- Awakened Reflections with Shaun Jeter
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- These 2 Principles Will Change Your Life
The ‘As If’ Principle and The Power of Assumption
“Trust God's disposal of events, knowing that all the power that ever was or will be is under your will.” — occult maxim
“Man proposes, God disposes.” — old maxim
Those who can understand the real meaning of these quotations will reap the fruits of their awareness.
There’s going to be a few people discussed in today’s message:
Richard Wiseman - Psychologist
Neville Goddard - New Thought Writer
William James - American Philosopher
Another person who also talks about this topic is Dr. Joe Dispenza, but the main focus will be on the others.
The notion here with this principle is that “something” beyond humans is doing the job through us.
Jesus expressed this idea in the following sentence: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” — John 5:19
In modern times, Richard Wiseman has devoted decades of research and investigation to human behavioral science and advances the thesis of the “as if” principle to change human behavior for positive results.
The “as if” principle is based on the statement made by William James, who wrote, “If you want a quality, act as if you already have it.”
With this statement, he suggested that our actions influence our thoughts and feelings. This point of view complements the traditional one-sided belief that thoughts and feelings determine our actions; however, the opposite is also true; habitual human behavior changes thoughts and feelings as well.
It can be said that there is a reciprocal relationship between thoughts and actions as they influence one another.
William James’s statement was the idea for Wiseman’s psychological and sociological investigation.
Modern psychology is based on the premise that thinking affects behavior.
Wiseman’s hypothesis was to validate the fact that action modifies thinking.
According to the “as if” principle, an individual who is feeling sad should act as if he is happy; if he feels insecure, he should act confident, and so on.
Neville Goddard suggests a similar idea that is called “The Power of Assumption” which comes from a chapter in his book Power of Awareness. (top 5 fav book of all time for me btw)
His statement is “Man’s chief delusion is his conviction that there are causes other than his own state of consciousness.”
The interesting thesis with Goddard’s is that it’s not limited to changing a person's frame of mind, but to the whole human personality. Also, people can achieve their goals and dreams, create their desired reality, have perfect health, amass riches, and so on.
He advises that the best way to impress the subconscious with the desired outcome is to ASSUME that one has already realized one’s desire in the present moment and to act accordingly.
Reflecting on the obstacles before the crystallization of an intended goal is to prevent its expression because the subconscious mind will accept the sense of difficulties and obstacles and will proceed to manifest them accordingly.
Goddard also stresses the idea that it is important to pretend that the object desired is already in one’s possession. This is a power suggestion to the subconscious mind to manifest the desired goal.
So, assuming the feeling is a big step toward the completion of one’s wish, one consciously helps the wish to become manifested.
A cool thing to note here is that the notion of “assuming” is not new either because Goddard acknowledges when he quotes Shakespeare, stating, “Assume a virtue if you have it not” (Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 4)
Goddard’s whole theory is based on the innate power that lies within human beings.
The secret of assuming is to dwell on the idea that the desired wish is already manifested in the present moment.
There’s an interesting story of this being applied to his own life with a trip from New York City to Barbados. I attached a link below for you to check it out if you’re interested.
“You can create an ideal of the person you want to be and assume you are already that person.”
Here’s the comparison so far between the “as if” principle and the power of assumption.
The power of assumption is a technique for mental creation, and its application is universal. It’s more general and is directed not only to changing our thinking but essentially to the formation of our personal reality and achievement of our dreams and desires based on the inherent power of the inner self.
The “as if” method is restricted to the modification of states of mind based on the changing of behavior.
Storytime of how I applied this in my life.
Summit of Greatness Conference, Day 3, September 2023, Kemba Live.
One of my biggest aspirations in life is to dance on stage in front of many people.
The previous year, I accomplished this reality at the same conference, with the same artist, who you may know, Wyclef Jean.
In 2022, I had a strong desire to dance on stage, and I applied The Power of Assumption as soon as I stepped into the venue for the first time that day.
Only 3 men were pointed to from the crowd that day, and I was 1 of them.
Fast forward to the next year, 2023, something even cooler happened.
I knew how amazing and fun it was the previous year to be on stage dancing next to Wyclef Jean, and I just knew that it was going to happen again this year. I assumed and demanded that it would happen and I stayed in that mindset and vibration.
Once again, only 3 men were pointed to from the crowd to go on stage but guess what, I wasn’t chosen.
I didn’t let that deter me even for a millisecond. I even more willfully was saying to myself, “I am up there NOW.”
About 10-15 seconds later, Wyclef looked at me and called me up on stage to dance.
I know there are many stories where I can pull this idea of acting “as if” and the power of assumption to provide examples. And I’m willing to bet, that each and every one of you reading this, if you reflect upon it, has used these principles to do a similar thing.
If so, it would be super awesome for you to share with me either through replying to this newsletter or DM’ing me on Instagram about a time when this happened to you.
Moving forward.
I feel the need to clarify the difference between visualization and imagination because I understand many people confuse these two ideas.
Visualization - forming the mental image of something that may or may not already have existence. It usually requires previous knowledge of the object in question and thus involves a mental examination of an image from all possible angles as though it already exists. For example, one can visualize one’s house or car exactly as it will appear.
Imagination - the power to create something that one wants to possess, such as a new house, a new car, abundance within a business, and so on. Imagination does not necessarily require previous knowledge of the object in question.
In short, to imagine is to create something, and to visualize is to reconstruct something that exists in the physical world.
Both of these play a part in the subconscious mind.
Going back to what we were talking about way earlier, how is it that actions influence the mind? The answer resides in the role of the subconscious mind.
P. F. Case indicated that human behavior provides a powerful suggestion to the subconscious mind. If one wants perfect health but does not eat healthy food, exercise, practice good hygiene, or get proper rest, one instills negative suggestions to the subconscious mind.
The important thing to remember here is the subconscious mind has deductive reasoning; it takes conclusions from the premises given—in this case, from the actions or behavior.
So there has to be congruency between our desires and our behavior. The most contradictory message one can give to the subconscious mind is to aspire for perfect health but to be engaged in unhealthy behavior that denies wellness.
Also, these ideas seem to match and affirm what quantum physics has been stating, which is that the basis of reality is an ongoing stream of possibilities: meaning that reality is an eternal process of becoming, in which man’s thinking (thought-forms) and actions have a definitive influence on a specific outcome.
If we see our goals in life as if they are already manifested, the outcome will follow.
Every person in the world is casting hundreds of waves of possibility with every thought, goal, dream, or plan of action.
For instance, a desire such as “This summer I am going to Miami to see South Beach” expresses a longing, which is a “quantum wave of energy that travels from the here and now to the there and then of one’s future.
Reality is malleable, and consciousness is the builder of reality.
Setting a specific intention is a powerful way to influence the future. Thoughts, feelings, and intentions are the means that can pave the road for future success or failure.
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.” — William James
Everything has its complacent counterpart.
In this case, the dichotomy is thoughts-actions.
There is a symbiotic relationship between the two.
Thoughts influence behavior or initiate action, and in turn, action has an influence on the mindset of an individual of an individual. So, both are complements to each other.
In summary, the “as if” principle and the power of assumption are effective psychological components that can play a motivational factor in achieving our life projects. They provide self-confidence and assurance to keep the mind on the positive side.