What If Your Thoughts Secretly Control Reality? Unlock the Law of Assumption with Science
- Brainz Magazine
- Oct 13
- 9 min read
Seb (Sebastiaan) has a background in medical sciences. Certified in clinical hypnosis and as a HeartMath Practitioner, he helps people with stress and trauma-related issues, blending over 20 years of meditation and self-regulation experience with neuroscience, psychology, and epigenetics.
Your brain does not always tell the difference between what you imagine and what you actually experience. This idea goes beyond simple motivation. It ties into how our nervous system really works. The Law of Assumption says that the things we truly believe about ourselves and our world end up becoming part of our everyday life.
What is the law of assumption?
The Law of Assumption comes from the teachings of mystic Neville Goddard in the mid-20th century. He believed that whatever you assume to be true about yourself and your reality will show up in your life. Goddard said to assume the feeling of your wish already being fulfilled. That way, you plant the idea deep in your subconscious mind. From there, it guides your actions, how you see things, and the results you get.
This goes beyond just wishing or hoping. When you fully accept an idea as real in your mind, it acts like a seed that grows. You start to spot opportunities, make sense of feedback, and change your habits without even trying. Picture it like adjusting a radio dial until the right signals come through clear and strong.
The key here is that our core beliefs, the ones that run quietly in the background, shape everything. They decide how we notice the world, make sense of it, and react to it. Over time, this builds a cycle where what we believe turns into what we live.
The science behind it
The Law of Assumption started as a spiritual idea from Goddard, but today's psychology and neuroscience back it up with real mechanisms that show how beliefs change results.
The Pygmalion effect: When expectations create reality
A strong example is the classic 1968 study by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson. They told teachers that some students, picked at random, were late bloomers full of potential. By the end of the school year, those kids had big jumps in their IQ scores compared to the others. It happened not because they were smarter to begin with, but because the teachers expected more. They gave extra attention, warmer feedback, and more patience without realizing it.
This Pygmalion effect shows how one person's belief about someone else can spark real changes in behavior. The teachers created chances for success just by believing in it.
It works the other way too. In that same study, kids labeled as having lower potential did worse, not from lack of ability, but from the teachers' subtle signals of doubt. Fewer chances, less warmth, and a bit more criticism locked them into a pattern of falling short.
A study from Columbia University looked at how these prophecies play out in relationships. It found that what people believe can raise or lower the chances of a breakup or make a partnership stronger. If you expect a relationship to fail, you might pull back, stir up fights, or read neutral actions as attacks. All that makes the bad ending more likely.
Work with teens shows this too. Parents who believed family programs would help their kids got more involved. That led to real wins, like less interest in drugs. The belief sparked the effort, and the effort made the good outcome happen.
Mind-body connection: Assumptions changing physiology
Ellen Langer's research proves beliefs can shift the body. In her 1979 study, detailed in her 2009 book Counterclockwise, older men lived for a week as if it were 1959. They talked about events from that time and used items from back then. No extra workouts or diet shifts, they just took on a younger way of thinking.
The changes were impressive. They gained strength, better hand skills, sharper vision, and stood taller. People judging from photos and videos pegged them as about three years younger on average. A simple shift in belief made their bodies act more vital.
In another test from Langer in 2007, hotel cleaners heard that their daily chores counted as real exercise. Those who bought into that idea lost weight and saw their blood pressure drop. The other group, doing the exact same work, saw no change. Just seeing their routine differently kicked off health improvements.
The placebo effect: Your brain responding to belief
Placebo research shows how beliefs fire up actual brain paths. In a 2015 review by Tor Wager and Ethan Atlas, they explained that what we expect can release natural painkillers like opioids or feel-good dopamine. If you think a sugar pill will calm your nerves, it can dial down the amygdala's alarm signals, much like a real medicine.
One experiment conditioned people to expect relief from a placebo. Even after the trick ended, their immune systems stayed stronger without any real drugs. The brain treats believed truths the same as hard facts when it comes to body responses.
The downside shows up in nocebo effects. Expecting trouble can make pain worse by flooding you with stress chemicals. Believe a pill will bring side effects, and you feel them, even if it's harmless.
Neuroplasticity: Rewiring your brain through assumptions
Michael Merzenich's neuroscience work reveals that the more you lean into a belief, the more it carves paths in your brain. This is neuroplasticity, where repeated thoughts make connections stronger and turn patterns automatic.
Studies prove this reshaping keeps going throughout our whole lives. It helps with learning, remembering, and bouncing back from setbacks. Deep beliefs can get rewired with steady effort.
When you keep telling yourself things like "I'm not creative," "I'm terrible with money," or "Crowds make me freeze up," you build brain routes that make those feel true. They show up more in how you act.
How it works: The mechanism
At heart, the Law of Assumption runs through the subconscious. Repeat a good belief, say "I am confident and successful," and it slips past your doubts. It resets how you filter the world in a few linked ways.
First, selective attention. Your brain gets bombarded with information, but only grabs a bit. Beliefs decide what stands out. Lean into luck, and you see paths forward. Expect roadblocks, and that's all you find.
Next, behavior lines up without you pushing it. You step bigger, stick with things longer, and handle moments fresh. Assume people will warm to you, and you smile more, listen better, and connect more. Those moves make people respond just like you thought.
Then, you read events through your lens. The same thing happens to everyone, but stories differ. The doubtful one hears tips as proof they are failing. The confident one takes it as fuel to get better.
Finally, it loops back. Little successes prove the belief right, pulling in more proof. You tune in to vibes that match what you hold dear.
Goddard loved visualization right before sleep. That's when your guard is down, and the subconscious soaks it up best.
The positive side
When used consciously, the Law of Assumption becomes a powerful tool for transformation.
Breaking limiting stories: You can shift from "I'm not good at public speaking" to "I communicate with ease." This reframe opens you to practice opportunities rather than avoidance, creating an upward spiral of skill development.
Building resilience and motivation: Embracing positive assumptions sparks the energy to pursue goals and persist through challenges. Assuming challenges are temporary and surmountable helps you maintain momentum when others give up.
Fostering optimism: Research consistently shows that optimism correlates with better health outcomes and stronger relationships. When you assume positive possibilities, you are more likely to take care of yourself and invest in connections.
Enhanced performance: By assuming success and "feeling the wish fulfilled," you create neural patterns that support achievement. Athletes who visualize successful performance strengthen the same neural pathways involved in executing those movements.
Opening to opportunities: When you assume you are the kind of person opportunities come to, you notice and act on possibilities that align with your goals. Others might see the same situation and miss it entirely.
The negative side
The Law of Assumption isn't always beneficial, especially when operating unconsciously or when misapplied.
Self-sabotaging cycles: Negative assumptions like "I'll never find love" can trap you in patterns where you overlook chances or push people away, creating the very loneliness you feared. The same mechanism that empowers can also imprison.
Confirmation bias: Our assumptions make us selective interpreters of reality. We notice evidence supporting our beliefs while dismissing contradictory information, reinforcing patterns even when they no longer serve us.
The shadow side of expectations: Just as positive assumptions can elevate performance, negative ones can suppress it. The Pygmalion study revealed how students assumed to have lower potential underperformed due to subtle cues, fewer opportunities, less encouragement, and more criticism from teachers who believed they were less capable.
Physical consequences: Nocebo effects demonstrate how assuming harm can amplify symptoms. If you believe a medication will cause side effects, stress hormones triggered by that expectation can manifest real discomfort, even with inert substances.
Fueling anxiety and depression: Unchecked negative assumptions become thought spirals: "Nothing ever works out for me," "People always leave," "I'm not enough." These beliefs, reinforced over time, can contribute to chronic anxiety or depression.
Misplaced responsibility: Some people misuse the concept to blame themselves for circumstances beyond their control, such as illness, accidents, or systemic injustice. This creates unnecessary guilt and overlooks legitimate external factors. Assumptions influence your experience, but they don't control every variable.
Spiritual bypassing: The Law can be misapplied to avoid addressing real problems. Rather than taking practical action, some people spend all their energy "assuming" a different reality while their actual circumstances deteriorate. Assumption works best when combined with aligned action.
It's crucial to monitor your inner dialogue and actively challenge toxic beliefs before they calcify into self-fulfilling patterns.
Practical exercise: The evening revision
This simple exercise can be done immediately and repeated whenever you want to shift a limiting assumption. It takes just 10-15 minutes and uses Goddard's core technique of revision, mentally rewriting an experience to align with your desired assumption.
When to use it
After a situation that reinforced a limiting belief:
A conversation where you felt awkward or unheard.
A rejection or disappointment.
A moment where you acted from fear rather than confidence.
Any interaction that left you thinking, "See, I was right, I'm not good at this."
How it works:
Step 1: Identify the limiting assumption (2 minutes)
Reflect on what just happened and notice the assumption it reinforced. Ask yourself, "What did this experience make me believe about myself?"
Examples:
"I'm terrible at networking" (after an awkward conversation)
"People don't value my ideas" (after being talked over in a meeting)
"I'm not attractive enough" (after a dating disappointment)
Write it down clearly: "This experience reinforced my assumption that ____."
Step 2: Choose your preferred assumption (1 minute)
What would you rather assume? Write an alternative that feels like a stretch but not impossible.
Instead of "I'm terrible at networking" to "I connect easily with the right people"
Instead of "People don't value my ideas" to "My perspective adds value to conversations"
Instead of "I'm not attractive enough" to "I'm appealing to people who appreciate what I offer"
Step 3: Revise the memory (5-10 minutes)
Close your eyes and mentally replay the situation, but this time, imagine it unfolding as if you already held your new assumption.
Don't just change the outcome, change how you showed up. Feel yourself embodying the new assumption.
Ask yourself:
What would you have said differently?
How would your body language have changed?
What emotions would you have felt?
How would others have responded to this version of you?
Loop this revised scene two or three times, adding sensory details. Make it vivid enough that your brain experiences it as a real memory. The goal isn't to deny what happened; it's to create a neural pathway for a different pattern.
Step 4: Notice what shifts (next 24-48 hours)
Over the next day or two, watch for moments where you spontaneously act from your new assumption rather than the old one. You might:
Speak up when you usually stay quiet
Feel less anxious in a similar situation
Notice someone responding more positively to you
Catch yourself about to act from the old pattern and choose differently
The revision doesn't erase what happened, but it weakens the neural pathway of the limiting assumption while strengthening the pathway of your preferred one.
Repeat as needed:
You can use this exercise once for a specific incident or repeat it for two or three nights in a row if the limiting assumption feels particularly strong. Each repetition weakens the old pattern and reinforces the new one.
The beauty of this practice is its simplicity. You don't need special conditions or equipment. Just ten minutes of focused mental revision can begin shifting assumptions that have been running your life for years.
Final thoughts
The Law of Assumption reminds us that we're not passive observers in life. We're active creators. By choosing what we assume, we hold the pen to our story. Modern science, from the Pygmalion effect to placebo responses to neuroplasticity research, confirms what Goddard taught, your assumptions create tangible shifts in behavior, perception, and even physiology.
The question isn't whether you're using the Law of Assumption, you already are, every day, often unconsciously. The question is whether you'll examine your assumptions, choose them consciously, and align them with the life you want to create.
Start small, stay gentle with slips, and remember that consistency matters more than perfection. Your assumptions are the invisible architecture of your life.
What will you assume today?
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Read more from Sebastiaan van der Velden
Sebastiaan van der Velden, Life Coach & Transformational Guide
Seb (Sebastiaan) is the founder of the Transformational Meditation Group and has over 18 years of experience in the public healthcare sector, specializing in the medical use of radiation. With certifications in clinical hypnosis and as a HeartMath Facilitator and Practitioner, Sebastiaan integrates a deep understanding of cognitive neuroscience, psychology, epigenetics, and quantum physics into his work. He has over 20 years of meditation practice and offers courses, workshops, and private sessions that blend cutting-edge science with transformative spiritual practices.
