#203: The Law of Assumed Importance

The Law of Assumed Importance A Lecture in the Voice and Spirit of Neville Goddard You have often wondered why opportunity seems to seek out certain persons while passing others by, why recognition comes to some without apparent effort and influence flows naturally to them, while others of equal or greater capacity remain overlooked and unrewarded. The answer is not in talent, not in circumstance, not in the favor of men. The answer lies in the silent assumption each one holds of his own importance. Your conception of your own significance is the invisible law that determines everything that comes to you or passes you by. It is not what you desire that shapes your world; it is what you assume yourself to be in the scale of being. Assume that you are of little consequence, and the world will confirm it by withholding from you the very things you long to possess. Assume that you are significant, that your presence matters, that your ideas carry weight, and the world must rearrange itself to prove you right. Consciousness is the only reality. The world you see is your own consciousness objectified. There is no other cause. What you are conscious of being, you express. What you assume yourself to be, you become in experience. This is not a theory to be debated but a law to be observed in the quiet of your own mind. You are at this moment drawing into your world the exact measure of importance you have silently claimed for yourself. Opportunities do not appear by chance. They appear because someone has assumed he is the kind of person to whom such opportunities belong. Recognition is not given by the world; it is drawn out of the world by the one who has first recognized himself. Influence is not seized; it is the natural radiation of a state of consciousness that has assumed its own significance. To him that hath shall be given. This is the changeless law. The “hath” is not what you possess in the outer world. The “hath” is what you are conscious of being. If you are conscious of being insignificant, unimportant, of little account, then even the little you now have will seem to diminish, and greater things will pass you by. If you are conscious of being significant, consequential, one whose existence makes a difference, then more and more confirmation of that importance will be added unto you. The law is no respecter of persons. It gives to every man according to his assumption and takes from him according to the same measure. The rich in consciousness grow richer. The poor in consciousness grow poorer. This is not cruelty; it is justice. It is the working of an exact principle that cannot be mocked. You cannot be to others what you are not first to yourself. If in the secret place of your own mind you assume yourself to be small, overlooked, unworthy of special notice, then no matter how loudly you protest or how hard you strive, the world will continue to reflect that assumption back to you. People will pass you by without seeing you. Doors will remain closed that should open. Your words will fall without weight. But the moment you rise in consciousness and assume the naturalness of being important, the moment you feel yourself to be one whose presence is felt, whose contribution is valued, whose absence would be noticed, everything begins to change. Not because the world has changed its mind about you, but because you have changed your mind about yourself, and the world has no choice but to follow. Consider the opportunities that have come to you or failed to come. Were they truly withheld by some outer power, or did they simply fail to find in you the consciousness that could receive them? The opportunity for greater responsibility, for wider recognition, for meaningful influence, seeks the one who has already assumed he is ready for it. It does not seek the one who still doubts his own significance. You may say you desire these things, yet desire alone is not enough. Desire without assumption remains unfulfilled. It is the assumption of already being the one to whom such things belong that compels them to appear. Assume the feeling of importance, and you will discover that opportunities were never scarce; they were only waiting for a consciousness large enough to receive them. Recognition follows the same law. You are recognized exactly to the degree that you have recognized yourself. If you walk through the world assuming you are invisible, unimportant, easily overlooked, then you will be overlooked. Men cannot see in you what you have not first seen in yourself. But when you assume the quiet certainty of your own significance, when you feel yourself to be one who matters, the eyes of others are opened to see what you have assumed. Recognition is not flattery. It is the outer echo of an inner conviction. It cannot be demanded. It can only be assumed, and the assumption, persisted in, will externalize itself as naturally as a seed assumes the form of the plant it contains. Influence flows from the same source. True influence is not the result of position or title or loud assertion. It is the natural consequence of a state of consciousness that has assumed its own importance. The one who assumes he is insignificant may hold high office and yet wield no real influence. The one who assumes his significance may hold no outer position and yet move men and events by his mere presence. Influence is not something you acquire. It is something you radiate when you have assumed the state from which it springs. You cannot influence the world while you still assume you are powerless to do so. But the moment you assume the feeling of being consequential, your words carry weight, your presence commands attention, and circumstances begin to arrange themselves around the new center you have established in consciousness. This assumption is not arrogance. It is not the loud claim of the insecure. It is the quiet, unshakable feeling of one who knows that his awareness is significant because awareness itself is the source of all significance. You are not asking the world to make you important. You are simply ceasing to assume that you are unimportant. The difference is profound. One is effort; the other is a change of state. One struggles against the old assumption; the other replaces it with a new one. When you assume the importance of your own being, you do not need to fight for place or recognition. These things flow to you because you have become the kind of consciousness to which they naturally belong. Many remain in the state of assumed insignificance because they believe it is humble or realistic. They think it is virtuous to think little of themselves. Yet this very assumption is the cause of their continued limitation. True humility is not the denial of your significance; it is the recognition that all significance comes from the awareness within you, and that this awareness is one with the source of all things. To assume your importance is not to exalt the personal self. It is to honor the awareness that is your true identity. When you feel yourself to be significant, you are not boasting; you are simply accepting what has always been true of the “I” that looks out through your eyes. How do you assume this state? You assume it by feeling. In the quiet moments of your day, or as you prepare for sleep at night, you turn your attention away from all evidence of insignificance and you feel what it would be like to be important. Not important in the eyes of the world as something to be achieved, but important as a present fact of your own consciousness. Feel the naturalness of being one whose presence is felt. Feel the quiet certainty that your words matter, that your contributions are valued, that opportunities are drawn to you because you are the kind of person to whom they come. Do not argue with the senses. Do not try to make it so by effort. Simply assume the feeling until it becomes natural, until the old feeling of smallness loses its grip and the new feeling of significance becomes your abiding state. You will meet resistance from the old assumption. The senses will show you the same world you have always known. People will continue for a time to treat you as they have always treated you. This is the interval in which your assumption is being tested. Do not be discouraged. The law is faithful. What you assume with feeling must externalize itself. The world you see today is the result of assumptions you held yesterday and the days before. The world you will see tomorrow and in the weeks to come will be the result of the assumptions you hold now. Persist in the new assumption and the old world must give way. It has no power to resist a change of consciousness. You may ask how long this will take. Time is not the measure. The measure is the naturalness of the assumption. When the feeling of your own importance becomes as natural to you as breathing, when you no longer have to try to feel significant because you simply are significant in your own eyes, then the outer confirmation will appear without delay. Some changes come quickly. Others take longer. But all changes come. The law does not fail. To him that assumes importance, more importance is given in the form of opportunities, recognition, and influence. To him that assumes insignificance, even the little he has is taken away in the form of missed opportunities, overlooked contributions, and influence that never materializes. This law operates in every area of your life. In your work, in your relationships, in your creative endeavors, in every place where you interact with others, your assumed importance is the silent determiner of results. You cannot complain of being overlooked while you still assume you are easy to overlook. You cannot lament the lack of opportunity while you still feel yourself unworthy of opportunity. The feeling is the secret. Change the feeling of yourself and you change the world that must reflect that feeling. Tonight, as you lie down to sleep, practice this law. Let the last feeling of your waking day be the feeling of your own significance. Do not review the day’s disappointments. Do not rehearse the evidence of insignificance. Instead, assume the feeling that would be yours were you already the important, consequential person you long to be. Feel it quietly. Feel it naturally. Let it be the mood in which you fall asleep. And in the days that follow, return to this feeling whenever the old assumption rises. Do not fight it. Simply replace it. Assume again and again until the new state is firmly established. You will discover that the world has not changed its laws. It has simply begun to obey the new law you have assumed. Doors will open that were closed. People will see in you what you now see in yourself. Opportunities will appear where none seemed to exist. Influence will flow from you without strain. All this will happen, not because you have forced it, but because you have assumed the state from which these things naturally proceed. The law of assumed importance is not a technique. It is a revelation of how consciousness works. It is the simple truth that you are always expressing what you are conscious of being, and that what you are conscious of being determines everything that comes to you. There is no one to change but self. There is no one to convince but self. The world waits only for you to assume your rightful place in consciousness. When you do, it will confirm your assumption with opportunities, with recognition, with influence, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. This is the law. It has always been the law. It will always be the law. And you, by your assumption, set it in motion for good or for ill. Choose, then, the assumption of your own importance, and watch as the world rises to meet the significance you have claimed for yourself.