 22, 2023
If you grew up in a Black, Christian household, it’s likely you’re familiar with the adage there’s power in the tongue.
It’s derived from the Bible verse (Proverbs 18:21) which says, ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.’
In layman’s terms, watch how you speak about yourself and others because it may come to pass. This belief is as old as time, but has received a renewed energy thanks to social media, namely TikTok users who swear by the Lucky Girl Syndrome method. Upon searching the hashtag—which has more than 1.4B views—you’ll find women utilizing positive affirmations and subsequent life-planning to help cultivate the mindset needed to get what they want, namely career success. For instance, a user that goes by the name latavia_xoxo claimed she got called in for an interview after saving the audio of a popular song regularly used in posts referencing the Lucky Girl trend.
@latavia_xoxoMarch starting good already 
#fyp #latavia_xoxo #luckygirl #luckygirlsyndrome #blackgirltiktok #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #trending #fypシ #foryoupage
Although it’s clear that the trend is just an up-cycling The Secret and The Law Of Attraction books from decades ago, Zillennials are fully embracing manifestation practices while navigating their unsure formative years. Saria Hawkins-Banda, founder of positive affirmation-focused stationary company, Manifest Your Purpose, says she’s not surprised by the movement.
“Manifestation is super important specifically for the group of women I serve, Black millennial women, because we have to learn that if no one else speaks positively over us, we have to do that for ourselves,” she tells ESSENCE. “We can’t bank on getting a hand up like a white man might or receiving inheritance moneylike some people do. We literally, most times, have to build things out of nothing. We have to pull it out of the mud. And in order to do that, we need to speak positively over our lives.”
Saria Hawkins-Banda, founder of
Although no recorded scientific studies confirm that manifestation is real, some research does show that positive thoughts can lay ground for positive action steps.
“Research shows that our expectations, positive or negative, tend to be confirmed,” said Tchiki Davis, Ph.D., is an expert on well-being technology in an essay that appeared in Psychology Today.
She continued: “For example, if you don’t think you can succeed in some goal, let’s say getting your dream job, you’ll set in motion events that will actually make it more likely that you won’t get your dream job. Maybe you’ll be cold or grumpy during a job interview. Maybe you’ll engage in negative self-talk with someone who could help you. Or maybe you’ll just feel angry and not spend the necessary time required to reach your goal. Your beliefs set in motion circumstances that affect your ability to manifest an outcome.”
But what is the cause for the rampant rise in popularity around manifestation? Some experts are pointing the finger at our troubled economy.
In a report by Skema Business School, research showed a strong negative correlation between GDP per inhabitant and the importance of religion. In layman’s terms, those in rich countries don’t lean as heavily on spirituality or religion as those in third-world countries.
In the US, inflation has significantly driven up living costs forcing many to revaluate their daily habits and even their plans for the future. For instance, some Gen Zers are afraid to hope for homeownership or even marriage down the line due to the shaky economy and workforce.
As previously reported by ESSENCE, December 2022 survey results from The Harris Poll and DailyPay found that young adults are worried it will be more challenging for them to buy a house because of inflation and others are concerned about it being more difficult to pay for healthcare for parents or family members.
Despite that, others are hopeful for the future and are using the law of attraction to build a viable life for themselves. Hawkins-Banda offers a few tactics for jumpstarting the manifestation journey in a practical way.
Write it down
“This is always the first step,” she tells ESSENCE. “I know that sounds so simple, but honestly, writing it down makes it so real—that’s one of our main catchphrases for my company is write it down, make it plain. There’s magic that happens when you actually write goals down because it becomes more concrete.”
Make the decision to be consistent“Another key component is staying consistent,” she tells ESSENCE. “A lot of us are so used to things happening instantly that we {haven’t trained our minds to be ready for the process}. We want to see the payoff immediately. But that’s not how it works. If you really want something, if you really want that career, if you really want that business to be successful, you got to stick it out. You can really change your life with your words.”
The post Lucky Girl Syndrome: Is The Uptick In Workplace Mysticism A Byproduct Of Troubled Economic Times? appeared first on Essence.
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