If you’re like me, you’ve probably read a ton about Neville Goddard’s teachings on manifestation. But reading and doing are two different things, right? That’s why in this article, I’m cutting through the fluff and getting straight to the point — how can you actually put Neville’s teachings into action? How do you actually get manifestation to work?
I’m sharing the exact steps I’ve personally used to manifest some pretty amazing things in my life. No filler, no jargon, just the essential stuff that’s worked for me. The best way to get the hang of this is to roll up your sleeves and try it out for yourself.
So, by the time you finish reading, you won’t just know what to do — you’ll feel ready to jump in and start making things happen. Ready? Let’s get to it!
Neville’s View On Manifestation
Before we dive into the practical aspects of this article, I want to explain something that’s pretty important to understand: that consciousness is the fundamental reality.
[If you’re interested, I also do a full overview of Neville Goddard’s teachings in this article.]
Reality is consciousness itself. Since it’s the only thing that exists, all its creations must be consciousness, too. Everything you see around you — including objects, events, and the circumstances of your life — are all manifestations of consciousness.
Even though consciousness manifests itself in different forms of expressions, including into you and me, the consciousness itself always remains constant. At the first cause layer of reality, consciousness is always in its universal and undivided state. This means that infinite power and intelligence are always available to you, regardless of your situation.
“There is no one that is not all that is, for consciousness, though expressed in an infinite series of levels, is not divisional.”
The Power of Awareness
Pure Consciousness/Awareness (referred to as the subconscious/subjective mind) is the true self, your “I AM.” From our perspective as individual minds, this becomes an infinite and inexhaustible power and intelligence that we can use for any purpose or desire that we may have.
Since everything is part of the ONE consciousness, you and your environment are not separate but interconnected facets of the same whole.
Neville also emphasized the role of Imagination. Imagination is the creative power of consciousness. To manifest effectively, you need to learn how to use your imagination properly.
When you assume something, you set consciousness into motion. For example, if you imagine “I AM poor,” you are directing consciousness to manifest that outcome. To change the circumstances of your life, you need to alter the beliefs or states held within your consciousness.
This is not about deluding yourself. It is about impressing an assumption deep within the fundamental consciousness, thereby putting you in a new state of consciousness.
The following technique enables you to get in touch with pure consciousness, from where you can impress your desire upon it and cause it to manifest in your reality.
The Manifestation Method Step-by-Step
Set aside at least 20 minutes for this. While there is good reason to believe that it’s more effective right after waking up or just before going to sleep, you can do it whenever you prefer.
This is a quick rundown of the method:
1) Desire: Clearly identify what you want.
2) Relaxation (State Akin To Sleep): Immobilize your physical body and focus your attention within.
3) Assuming the Wish Fulfilled: Use your imagination to hold the feeling of the wish fulfilled.
4) (Optional) Fall Asleep: Drift off to sleep while doing this (or shortly after).
Ideally, this should be done every day, at least once a day. It’s key to understand that you are working on the subconscious power within you, rearranging it so that it creates new results in your life. You are not trying to will things into being through the use of the conscious mind.
Know that if you’ve successfully changed your state of consciousness, it MUST show itself in manifestation.
How To Clarify Your Desire
First, pinpoint your desire. It could be anything — a new job, a loving relationship, a strong body, the achievement of a lifelong dream, or it can be a broader goal like happiness, greatness, freedom, or love.
Next, create an imaginary scene that would imply your desire is ALREADY fulfilled. This isn’t just a daydream; it’s a specific event that confirms your wish has come true.
For example, if you’re aiming for a new job, don’t imagine the particular moment you get the job offer. Instead, create an imaginary scene that signifies you ALREADY have the job. Maybe imagine your first day at the new job, being welcomed by colleagues, or even receiving your first paycheck.
By making a scene that takes place AFTER the accomplishment of the desire (as opposed to the particular moment it’s accomplished) allows it to come in the most natural way possible.
How To Go “Within” — The State Akin To Sleep
The state akin to sleep (SATS) is essential in Neville Goddard’s method of manifestation. This state, between being awake and asleep, allows you to get in touch with the subconscious more easily.
Why is a relaxed state of consciousness so important? Essentially, it allows you to bypass the logical, questioning part of your mind (the conscious mind) and directly access the creative power within you (the subconscious mind). This is where the change work happens. In this relaxed state, the subconscious mind is more open and responsive to suggestions. I talk more about this in my article on meditation and manifestation.
There is no right way to achieve this state, but this is how I do it:
- Find a comfortable place to lie down or sit. Make sure you’re in a quiet, relaxing environment with minimal distractions.
- Close your eyes and take several deep breaths. Allow your mind to quiet down. If any thoughts pop up, observe them, let them be, and gently bring your attention back to your breath.
- Starting from your toes, progressively relax every part of your body. Notice the sensation in each part as you relax it. Continue this process until you’ve relaxed your entire body.
- Continue focusing on your breath, allowing yourself to drift deeper and deeper within.
- You can use suggestions like “go deeper.” You can also repeat something like “I AM, I AM, I AM…” feeling yourself to be pure, unconditioned awareness. Another thing I like doing is noticing certain sensations. I may notice that I am aware of ambient noises, the floating images behind my eyelids, the feeling of the chair underneath me, the brain within my skull, and so on. This sort of helps create a separation between the awareness or “is-ness” itself and the things that you are aware of. Sometimes, without trying to answer the question myself, I ask, “What is it within me that is aware?” For one reason or another, this particular question seems to have a great effect on me.
- You will notice that you somehow seem to move deeper within. This is the state in which you are to imagine the fulfillment of your desire.
You don’t have to do this perfectly; just do your best. Some days will be “better” than others, and that’s fine. In fact, perfectionism will only hinder you because you will always feel that you are doing it wrong.
How to Imagine the Wish Fulfilled
Once you’re in this meditative state, you’re ready to enact your mental scene. The key is to make it easy and enjoyable. If it feels difficult or strenuous, you are doing it wrong.
Imagine that you are now in the environment of your scene, letting it surround you. Feel yourself to be there, feel the reality of it. Don’t worry about the vividness of your imagery or whether you’re feeling it “correctly.” In my experience, the mere intention is enough. It’s definitely better than beginning to overthink things or trying to use willpower.
Then, begin to play out the scene you have constructed, implying the fulfillment of your desire. Let yourself get lost in the scene as if it were actually happening. Think, feel, and act from the scene as an occupant — not as an onlooker. Involve emotions such as gratitude, relief, happiness, and joy. These will help you infuse your mind into the wish fulfilled.
If you can completely absorb yourself into the scene, you will temporarily forget that you are imagining. This is not unlike self-hypnosis. This level of self-persuasion, while great, is not a hundred percent necessary, and you can still get good results without it.
Play through the scene over and over until you feel that you have been affected by it. This is an indication that some sort of change has been made.
Alternative method: Affirmations/Self-Talk
This is another approach I personally find really effective and have great success with. It’s basically “talking” to the subconscious mind through the use of affirmations. Some of my biggest manifestations have come this way, and often through a combination of this one and visualization.
Neville talked about both affirmations and self-talk. In my view, both blend together into one technique as they’re both ways of conveying your desire to your subconscious through words. If you do not like the former manner of visualization, you can use affirmations and self-talk instead.
In a relaxed, meditative state of consciousness, declare statements that imply the wish fulfilled. The key is self-persuasion — permeating your consciousness with the wish fulfilled to the point that all other thoughts are crowded out your mind.
Affirmations are also effective when doing broad manifestations without specifying a particular outcome. Let’s say you want more “greatness” in your life. In this particular example, I would first go into a meditative state of consciousness and then assume the feeling of greatness, immersing myself into this feeling while affirming something like “I am great” or “greatness.” If done correctly, this state will imprint itself on the subconscious and thus be manifested.
Although Neville’s preferred method was to imagine himself in a mental scene, it doesn’t really matter what particular method you use. Both of these techniques really work on the same principle. The important thing is to infuse yourself into a new state of consciousness or idea, excluding all other thoughts. This is self-persuasion. If you can permeate your mind completely with one idea while in this relaxed state, it’s very likely that it will sink into the subconscious.
If you’re interested, I have an in-depth article on affirmations and something called “auto-suggestion.”
Tips for Using Your Imagination Effectively
First-person: You should view the imaginal scene from a first-person point of view – as if you were looking through your own eyes. You should become the occupant in the scene, feeling and thinking from that standpoint.
Details matter: Even if you can’t create vivid images, I find that it is helpful to focus on details within your scene. It may be sweeping your imaginary hand across a wall or a table, sensing the texture of its surface. Look at some intricate detail of an object in the scene, perhaps imagine looking at a small crack in a wall. This helps you immerse yourself in the scene.
Feeling: Many people struggle with feeling, and many question whether they are doing it correctly. I like to compare feeling to a form of spiritual touch. The feeling is the sensation or reaction you get when you extend your mind and “touch” an idea, similar to how you would get a certain sensation in your hand if you touched a tennis ball, for example.
“To impress the subconscious with the desirable state, you must assume the feeling that would be yours had you already realized your wish.”
Feeling Is The Secret
When you infuse and immerse yourself into your desired state, you are “assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled.” For example, if you want to be rich, focus on this thought and feel it to be real. By doing this, you are impressing it on the subconscious.
Least Effort: The most important thing is to use as little effort as possible.
“When you assume the feeling of your wish fulfilled it is with a minimum of effort. You must control the direction of the movements of your attention. But you must do it with the least effort. If there is effort in the control, and you are compelling it in a certain way you are not going to get the results.”
Assumptions harden into fact (Lecture)
It is not your willpower that is to hold the idea, but your imagination. Imagination is the creative power itself; it is far more than the ability to make mental pictures in your mind.
This also means sacrificing vividness for immersion. If you cannot see clear mental imagery, then simply just pretend that you’re in the scene. In my experience, the vividness or overall coherence of your mental imagery doesn’t matter — it’s all about feeling and immersing yourself in a single thought/state to the exclusion of all others.
I talk more about the importance of not using effort in my article on “The Law of Reversed Effort.”
Immersion and Self-Persuasion: Hold the wish fulfilled to the exclusion of all other thoughts. The important thing is self-persuasion – getting lost in an idea and letting it permeate your consciousness.
“The secret is to imagine to the point of self-persuasion. Can you believe what you are imagining?”
There is No Fiction (Lecture)
Holding your attention on the wish fulfilled makes it your state of consciousness.
“The great secret of success is to focus the attention on the feeling of the wish fulfilled without permitting any distraction. All progress depends upon an increase of attention. The ideas which impel you to action are those which dominate the consciousness, those which possess the attention. [The idea which excludes all others from the field of attention discharges in action.]”
The Power of Awareness
Let your attention dwell on the desired state. Feel yourself right into it. As you do this, you are letting yourself get lost in the desired state. Do not dwell on thoughts like “Is this working?” or “Am I doing it correctly?” and so on. You cannot hold your attention on two thoughts at the same time.
Living In the End: It’s best if your imaginal scene takes place AFTER your desire has been accomplished. This way, the infinite intelligence is free to manifest the desire in the most natural way possible. This also goes along with the idea of self-persuasion. Live in the scene that implies you now have your desire as if it were actually happening, aligning your thoughts, feelings, and imaginary actions correspondingly. Again, when in this meditative state, you should almost lose yourself in the scene as if it were actually happening.
Falling Asleep
“Sleep is the normal state of the subconscious”
Feeling Is The Secret
If you’re doing this technique in bed at night, try to let yourself fall asleep while still holding the feeling of your wish fulfilled. If you can’t fall asleep during this, aim to do so shortly after while the feeling is still fresh in your mind.
“His entire slumber is dominated by his last waking concept of self. It follows, therefore, that he should always assume the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction before here tires in sleep”
Feeling is the secret
While falling asleep in this state isn’t absolutely necessary, it does make the technique more powerful.
How and Why This Method Works
First of all, It’s important to recognize that the core aim of this technique is to adopt a higher concept of self. The true “self” is the I AM, which is pure consciousness. The technique impresses a new assumption on the subconscious, making it your new state of consciousness. This automatically manifests as new results in your life.
To understand this, I believe it’s very beneficial to understand the dual aspects of the mind: the subconscious self and the conscious self. The subconscious is the deeper part of you — the observer and the true “self.” Neville sometimes called this imagination, other times the subconscious mind, or simply consciousness or awareness. Whatever the term, it points to the deeper you, the infinite power and intelligence that exists in the absolute, beyond time and space.
So, the reason this technique works is because you are working with the deeper subconscious part of you. Too often, we end up trying to use the faculties of the conscious mind to achieve a certain outcome when, in reality, it’s the subconscious that holds the power.
The relaxation/meditation step in this method allows you to get in touch with the subconscious, making it more responsive to suggestions. This is similar to a trance state when in hypnosis. When you assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled in this trance-like state, it gets ingrained in your subconscious and will be manifested in your external reality.
It’s not enough to merely think of your desire in the conscious mind. If your conscious mind thinks, “I am rich,” but if your subconscious thinks, “I want to be rich, but I am poor,” then you will remain poor. Things work from top to bottom — From the infinite power to external manifestation. If the thought in your subconscious is “I am rich,” then you, your world, and everything else will rearrange to align with that assumption.
The relaxation step is key because it lets you tap into your subconscious. It allows you direct it with more ease toward the creation of your goal.
What to Do Afterwards
After you’ve done this method (although you need to do it consistently), you can generally go on with your life as you usually would. However, there are some things to keep in mind.
The Bridge of Incidents:
Having done this technique, you will move across a series of events that lead you from where you are now to the fulfillment of your desire. This bridge of incidents is set by the deeper intelligence, and you (the conscious self) play no part in it.
I talk more about “The Bridge of Incidents” in this article.
Actions:
The actions you take are part of the Bridge of Incidents. If you feel compelled to act or see an opportunity, go for it. Actions naturally follow from the new state of consciousness you’ve assumed.
Letting Go:
Neville discussed the concept of “personal impotence,” meaning you can’t force your desire to manifest. You need to just “go with the flow” and let things happen on their own. Your job is to pick your desire and do this technique. You cannot force the subconscious to accept your desire, and you cannot force the desire to manifest.
Should You Keep Feeling the Wish Fulfilled?:
In my experience, you do not have to keep living in the end or continually feel yourself to be or have something that clearly is contradicted by your senses. This only makes you use more and more effort, and you only end up getting in your own way. Instead, just live your life normally. Things are happening behind the scenes, even if you’re not aware of them.
Getting Rid of The Old Story:
Stop dwelling on the circumstances or the swarm of “facts” that seemingly make the fulfillment of your desire impossible.
You need to take your focus away from the old patterns of thought and focus on the new ones. If you’re currently miserable, it is no use going on about how miserable you are, as that only reinforces the misery. Do not let your attention dwell on your former state of consciousness.
Stop reinforcing the old beliefs by cycling in the same mental activities. You have to move on. If you put your attention on the old state, you are consequently taking power away from your desired state.
Persistence:
Neville stressed the importance of persistence. The internal changes you make may not be immediately obvious, but they will eventually resolve themselves in manifestation. Keep imagining your desire fulfilled, and don’t worry about the current circumstances. The first cause is consciousness; the limiting circumstances you find yourself in will pass away automatically and, in some cases, almost miraculously.
Summary
This is how to manifest something using Neville Goddard’s teachings:
- Clarify your desire
- Enter a “state akin to sleep.”
- Assume your wish is fulfilled by imagining a scene (or using affirmations) that implies it’s already true.
- If possible, fall asleep while holding this feeling.
This method works because it makes impressions deep within your subconscious mind. The relaxation step helps you get in touch with the subconscious, and assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled in this state causes your desire to sink deep within your subconscious. The desire then begins to manifest in your external reality.
Do not over-complicate this. It is a skill you need to learn through practice. No amount of reading or information-gathering will make you truly learn. Putting this into practice is the best way to learn, and it’s the only way to get results.
And don’t get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results. You have to fail yourself to success, adjusting yourself through trial and error. Just know this: if you manage to make some change within yourself, even if it’s small, there MUST be some sort of manifestation.
As you become better at this, you will have an easier time manifesting bigger and better desires. You will find that it is a way to transform yourself and your reality; life itself will begin to open up to you in a whole new way, and you will attain levels of joy and success you would have never thought possible. I did so for me, and it can do so for you. I hope you found this article helpful! Thanks for reading!
