Hi, Rich here.
One of Neville Goddard’s big ideas is that feeling is the secret.
The idea is pretty simple:
If you want something, get into the feeling state of already having it.
Not hoping for it.
Not wishing for it.
Not sitting around going:
“I really want this.”
“I wish I had that.”
“If only…”
The trick is getting into the state of being of already having the wish fulfilled.
Sounds simple enough.
Except for one little problem.
How the hell do you do that when you don’t feel that way yet?
That’s where the practice comes in.
One technique I like is what I call:
Old Story / New Story.
Take a piece of paper.
Make two columns.
On one side:
Old Story
On the other:
New Story
Then pick a subject.
Money.
Relationships.
Your health.
Your work.
Your new job.
Or, in my case when I originally talked about this:
Best video ever.
Now start writing the old story.
What are you actually thinking and feeling about it?
Maybe:
“This video isn’t that good.”
“My voice sounds tight.”
“It’s late.”
“I’m tired.”
“I’m rambling.”
“This isn’t going the way I wanted.”
That’s the old story.
And the important part is that you’re not pretending it isn’t there.
You’re looking at it.
You’re getting a good look at what you’ve actually been telling yourself.
Then you take that old story and start rewriting it.
Now flip it.
Instead of:
“This video isn’t very good.”
Try:
“This is the best video I’ve ever made.”
Now, personally, when I first say something like that, I may not believe it for five seconds.
Sometimes my first reaction is almost sarcastic.
“Oh yeah. Best video ever.”
[Laughter.]
No, I don’t think so.
And that’s okay.
Because the first step is just starting to tell the new story.
You’re practicing.
You’re not trying to pass some cosmic lie detector test.
You’re starting to create a different inner experience.
Something interesting happens when you start saying certain words and phrases.
They can begin triggering a different feeling state.
Maybe only a little at first.
But the body starts responding.
Your posture changes.
You sit up differently.
You smile.
Your voice changes.
Your energy changes.
You start going:
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…”
“Best video ever.”
“Whoa.”
And now you’re not merely saying words.
You’re beginning to move into the state.
That’s the part people sometimes miss when they hear:
Feeling is the secret.
They think they’re supposed to magically jump from feeling lousy to feeling wonderful.
Sometimes you don’t.
Sometimes you practice your way into it.
I also play with body language.
Sit differently.
Stand differently.
Move like you already feel better.
Use your face.
Use your voice.
Use your physiology.
You’re giving your whole system another signal.
Instead of sitting there physically acting out:
“Everything sucks.”
You start moving like:
“Hey… maybe this is going pretty damn well.”
And sometimes the feeling starts following the movement.
That’s useful.
Here’s where it gets interesting.
You say:
“This is the best video I’ve ever made.”
And immediately something inside goes:
“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
There it is.
The little voice.
The little you.
Old habits.
Old beliefs.
Previous experience.
Judgments.
Conclusions.
All the stuff you’ve practiced thinking for years.
And now you can see it.
That’s actually useful.
Because instead of unconsciously following it, you can say:
No. I’m not agreeing with that one.
I heard it.
I noticed it.
But I don’t have to keep feeding it attention.
That’s part of the practice too.
This one is huge.
You imagine what you want.
You create the new story.
You get into the feeling.
And then five minutes later you go:
“Did it happen yet?”
No.
So you check tomorrow.
“Did it happen yet?”
Nope.
Next week:
“How about now?”
And every time you do that, you’re reinforcing:
I don’t have it yet.
That’s the opposite state.
So one of the things I learned is:
Protect the imaginative act.
Let it exist in your own inner world.
Your own dreamscape.
Your own imaginative universe.
You don’t need to keep running outside and checking whether the physical world has caught up yet.
Neville talked about the imaginal act eventually hardening into fact.
I like the seed analogy.
You plant the seed.
Then you don’t dig it up every afternoon to see if it’s growing.
And you also try not to keep planting opposite seeds.
“I want this.”
“No I don’t.”
“Yes I do.”
“This is going to work.”
“No it isn’t.”
“I’ve got it.”
“I’ll never get it.”
That constant back-and-forth matters.
So part of manifestation practice is learning some discipline with your thoughts and feelings.
Not perfection.
Practice.
Everybody wants the magic sentence.
The magic visualization.
The magic Neville technique.
And there are plenty of useful techniques.
But a lot of this comes down to:
Practice.
You notice the old story.
You write it down.
You create the new story.
You say the words.
Maybe you use a little sarcasm at first.
You change your posture.
You change your voice.
You start feeling it a little.
Then more.
And when the old negative thought pops up, you notice that too.
Then you keep practicing.
You get better.
And better.
And better.
That’s how you train yourself into a new state.
Right in the middle of explaining all this, I suddenly remembered something.
I had a lasagna in the oven.
It was supposed to come out at 8:45.
I looked at the clock.
8:46.
So apparently even Neville Goddard has limits.
Sometimes the state fulfilled is:
Save the damn lasagna.
And that’s what I did.
— Rich