Operant Power

What Is Operant Power?

Operant power is the concept that you are the sole creative authority in your reality. Nothing and no one outside of your own consciousness has any power over your experience unless you give it that power through your assumptions. Neville Goddard expressed this with his famous declaration: "You are the operant power."

This principle distinguishes the Law of Assumption from many other spiritual and manifestation frameworks. In the Law of Attraction, there is often an implied external force, the "universe," that decides whether and when to grant your desires. In Neville's teaching, there is no external decision-maker. You are both the creator and the experiencer. Your assumptions create your reality, period.

What It Means to Be the Operant Power

Being the operant power means:

No one can block your manifestation. Other people's opinions, actions, or beliefs cannot prevent your desire from manifesting, unless you assume they can.

There is no external timing. There is no "divine timing" imposed from outside. The timing of your manifestation is determined by the naturalness and persistence of your assumption.

You take full responsibility. Every circumstance in your life, wanted and unwanted, is a reflection of your own assumptions. This is not blame. It is recognition of your creative power.

Nothing needs to be "aligned" externally. You do not need the stars to align, the universe to approve, or your vibration to reach a certain level. You simply need to assume and persist.

Neville put it directly: "You are not at the mercy of a God sitting on a throne somewhere. You ARE the creative power, and there is no other."

Why This Principle Is Empowering

At first, the idea of being the operant power can feel overwhelming. If you create everything, that means you also created the difficult things. This realization can trigger guilt or self-blame.

But consider the flip side: if you created it, you can change it. If your assumptions built your current reality, new assumptions can build a different one. You are never stuck. You are never a victim of circumstance. You are always one assumption away from a different life.

This is profoundly liberating. Instead of waiting for external conditions to change, instead of hoping someone else will save you, instead of praying to an external force, you go directly to the source of creation: your own consciousness.

How to Embody Your Operant Power

Stop Giving Power Away

Notice where you habitually assign creative power to external sources. "The economy is preventing me from succeeding." "My boss will never promote me." "My partner will never change." Each of these statements gives your operant power away to an external force. Reclaim it by recognizing that these are assumptions, not facts, and that you can assume differently.

Assume Regardless of Evidence

The 3D world will constantly present evidence that seems to contradict your assumption. Other people will behave in ways that seem to oppose your desire. Circumstances will appear to block your path. As the operant power, you understand that all of this is old creation. You do not need to fight it or fix it. You simply continue to assume your desired end.

Take Responsibility Without Self-Blame

Responsibility and blame are not the same thing. Blame looks backward and punishes. Responsibility looks forward and empowers. When you notice an unwanted pattern in your life, say: "My assumptions created this, and my assumptions can create something different." Then redirect your imagination toward what you prefer.

Trust Your Own Authority

Many people look to techniques, teachers, and systems for permission to manifest. The operant power principle says you need no external permission. You do not need to do the technique "correctly." You do not need a guru's blessing. You do not need to earn your desire. You are the creative power. Your assumption is enough.

Operant Power and Other People

One of the most common questions about operant power is: "What about other people's free will?" Neville's answer was radical: in your reality, there is no free will operating independently of your consciousness. Others play the roles that your assumptions assign them. When you change your assumption about someone, their behavior toward you changes.

This does not mean you are puppeteering other people. It means that everyone you experience is a reflection of your own consciousness. Change the consciousness, and the reflection shifts. You are not controlling them. You are changing the mirror.

Common Questions

If I am the operant power, why do bad things happen?

Unconscious assumptions are still creative. Most people create their reality on autopilot, through fear, worry, and habitual negative assumptions they are not even aware of. Bad things happen because unconscious negative assumptions are just as creative as conscious positive ones. The practice of manifestation is about making this process conscious.

Does this mean there is no God or higher power?

Neville taught that God is not separate from you. "God" is your own wonderful human imagination. The creative power that religions attribute to an external deity is actually your own consciousness. This is not atheism but a different understanding of divinity: God is within you, and you are the operant expression of that creative power.

Can two people manifest contradictory things?

Neville taught that each person exists in their own reality created by their own assumptions. In your reality, your assumptions prevail. Others have their own realities governed by their assumptions. This seeming paradox dissolves when you understand that consciousness is the only reality, and each person's consciousness creates their unique experience.