Manifestation FAQ: 10 Answers on Law of Attraction, Neville Goddard & the Subconscious Mind

Manifestation is the practice of consciously shaping your reality through your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and actions. In simple terms, to "manifest" means intentionally bringing a desired outcome into your life by aligning your mindset and energy with that goal. It's not about magic or wishful thinking; it involves focusing on what you want, believing it’s possible, and taking actions that support that belief. The idea is that your inner world (your attitudes and emotions) influences your outer world. By setting clear intentions and maintaining a positive, trusting mindset, you become more alert to opportunities and more driven to make your vision real. Manifestation 101 offers a deeper dive into how this process works.

Many people wonder if the Law of Attraction genuinely works or if it’s just a buzzword. Evidence from both personal stories and psychology suggests it can be effective, but not as a quick magic trick. The Law of Attraction says that like attracts like – meaning your thoughts and emotions can energetically attract similar experiences. In practice, maintaining a positive focus and clear intention often motivates you to notice opportunities and take actions that lead toward your goal. From a scientific angle, visualizing success can boost confidence and prime your brain to seek solutions. In essence, the Law of Attraction works best when you combine a positive mindset with genuine effort, rather than relying on wishful thinking alone.

The Law of Assumption is a manifestation principle popularized by mystic Neville Goddard. It states that whatever you assume to be true in your imagination – and persist in feeling is real – will eventually harden into fact. In other words, you must internally embody the state of your wish fulfilled. This isn’t about merely wishing or hoping, but about confidently living in your mind as if you already have what you desire.

By maintaining that assumption with emotion and faith, your subconscious mind is impressed with the new reality, causing your outer world to reflect it. Learn more in our Law of Assumption guide.

Neville Goddard (1905–1972) was a prominent spiritual teacher and author known for his groundbreaking teachings on imagination and manifestation. He taught that the human imagination is the creative force of reality – encapsulated in his famous idea that "imagining creates reality." Neville’s core teaching, often called the Law of Assumption, urged people to assume the feeling of their wish fulfilled.

By believing and feeling that your desire is already accomplished (living from the end), you impress the idea upon your subconscious mind, which then brings it to pass. His lectures and books (like Feeling Is the Secret) have inspired countless people to use visualization and faith to shape their lives. For a comprehensive overview of Neville’s life and philosophy, see our Neville Goddard Ultimate Guide.

Abdullah was Neville Goddard’s mysterious mentor — an Ethiopian mystic who taught Neville in New York during the 1930s. Little is documented about Abdullah’s personal life, but Neville credited him with imparting the core principles of manifesting. Abdullah introduced Neville to the idea that "imagination is God" and famously instructed him to live as though his wish were already fulfilled (like telling Neville to act as if he was already in Barbados to manifest a journey).

This uncompromising teaching style helped form Neville’s understanding of the Law of Assumption. Although once an obscure figure, Abdullah’s influence is now recognized as foundational to Neville’s success. You can learn more from our Abdullah article or delve into his story in the book Abdullah Unveiled.

The subconscious mind is the part of your mind that operates below your conscious awareness – it stores your beliefs, memories, habits, and emotions, and it greatly influences your behavior and perception. In manifestation, the subconscious plays a crucial role because it’s like the soil where your thoughts and intentions take root. If you have deep-seated beliefs (positive or negative), they will shape what you consistently experience.

By reprogramming the subconscious (through methods like visualization, affirmations, or meditation), you can change those inner beliefs to align with what you want to manifest. Essentially, whatever ideas and feelings you impress upon your subconscious mind will guide your actions and “attract” corresponding outcomes. Our Subconscious Mind guide explains this in detail.

Manifestation can be viewed as both science and spirituality – it really depends on your perspective. From a spiritual angle, manifestation is often described in terms of universal laws and energy: you align your inner spirit or vibration with what you want, and the universe responds in kind. It feels mystical, as if co-creating with a higher power.

From a scientific or psychological angle, many principles of manifestation are grounded in real effects: for example, visualization can rewire neural pathways, positive thinking can reduce stress and improve decision-making, and setting clear intentions focuses your subconscious mind on opportunities (the priming effect). In truth, the practice of manifestation sits at the crossroads of both realms, blending mindset training (science) with a sense of trust and intention (spirituality).

Belief and faith are related but not identical in the context of manifesting. Belief typically means accepting that something is true or possible – it's a mental agreement or confidence in an idea. You might believe that you can achieve a goal or that manifesting works. Faith goes a step further: it’s a deep, unwavering trust that what you desire will come to pass, even without visible proof.

In manifestation, having belief is important (you need to believe your goal is attainable), but having faith means you persist in your vision despite delays or doubts. Faith is often described as “loyalty to the unseen.” Where belief might waver if challenges arise, true faith stays steady, knowing that the universe (or your subconscious) is already working to deliver the outcome.

The Law of Attraction and the Law of Assumption are two approaches to manifesting, with a subtle but key difference in focus. Law of Attraction teaches that like attracts like: by keeping your thoughts positive and your emotions uplifted (raising your vibration), you attract positive outcomes from the universe. It emphasizes aligning with the energy of what you want and expecting it to come.

Law of Assumption, taught by Neville Goddard, says that whatever you internally assume and feel to be true will become your reality. Instead of focusing on "attracting" from outside, you live in the end state of already having your desire. In practice, both approaches encourage a positive mindset and belief. The main distinction is that Law of Attraction frames it as the universe responding to your energy, while Law of Assumption is about your inner certainty creating the outcome.

The saying "imagination creates reality" is a core principle in many manifestation teachings (especially Neville Goddard’s work). It means that the images and scenarios you consistently picture in your mind influence what actually happens in your life. When you vividly imagine a desired situation and feel it as real, you are impressing that idea onto your subconscious mind. Your subconscious then influences your actions, reactions, and even how you perceive opportunities around you.

Over time, this guided behavior and perception help bring the imagined scenario into reality. In a spiritual sense, some say imagination is the divine creative power within us – by imagining the end result and truly believing in it, you set in motion events that mirror that mental picture. Essentially, what you nurture in your mind becomes the blueprint for your world.