70% feel reactive, not creative
70% of millions of weekly listeners surveyed said they feel like they are reacting to life rather than intentionally creating it.
Snapshot · The Mel Robbins Podcast
World Leading Psychologist: How to Manifest Anything & Create the Life You Want
Explore episode
Aug 10, 2026
Where this was said
The Power of Imagination: Bringing Magic Back to Life
At 6:34 · chapter starts 4:24
Mel's opening question — what could change if a listener applied everything Dr. Vieten is about to teach? — draws out two sweeping answers. First, you become the author of your own life. Second, you get the magic back. Vieten is quick to clarify she doesn't mean fantasy-magic: she means the vitality, awe, wonder, and curiosity that make life feel alive. She observes that somewhere around age 9 or 10, children are told to stop imagining and get real — and that over time the pendulum swings so far toward logic and rationality that people stop noticing synchronicities, beauty, and meaningful moments. Those filtered-out moments, she notes, are often what people remember as the most important things in their lives.
What Is the 'Great Flattening' — and Why You're Stuck In It
Society is engineered for reactivity. Screens, notifications, and constant input trap people in a loop of responding rather than creating. Dr. Vieten calls this the 'great flattening' — and your imagination is the escape hatch.
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