SM: What role does positive thinking play in manifesting the life you want?
Lisa Nichols: Positive thinking is the foundation for everything else and it’s just a foundation. We prep the foundation so that everything on top of it lands better. Think about when a woman’s about to get married—the prep time is three times as long as the actual wedding. It’s not just about saying “I do.” It’s about the hairdo, the facial and the massage. Those are all like positive conversations. They create good energy inside us and allow us to either build momentum or stay in the game. When things are going great and you’re thinking positively, you keep going in that direction; when things are not going so great and you keep thinking positively, it allows you to keep moving until you get to that place where you’re seeing it manifested.

SM: When you’re thinking positively and things don’t manifest that way, why should you stay positive? What’s the point?
Lisa Nichols:The universe—I call him God—is about abundant living, abundant thought, abundant joy, abundant prosperity. That is truly our birthright. When things are going negatively, it’s not that we don’t deserve greatness. There’s something around the corner that’s going to test your strength. I get knocked down like anyone else, but I get up because it’s my birthright to get up. It’s not my birthright to never be knocked down. That’s entitlement energy, a pompous energy [to think] “I’m not ever supposed to be knocked down.” The commitment to always believing in what’s possible says no matter what’s happening in your life, “I’m always going to see the great later. I’m always going to understand I have a birthright to be happy, have abundance and I’m going to operate as if that’s so.”