First, log in to your Todoist account. Navigate to the settings or account section to find the option to export your data. Typically, Todoist allows you to export tasks in CSV or JSON format. Choose the format that best suits your needs and download the data file to your local machine.

Ensure that you have MySQL installed on your system. You can download and install MySQL from the official website if you haven't already. Launch the MySQL server and access it using a client like MySQL Workbench or the command line interface. Create a new database to store your Todoist data, using a command such as `CREATE DATABASE todoist_data;`.

Analyze the exported data file to determine the needed table structure. For example, if your data includes task names, due dates, and project names, your SQL table might include columns such as `task_id`, `task_name`, `due_date`, and `project_name`. Use a `CREATE TABLE` statement to set up this schema in your MySQL database.

Open the exported CSV or JSON file using a text editor or spreadsheet software. If it's a CSV, make sure the data is clean and formatted correctly. For JSON files, you may need to use a script (e.g., Python) to parse the data into CSV format or directly into SQL `INSERT` statements. Ensure all data is correctly aligned with your MySQL table structure.

For CSV files, use MySQL's `LOAD DATA INFILE` command to import the data directly into your table:
```
LOAD DATA INFILE '/path/to/your/data.csv'
INTO TABLE your_table_name
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','
ENCLOSED BY '"'
LINES TERMINATED BY '\n'
IGNORE 1 ROWS;
```
If you've converted the data to SQL `INSERT` statements, execute these statements within your MySQL environment.

Once the data is imported, run several `SELECT` queries to ensure that the data in your MySQL table matches the original Todoist data. Check for any discrepancies in task names, dates, or project names. This step helps ensure that the data transfer was successful and complete.

If you anticipate needing to transfer data regularly, consider writing a script in a programming language like Python that automates the export, conversion, and import processes. This script can handle data extraction from Todoist, apply necessary transformations, and execute the data import into MySQL, saving time in the future.

By following these steps, you can manually transfer data from Todoist to a MySQL database without relying on third-party tools or integrations.