How I Learned to Act As If Everything Always Works Out for Me

What Neville’s teachings gently remind us, is that to “act as if everything always works out for you” is not positive thinking, denial, or blind optimism. It refers to an inner attitude,  a settled assumption, where you stop reacting to life as someone who expects difficulty and instead move through situations as someone who assumes favourable outcomes are natural.

Neville did not mean pretending circumstances are different on the surface. He was pointing to a change in state: the quiet decision to return, again and again, to the feeling that life is fundamentally working with you rather than against you.

When this assumption becomes familiar, behaviour, reactions, and expectations begin to shift automatically, even before anything changes outwardly. It’s about understanding the creative role your imagination and inner state of being, already play in shaping your experience.

What “Acting As If Everything Always Works Out For You” Really Means

When I first started looking at this, I realized that ‘acting as if’ isn’t actually a new skill I had to learn, it was a habit I was already using against myself. I remember sitting at my desk and noticing how I was clenching my jaw, already bracing for a stressful email before I’d even opened my laptop.

In that moment of anticipation, I was perfectly ‘acting as if’ things were going wrong. Most of us are experts at this; we just don’t realize we’re doing it until we stop to look at where our energy is actually going:

– We act as if money is scarce when we check our bank balance with tension.

– We act as if love is unavailable when we guard ourselves or expect rejection.

– We act as if opportunities are limited when we hesitate before trying.

– We act as if that pay rise isn’t coming by quietly assuming we haven’t earned it.

– We act as if a new business is bound to fail by obsessing over the ‘what ifs.’

– We act as if we aren’t likeable, so we stop reaching out to make new friends.

None of this is passive. It’s all assumption in motion.

Neville’s teaching is asking us to notice what we’re already ‘acting as if’ is true, and then consciously assume differently. The habits of thought we repeat, the inner conversations we return to, and the expectations we quietly carry, are already shaping how our lives.

The irony I found in my own life was that the things I said I wanted: security, love, ease, freedom were the very things I’d never actually allowed myself to assume as real. I’d been acting as if the absence of them was more believable and real than their presence.

So acting as if everything always works out for you isn’t about forcing positivity or pretending challenges don’t exist. It’s about embodying the state of the wish fulfilled before it appears, and giving the same certainty, energy, and attention to the life you want that you’ve unconsciously been giving to the life and outcomes you don’t.

Encouragement with Practical Next Steps

Living as if everything always works out isn’t about ignoring challenges, it’s about trusting in your ability to navigate them. Start small. Imagine your desired outcome as real, embody the feeling of success, and take one inspired action today. You might be surprised at how the world responds.

A Simple Example

Neville often used everyday examples to explain this, and I’ve found those to be the most helpful.

If you’re seeking financial ease, for instance, it’s not about repeating affirmations while secretly worrying. It’s about allowing yourself to feel the quiet relief of security. Paying bills calmly, making choices without tension, breathing more easily.

That feeling becomes familiar. And when a feeling becomes familiar, it stops being something you’re chasing and starts being something you live from.

The Inner World Comes First

There was a time when I used to catch myself quietly hoping things would improve, instead of recognising the assumptions I was living from. I’d be hoping tomorrow would be easier, hoping circumstances would change, hoping life might finally fall into place.

Neville taught that the external world mirrors the inner one. In simple terms, the way life appears to us reflects what we’re assuming, feeling, and quietly telling ourselves inside.

Looking back, I can see how often my inner conversations were working against me. I remember moments where I was replaying the same worries over and over. Not dramatically, just quietly.

I could feel the tension in my chest every time I checked my bank balance or opened my inbox. Anticipating problems, expecting things to go wrong. And unsurprisingly, that’s often what showed up.

The turning point comes when you realise this doesn’t make you powerless, it makes you creative. If inner assumptions shape experience, then consciously adjusting them changes everything.

Neville Lived What He Taught

One of the reasons Neville’s work continues to resonate is that he didn’t just explain these ideas, he practised them.

A well-known example from his life is his journey back to Barbados during a time when finances made it seem impossible. Rather than focusing on the obstacle, Neville imagined himself already home. Each night, he felt the comfort of sleeping in his childhood bed, surrounded by familiarity.

Not long after, circumstances rearranged themselves in a way he couldn’t have predicted. A relative offered to fund the trip, and the imagined scene became real.

It wasn’t coincidence. It was alignment.

Gratitude and Faith Go Hand in Hand

Neville spoke often about gratitude, not as politeness, but as a state of receiving. When you’re grateful, you’re no longer waiting. You’re acknowledging that something has already been given.

Faith, as Neville described it, is loyalty to the unseen reality. It’s staying faithful to what you’ve imagined, even when the outer world hasn’t caught up yet.

That combination: gratitude and faith,  quietly reinforces the assumption that things are already working out.

A Few Simple Reminders from Neville

• • Imagination Creates Reality: What you dwell on matters.
  • Focus on the Feeling: It’s my feelings that makes the state feel real.
  • Gratitude is Essential: It signals readiness to receive.
  • Challenges Are Temporary: They’re temporary rearrangements.
  • Faith Bridges the Gap: Stay loyal to what you’ve imagined.

If you’d like to explore how these ideas work together more deeply, my complete guide on imagination and assumption brings all of this into one place.

An Invitation, Not a Command

Believing that everything always works out isn’t a rule to follow, it’s an invitation to live differently.

To trust your inner world.
To soften your resistance.
To assume, gently and consistently, that life is working with you rather than against you.

• • What It Actually Felt Like When I Began Living in the End
  • How Practicing a Mental Diet Finally Settled My Inner Dialogue

So pause for a moment and ask yourself:
How would today feel if I truly believed that good things were already coming to me?

That question alone can begin to change everything.

Q&A

When I first started practicing this, I had a dozen other questions running around my head. Judging by the comments and post I see around the internet, you may do too. So I’ve included a few of the most common ones here too.

**You’ll notice I write the word “manifest” here. These are genuine questions, and I have copied them as they were written. Also, it’s a word familiar to most people. But Neville himself never used the word manifest or manifestation. He spoke about assuming the wish fulfilled, which for me has been far more powerful.**

Is it possible to manifest every desire, even the most impossible, in a very short time while having doubts?

Yes,  it is possible to see movement even while doubts are present, but not for the reason most people think.

Neville never taught that you must be doubt-free to manifest. What matters is not the absence of doubt, but where you return to inwardly. Doubt can show up and still pass through, as long as it isn’t the state you live in.

In my own experience, the moments when things shifted fastest weren’t the ones where I felt perfectly confident,  they were the ones where, despite uncertainty, I kept feeling the outcome as real. I let the doubt exist without arguing with it, and I didn’t let it become my home.

Neville spoke of “persistence,” not perfection. When you persist in the feeling of the wish fulfilled, even gently, even imperfectly, you’re still occupying a state. And states, once occupied, have a way of expressing themselves outwardly.

So yes, desires can unfold quickly, even when doubt is present. The key isn’t to fight doubt, but to return again and again to the feeling of already having what you want. That quiet returning is often enough.

All manifestations have their appointed hour. How do I maintain belief when nothing seems to be happening?

When Neville spoke about an “appointed hour,” he wasn’t asking us to wait with blind faith or pretend we feel confident all the time. He was reminding us that inner shifts don’t always announce themselves outwardly right away.

I’ve had many moments where it looked like nothing was happening, no signs, no movement, no confirmation. And yet, looking back, those were often the moments when the real change had already taken place inside me. The assumption had settled, even if life hadn’t caught up yet.

Maintaining belief isn’t about holding yourself together or forcing optimism. It’s quieter than that. It’s about returning, gently, to the feeling that this is already done, and then allowing yourself to live your life without constantly checking for proof.

Nothing seeming to happen doesn’t mean nothing is happening. Sometimes it simply means the inner work has been accepted, and the outer world is still on its way to meeting you there.

Can I manifest multiple things at once, or should I focus on one desire at a time?

Yes, you can hold more than one desire, but how it feels inside matters more than how many you choose.

Neville taught that we’re always living in a state, not managing a list. When multiple desires feel natural and harmonious, they often unfold together without effort. But when they start to feel scattered or heavy, that’s usually a sign the focus has shifted from being to trying.

In my own experience, things flow best when I’m rooted in a single inner state, like security, ease, or being cared for, and let several outcomes grow from that. Instead of juggling desires, I return to how I want life to feel.

So you don’t need to limit yourself to one desire out of fear. Just notice whether your inner world feels calm and assumed, or busy and strained. Clarity comes not from narrowing life down, but from settling into the state that already contains what you want.

Share this blog with anyone who might benefit from these transformative teachings. Let’s spread the power of imagination together!