Doing the SATS technique by Neville Goddard — How I get results with it

I want to talk about a manifestation method/technique that really has produced great things in my life: Neville Goddard’s SATS technique.

At some point, I will likely make a post with some of my success stories with it, but that must be for another day. In this post, I want to focus on my approach to performing the method itself.

For reference, I have another article on SATS, which is a bit more comprehensive and focused on helping you do it correctly so as to make it work. You can read that afterwards if you want, but I actually recommend you read this one first.

First of all, what does “SATS” even mean? SATS is short for “state akin to sleep,” a phrase used by Neville Goddard when describing the drowsy, trance-like mental state one must be in to perform this technique. Its characteristics is that of a concentrated, one-pointed mind, and a high level of suggestibility.

Of course, the purpose of this technique is to produce a manifestation. When performing this technique on your desire, it will implant itself in the subconscious mind, from where it will transform itself into an actual fact in your life. Through manifestation we gain mastery over conditions, and can create our dream world.

How to do the SATS technique

So, what does this technique consist of? How do you do it?

The SATS technique consists of imagining a scene or mental drama that would take place were your particular desire an already realized fact. For instance, if you want a particular job, you could imagine shaking hands with your new boss, or your new coworkers welcoming you into the office. No matter your desire — whether it be more money, being in a relationship, living in a new country, or becoming a world-renowned ski expert — construct one or more of these mental dramas or scenes that imply to you that the particular desire is now a full-fledged reality. It’s not the particular scene itself that matters so much as it is the suggestion behind it

I will now give you a quick outline of the method:

1. Enter SATS: Sit or lie down, and relax your mind and body, until you enter an altered state of mind. This is basically just a form of meditation. A similar mental state occurs naturally in the morning right after awakening, and in the evening before bed — you can use these two windows to your advantage.
2. Imagine: In this state, now visualize yourself into the mental drama connected with your goal. Feel the reality of it; immerse yourself into your visualization. If you are shaking your new boss’ hand, actually feel that you are doing it. Imagine from a first person perspective, as an occupant of the world. As Neville said, you should be a “partaker” rather than an “onlooker.”
3. Concentration: Keep looping the scene, and keep immersing yourself into it. To the degree that your mind becomes one-pointed on the imagined state, the more real it will feel. In a sense it is a state of temporary delusion, or, perhaps better put, a form of self-hypnosis.
4. Awakening: Upon your return from the meditative state, you will feel you have traveled a great distance. It’s almost as if you have been in a totally different reality, from which you have now returned.

Now, I could elaborate a bit more on this, but actually, I think it's best to keep it simple. These are not rules, but rather guidelines. Each one of us will intuitively find our own particular way of doing this. It is not something you learn to do through reading, but something you learn through experience. And it should be, above all, an easy, simple, and natural practice.

Performing SATS correctly

We have the method itself down, but I want to talk a bit more about the proper mental condition you have to put yourself in when performing it. This is important, and it can literally be the difference between success and failure.

The power of the subconscious:

To do this, we must first ask ourselves: why are we doing the SATS method — or any method for that matter — in the first place? What good does it do? Well, the purpose is of course to have our desire turn from a mere conscious wish into a subconscious state. Note, that I equate what Neville calls consciousness with being the subconscious mind. Both are words describing the same power.

Those of you who are already into manifestation, have probably heard this a million times already, but here it is again: Not only are each one of us at whim to the ideas we have implanted within our own subconscious, but so are our own realities. Your external conditions right now are the results of whatever is going on in your subconscious. The physical world has no causative power in and of itself. It is more like a shadow of the true object that casts it. Any change at all, whether intentional or unintentional, must come as result of change within the subconscious.

The SATS method is one of many where we intentionally impress a new suggestion therein. Impressing the state of our desire, means that it is now in the hands of an infinite power and infinite intelligence, and it will by the certainty of law, be reflected as physical, tangible fact.

The mental conditions that lead to success:

With the understanding that within our very own subconscious mind lies the power which we are seeking, the question becomes: how do we ensure that an idea can get absorbed as suggestion within the subconscious? SATS is only a method of doing so, but we must of course understand that its purpose is to leave a suggestion.

Many teachers have given us the clues, and so has Neville Goddard, but it is not necessarily easy to discern. These are also the exact principles found in certain schools of thought regarding suggestion and hypnosis. Let me briefly outline them here to paint a picture:

1. State akin to sleep: As explained above, this altered state of consciousness leaves us more susceptible to suggestion. Thoughts more easily sink into the subconscious.
2. Concentration: Again, as explained above, we must completely permeate our mind with the particular imagined state, to the point that all other thoughts are crowded out the mind. Absolute perfection would be complete absorption by a thought, though lesser extents are good enough in practice.
3. Effortlessness: “The sovereign rule is to make no effort,” — Neville, Answered Prayer. When we perform our imaginal act we must, above all, understand that the power is not with the conscious self, but the subconscious. Willpower is not the power we are using when manifesting; it is suggestion. Above all, performing SATS should be easy, simple, and pleasurable, or you are not doing it correctly.

This outlines the gist of the mental attitude one must be in when performing SATS. But I should also add that daily practice is key. Sure enough, some people, including myself, and you will probably also experience this too, gets results of some form, and sometimes the complete manifestation, upon only doing one session. But as a general rule, I would much rather that you do SATS everyday, at least once, but twice if you can, without skipping. I believe that this will give you the best results. The suggestion has to be renewed and revitalized, probably because of the other inhibiting and unwanted suggestions currently existing within the subconscious.

The manifestation

So, when you repeatedly perform SATS, you are strengthening a suggestion within the subconscious. At some point, the suggestion is so strong that sessions no longer are necessary, and this may also be before the manifestation has fully or even partially occurred.

At some point though, you will find yourself now in the presence of your desire in manifested form. You may have taken some action, gotten an opportunity and exploited it, maybe there was gradual development of events and conditions slowly culminating in achievement, or maybe you desire just manifested seemingly out of the blue. Regardless, the “how” or the “bridge of incidents” as Neville Goddard called it, is up to the inherent intelligence in the subconscious. You cannot really predict it with much certainty, and it may even come in a totally unexpected way.

In terms of taking action, I recommend you just do whatever seems normal to do. Obviously, if a change or opening appears to move toward your goal, by all means take it. It could be the subconscious nudging you in a certain direction.

As mentioned, I also have a slightly more comprehensive guide on SATS, that elaborates a bit more on some of the points I’ve made here. I will however say that true learning is done by experience, especially in manifestation. Not only that, but you have to actually practice to get the results. It is okay to fail, and if you embrace failure with open arms, you will not fear simply trying. Learning simply does take trial and error.

Anyways, I hope you found this post helpful. Feel free to share with me any comments, feedback, or your success stories with manifestation. I definitely hope to publish more on here in the future. Thanks for reading!