Transforming the 'Act as If' Approach for More Joy
It's time this manifestation process gets an upgrade
Have you ever heard the concept "act as if"?
For the biggest, most soul resonant dreams (i.e. the ones that matter) this can be immensely frustrating.
When studying manifestation, I was told to feel into what it would be like to be a millionaire, famous, or something equally extravagant....
But I'd never actually experienced that!
"Trying" to do it made me feel like an imposter, and only highlighted my perceived distance between here and there.
So I just ended up feeling worse.
(Caveat: I think this technique can work better for short term manifestation or where the perceived distance is much shorter)
A new approach
Let's say you want to manifest a 7 figure business, but you've only ever made 5 figures.
Most gurus would say, "well just feel like you would if you had it."
But where can you get access to that feeling?
It's in a counterintuitive place, where you ALREADY experience joy.
You probably already know this, but it bears repeating: You don't actually want the thing. You want the experience of what you perceive the thing will give you.
And a gentle reminder that - you have access to infinite experience in this moment.
But you still might be scratching your head. Where HAS this already happened?
For me, I feel it when playing games. This isn’t the only place that contains joyful experience, but I love it as a metaphor.
Games help me feel not just like a millionaire, but they help me feel the building blocks of many desired experiences.
At it's essence, I feel things like agency, curiosity, flow, satisfaction, and clarity.
Also, many millionaires don’t feel these feelings.
The point is, I don't have to go looking for the feelings or reverse engineer them. I just notice where they already are. Then I use my imagination to apply that feeling to my current experience.
How?
Try a question like: How can I experience even more [agency] while building towards that [big hairy audacious goal]?
Then my body / mind / spirit goes to work, creating the
desired mindset, emotions, circumstances, etc to answer that question.
So next time you try to "act as if" add the addendum -"you're playing a game designed for your enjoyment"
I’m familiar with ‘act as if’ terminology as it’s been applied in the field of psychotherapy. I understand the basic how it is applied in NLP as well. After many years of psychotherapy programming, I’ve decided that it’s okay for me to choose words that resonance with my own experience. Agency, curiosity, flow, satisfaction and clarity can be useful words or they make me feel more lost and alienated from others. Psychotherapists use the words all the time. They are also so well circulated in wellness that they’ve become more of cultural zeitgeist. Of course, curiosity is good. It can’t be bad can it? Except if you’re spying on your neighbor. Part of my deprogramming involves determining what these words to me. Otherwise, I’m just regurgitating what I feel is expected of me. We gain social currency when we speak and act like others. But what does it mean to act for ourselves? We can’t entirely reinvent language and vocabulary.
‘Fake it till you make it’ works for me as a phrase, but it’s not a sustainable way of living in the world. I also find it a problem if it’s a means to avoid intimacy and pain. If we’re always looking to be ‘that’ we’re not focusing on what is.
This is a great idea, Chris. I love the words "agency, curiosity, flow, satisfaction, and clarity." I am now looking for ways to build this feeling into my day and live like I'm already successful in the lifestyle I am trying to build. I want to experience this feeling more rather than feel anxious and let my survival fears get the better of me. Thanks for the post!