A Social Media Trend Is Not a Money Plan
What Kind of Thinking It Takes to Build Wealth
TikTok creators have revived an old idea and presented it like a shortcut to financial success.
They are using things like Grabovoi codes, money candles, and positive affirmations to suggest that wealth can be attracted through mindset alone. These rituals feel comforting because they give people a sense of control when money is tight. But they also create a false promise, encouraging people to believe that wanting money is the same as building it.
Social media has turned money advice into entertainment. Every week there is a new trend promising that you can visualize or affirm, manifest your way into wealth. It feels empowering in the moment, but it creates a dangerous illusion that mindset alone can replace the work of building real financial stability.
Mindset matters, but mindset is not a money plan. You cannot visualize your way around income gaps, debt, rising costs, or the financial skills required to build real stability. Every few years this trend comes back with new language and new rituals. The promise never changes. Believe and it will appear. When the money does not come, people blame themselves instead of recognizing that the trend was flawed from the start.
Short videos cannot replace financial literacy. Engagement is the goal of these trends, not your long term financial health. Manifesting may feel good, but it is not a substitute for understanding your numbers, building consistent habits, or making informed decisions. Wealth is created through clarity, structure, and disciplined action.
What Works Instead
Here is what actually moves people forward. No shortcuts. Just simple, repeatable steps that build financial strength over time.
1. Start with clarity, not fantasy
List your income, expenses, debt, and obligations. This is the starting point. You cannot build stability around numbers you have not measured.
2. Track your spending for one week
Awareness changes more than willpower. One week of tracking exposes patterns that shape your financial life.
For Entrepreneurs and Founders
Magical thinking becomes even more dangerous inside a business. Entrepreneurship already carries risk and uncertainty. When founders rely on manifesting instead of strategy, they lose focus, discipline, and direction. You cannot build a company on vibes. You build it by understanding your numbers and acting with intention.
1. Separate belief from business
Vision is important, but vision without execution creates chaos.
2. Know your unit economics
Understand what it costs to create your product, acquire a customer, and retain them. These numbers tell the truth about your business.
3. Build a twelve month cash plan
Track how money arrives, how it leaves, and how long it lasts. Cash planning is survival planning.
You can read the full version, with more tips, recommendations with practical steps on my Substack - link in newsletter or click here: https://shm.to/MoneyPlan