“Act as if.” It’s a great line from the movie “Boiler Room” (and if you haven’t seen that movie before, check it out because it’s great!). It’s also a great line to remember when you are trying to use the Law of Attraction to bring you what you want.

What does “act as if” mean? It means that if you want something, you must act as if you already have it in order to get it. So, if you want to be healthy, you must act as if you are already healthy. If you want some new friends, you must act as if you already have friends.

“Act as if” is a simple way to explain the paradox that makes up reality: we get what we want when we stop wanting. Once we drop the “wanting” and simply feel like we already have what we want, it comes to us.

This is why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. When we act as if we are wealthy, more wealth is attracted to us-even if we don’t need it. When we act as if we are poor, we attract more poverty-even if we desperately need money.

So how do you “act as if?” Here’s how, in three steps:

1. Find the emotional root of your desire.

So you want a new car, and you’d really love to manifest it with the Law of Attraction. This is a great thing to want….but what is at the root of this wanting? What emotion are you trying to feel by attracting a new car?

Perhaps you want the car because it will make you feel free, or maybe because it will make you feel prosperous. Perhaps you want to feel successful or you want to feel excitement. What emotion are you trying to gain by getting this car?

Identifying the emotion you want to feel is an important to the process of acting as if. Once you have identified the emotion you want to feel, move on to step two.

2. Be aware of the root emotion in all areas of your life.

Once you have identified the root emotion of what you really want, you can move on to the next step which is finding evidence that you already feel this emotion in your life.

For example, it might be hard to feel as if you have the new car you want already. You’ve never had the car, so how would you know exactly what it feels like? However, you know what freedom, prosperity, success and excitement feel like because you’ve had these emotions before, even if they were only in small doses.

So if the root emotion you are hoping to gain with the new car is a feeling of “success,” look into your life for examples that you’ve already felt successful before. Take note of every time you feel successful every day. Focus on how success has already been attracted to you and continues to be attracted to you daily.

Revel in the feeling of success whenever, and however, it comes to you. Dwell in the feeling of success with the small things (like finding your keys after you’ve been searching for them) and the big things (like getting a great promotion at work). Focus of the feeling of the root emotion and you will start to project the vibe of having what you want.

So start feeling your root emotion now. As you project more of this emotion, your desire will draw closer to you as you start to feel the way you will feel when you have it.

Feeling the way you will feel when you get your desire is a powerful way to “act as if.”

3. Watch your reactivity

The first two items are “front end” things you can do to act as if, but this is what you can do on the “back end.”

Start to react to situations as if you are someone who already has what you want when the subject comes up.

Consider the following examples:

Would a person who has lots of money say “I can’t afford that?” when she saw something pricey she wanted? No, she would probably say something like “I’d love to get that!” – so you should too. Even if you can’t afford it, act as if you could.

Would a person who has a great relationship be jealous when her best friend gets engaged? No, instead she would probably be happy for her friend-so you should be too. Even if it feels a little weird, you can smile and say “good for you!”

Would a guy who had a great career complain about his job when he was asked about it? No, instead he would probably share all of the good things that were going on at his job-so you should too. Even if the bad outweighs the good, you can still choose to focus on the few things going right.

While these reactions might be unnatural at first ,with practice, they will become easier and in time, habitual. As they say, fake it ’till you make it.

Each time the subject comes up and you feel yourself reacting, ask yourself: “How would someone who has what I want react to this issue?”

So as you move forward, start to “act as if.” Instead of focusing directly on what you want and getting lost in the wanting, use these three steps to project the vibe of someone who already has what you want.

Remember, identify the root emotion you are trying to bring into your life. Then, feel this root emotion in the present to project more of it. At the same time, be aware of your reactions, and always be asking yourself how someone who has what you want would react.

I hope you find these steps useful!

Andrea