The As If Principle

When it comes to the Law of Attraction, it really is the thought that counts. Our greatest strength lies in the creative powers of the mind. As I explained in an earlier post, the mind is like a garden. We either cultivate useful, beautiful plants (thoughts) purposely or we allow negative, destructive plants to thrive there by default.
Harvard psychologist, William James, developed what he has called the 'as if' principle. The 'as is' principle states that if you wish to possess something, an emotion, a qualification, a lifestyle, etc., act 'as if' you already had it. Let it get ahold of you. Let it possess you. Infuse you mind with the thought that you are already have it. As Shakespeare said: "Assume a virtue if you have it not." No one has ever determined just how far the mind can go in shaping our circumstances.
Every thought we think has an impact on our personality and, consequently, on our success or failure at achieving the things we desire. When we express these thoughts in words, we significantly increase the force and power of our thinking. We are, ultimately, what we believe and feel. King Solomon wrote that we are what we think in our hearts.  People can make themselves sick simply by thinking that they are sick. Wouldn't it also be true that you could make yourself healthy by thinking healthy thoughts? Or wealthy by thinking prosperous thoughts? Or confident by thinking confidently about yourself?
The British Army once tested the power of thinking on three individuals. They selected three men to determine the power of mental attitude on physical performance. The strength of these men was tested using a simple gripping device. Under normal circumstances, the three men had a gripping strength of about 100 pounds. A scientist then put them under hypnosis and made them believe that they were very weak. Under these conditions their best effort only registered an average of 39 pounds. Still under hypnosis, the scientist told the three men that they were actually very strong. Their average grip rose to 142 pounds. When these men believed in themselves, their strength increased by nearly 300% over when they thought they were weak.
It is significantly important what and how we think! The power of suggestion is tremendous. To gain anything in life, we should cultivate and think and act the things we would like to be. When we have the energy to choose our own fate, we can obtain any desire we have in life if we pursue it. Arthur Simons wrote that "there is no dream that may not come true."

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In The Lehrman Project I wrote o​f a concept known as Tabula Rasa. In this section I mention that "when you believe something to be true, it becomes true for you, no matter what the facts may indicate to the contrary. Everything you are today is the result of an idea or an impression you took in and accepted as true....When you change the way you think and feel about yourself and your world, then the world around you changes."
​The largest ocean cannot sink even the smallest ship unless the water gets inside it. Allowing negative thinking into your mind is no different than poisoning your own drinking water. It is destructive and dangerous. When weak, negative, destroying thoughts get into our insides, we are in trouble and sinking fast. It is mental suicide.
The best road to success in any endeavor is to dream big, think big and give substance to your thoughts by acting big, by acting 'as if'. When our actions and attitudes reflect our passions and desires, we saturate ourselves with the power of attraction and then nothing can be withheld from us. This is the  'As If' principle.

"If you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you keep and hold that picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking." -- William James

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