Imagination · “Feel It Real”
Andersen's Mental Image Backed by Faith
To form one clear-cut mental image of the desired outcome, accept it as already accomplished with complete faith, then release it entirely to the subconscious — refusing to scrutinize or strain, because close observation ‘causes you to entertain an element of doubt.
Andersen’s imaging in 5 lines: Quiet down, then build one clear-cut image of the wish already fulfilled. Accept it with complete faith — feel it is done. Leave the how, when, and where to the Subconscious; don’t script the route. Don’t strain, urge, or grow impatient — and stop observing it, because close watching breeds doubt. Then act on the next real step while letting the image do its motivational work.
What it is
The second core practice in Three Magic Words is Andersen’s imaging method. He holds that all things are first created on the mental plane and that a clear-cut mental image, born of faith and conviction, must become real — if you then let it go completely.
The distinctive twist is the release: once you have formed and accepted the image, you must stop examining it, because “whatever you observe closely causes you to entertain an element of doubt.” So the practice is half imagination-as-assumption (form and accept the end as done) and half surrender (hand the how, when, and where to the Subconscious and refuse to fret over it).
The Method
From the “Form” chapter and Chapter 1 of Three Magic Words:
- Form one clear-cut image of the desired end. Andersen: “All things and all circumstances must first be created on the mental plane. When such creation is clear-cut and born of faith and conviction, nothing can stop this image from becoming real.” Picture the outcome itself — the thing or state you want — sharply and definitely, not vaguely.
- Accept it — feel it is done. “Once this image has come into your mind and you have accepted it, you have done all that it is necessary for you to do.” The work is acceptance, an inner “yes, this is so,” not effortful pushing. “You have nothing to do but create the mental image with complete faith, and with that simple act the process is completely done.” 3. Leave the how, when, and where alone. “All the process of creation — time, place, and circumstance — must be left in the hands of the all-knowing Subconscious Mind. The physical circumstance you desire may come from a direction you expect or it may come in such a way and such a manner as you have never dreamed.” Do not script the route.
- Don’t strain, urge, or grow impatient. “Don’t strain or urge or become impatient. Simply have faith and let go.” Wanting hard is the failure mode.
- Above all — stop observing it. This is the technique’s signature instruction: “Remember, whatever you observe closely causes you to entertain an element of doubt.” After forming and accepting the image, you deliberately turn away from it. Re-checking (“has it happened yet?”) reintroduces doubt and, in Andersen’s logic, undoes the assumption. Release is itself part of the method. In sequence: quiet yourself → build one sharp image of the wish fulfilled → feel and accept it as already true (“complete faith”) → release it to the Subconscious without specifying how → refuse to scrutinize or strain afterward. Andersen pairs this with the daily meditation (see cross-links) but the imaging act is distinct: a single clear, accepted, then-abandoned image. (Sourcing note: bracketed-quote sentences are Andersen’s verbatim wording from the 1954 text. The step ordering is faithful paraphrase of his exposition; he presents these as principles rather than a numbered drill.)
Source & Lineage
U.S. Andersen (1917–1986), American novelist and New Thought author. The “mental creation precedes physical, then release it” pattern is classic New Thought, traceable to Thomas Troward’s mental-plane causation and present in Neville Goddard’s “leave it to the subconscious” and Florence Scovel Shinn’s non-interference.
Andersen names Thomson Jay Hudson and Ralph Waldo Trine as recommended reading, situating him squarely in the Universal/Subconscious Mind tradition.
The “don’t observe it closely / don’t strain” rule mirrors Coué’s law of reversed effort.
The Traditions' versions
Neville’s “feeling it is done” + leave it to the subconscious — assume the end as already accomplished, then drop it.,
- Coué’s law of reversed effort — the “don’t strain, don’t observe closely” rule restated.
- Florence Scovel Shinn / non-resistance — make the demand, then “let go and let God”; stop meddling.
- Surrender / release practices — handing the how-and-when to a larger intelligence.
- Visualization of the end-state (vision/outcome imagery) — common to sports psychology and New Thought alike; Andersen’s version is end-state, not process.
Common refinements
A vague image. Andersen requires clear-cut. A fuzzy wish gives nothing to accept.
- Imaging the process / the route. He insists the how-when-where be left to the Subconscious; scripting the path is over-reach. Image the end.
- Anxious re-checking. The signature error — “observing it closely” — reintroduces doubt. Form, accept, release, look away.
- Straining and urging. Treat it as quiet acceptance, not willpower.
- Passive fantasizing instead of acting. The biggest real-world failure mode (per Oettingen). Refinement: after releasing the image, still take the obvious next action; let the image fuel motivation, not replace effort.