“We tell you that Imagination creates Reality, but bear in mind that at this human level on Earth it takes time and persistence. If we will persist in the image, live in it, sleep in it, breathe in it, it will crystallize into tangible form.” That Which Already Has Been, Neville Goddard

Through all of his work, Neville repeats again and again that manifesting something should be effortless. However, often times we hear about people getting exhausted and even stressed out because they are trying to manifest something. Now, trying to manifest something is a contradiction in and of itself and most people realize that sooner or later. It is this approach to the manifesting process that makes it stressful and tiring.

I am not saying this to discourage anyone but the word “trying” should leave your vocabulary if you are a conscious manifestor. In the process of manifesting, there is no such thing as trying: you are either manifesting or you aren’t. And yet, most of you are aware that you are manifesting 24/7.

This brings me to my next point. I have noticed that many people tend to talk about mental diets and give their own interpretations of it. Some people will tell you to literally repeat an affirmation for two weeks. Some people will tell you not to repeat any affirmations at all. Some people will tell you that mental diet is a waste of time because you shouldn’t be controlling every thought that you have. Some people will tell you that only by controlling every single thought that you have throughout the day can you achieve the results that you want.

As you can see, people approach a simple method in different ways. Different approaches work for different people, as issagoodsoup explained here. The reason for this is because we believe in different things. Just because we are one being fragmented into many, doesn’t mean that we all believe in the same thing. You choose for yourself which one of these approaches you are going to use and how you are going to use them. You choose the method and you choose the way you will apply it in your day-to-day life. The only thing that really matters is that you catch the feeling of the wish fulfilled. And no, you do not have to feel that feeling 24/7 but if you imagine something once and then negate it with a bad mental diet, a negative attitude and doubts, you can’t really expect fast results, can you?

Many people take this to mean that you have to literally control your thoughts 24/7. And Jesus Christ! Even typing that made me feel annoyed and tired! The thing is, you do not have to control your thoughts 24/7. The only time you need to take control is when you notice that your attitude about your desire has changed. For example, if you want to manifest a specific person who is your ex and you suddenly catch yourself thinking that they will never come back to you because you’ve hurt them too much, you must stop yourself and gently remind yourself that you are the best thing that ever happened to them and that the past is the past, but your future starts with a blank page and you will only write lovely things on it.

If you are manifesting something that is important to you, then you are probably thinking about it often throughout the day. That is completely fine. Nobody is asking you to stop thinking about the thing that you want. All that is asked of you is that you control those inner conversations in such a way that will imply that your desire has already been fulfilled. In Neville’s words:

“Speak it inwardly in your imagination only. Make your inner conversation match your fulfilled desire. What you desire to hear without, you must hear within. Embrace the without within and become one who hears only that which implies the fulfillment of his desire, and all the external happenings in the world will become a bridge leading to the objective realization of your desire.” Chapter V, Awakened Imagination

We must not forget that we are always talking to ourselves. Inner conversations do not include only your imaginary conversations with others. They also include your thoughts. When you are thinking, you are talking to yourself. And because you are God, you are also talking to the God and he hears your every word and your word cannot return onto you void! It must accomplish what it was sent to accomplish.

I have noticed that many people who tell me that they are stressed out with their mental diet think that sustaining the feeling of the wish fulfilled means that they have to repeat the same thing in their heads over and over again. They think that when one tells them to repeat the new story, instead of repeating and perpetuating the old story, they must do so all day and all night long. But that is far from the truth.

I understand that the wording may be a little bit confusing so let me make it clear: you do not have to repeat the new story every second of the day. All you have to do is construct an imaginal act, experience it in your imagination, accept it as true because imagination creates reality and then go about your day. If you would allow yourself to embrace the desire as if it’s already been fulfilled, you would not be stressed out. The only reason you are stressed out is because you are forcing yourself to think about it all the time.

Mental diet is what you make it. There is no right or wrong when it comes to it. There is only your belief in what works and what doesn’t work for you. If I tell you that repeating the same affirmation over and over again until you go insane is absolutely necessary for the fulfillment of your desire, it is up to you to decide whether I am telling the truth or lying. But I do know one thing: if you believe that that is necessary to make your wish come true, then that is the truth in your world.

Again, you do not have to repeat anything all day long. All you have to do is catch yourself when your thoughts go off the track and bring them back to match the thoughts that you would have, had your wish already been fulfilled. All you are doing is assuming that the thing desired is already yours. And when your thoughts do not match that, you remind yourself of the truth that you’ve experienced in your imagination.

“Our ideals are waiting to be incarnated, but unless we ourselves match our inner speech and action to the speech and action of fulfilled desire, they are incapable of birth. Inner speech and action are the channels of God’s action. He cannot respond to our prayer unless these paths are offered. The outer behaviour of man is mechanical. It is subject to the compulsion applied to it by the behaviour of the inner self, and old habits of the inner self hang on till replaced by new ones.” Awakened Imagination, Neville Goddard

So, do not worry about what is going on in your external world. It is a manifestation of the things that you have imagined in the past. If these things are unlovely, then allow for your imagination to create the ideal that you desire. First, imagine it. Then, persist in your belief that it is already yours. Open the way to your new reality by matching your inner speech to your fulfilled desire.

I have said this a couple of times before and I will say it again: we are creatures of habit. But habits can be changed with persistence.

If we compare the mental diet to a weight loss diet, we will see that when we are on the weight loss journey, we do not work out or eat diet food all day long. That would be counterproductive. No, we work out for an hour, two hours a day and we eat when we are hungry but we choose healthy food. See the working out regime as your imaginal act, the time when you are assuming that your wish has been fulfilled. Choosing healthy food is, then, equal to you choosing to think from the end.

So, to conclude this, if you are feeling stressed out by your mental diet, learn to see it in a different way. If it feels forced, stop what you are doing. Start over. Sit down and assume that your wish has been fulfilled. Ask yourself one simple question: what would it feel like if you were now the person you desire to be/if you already had what you now desire? There. Now you have imagined it. It is done. All you have to do is remind yourself that it is yours. Not force yourself to think about it positively every second of the day! But gently remind yourself that it is yours when your thoughts aren’t in line with that.

Happy dieting!

P.S. We will be having another Q&A session but this time here on the blog. Feel free to email us with your questions. If there is a topic you would like us to cover in detail, then please send a separate email.