Manifesting Visualization

My Invisible Counselors: How Advice From Steve Jobs, Ram Dass, and Rumi Guided Me To A New Direction In Life

written by

Anthony V. Lombardo


Man sitting in an imaginary boardroom doing the Invisible Counselors Technique.

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    In 2020, during the height of the COVID lockdown, I had way too much time on my hands to explore the depths of my mind.

    One evening, in a boardroom with my most trusted advisors, I started peppering them with a few pressing questions I needed advice on.

    • “How can I quit my full-time job and pursue work I love?”
    • “How can I do my passion?”
    • “Maybe I need to start my own business? I’ve been a web developer for ten years; maybe I should start a web design business?”

    Steve Jobs immediately responded, “Reality is malleable and you can bend it in your favor.”

    His rant continued, “A web design business? You’re thinking too small. Is that how you plan to put a dent in the universe?”

    Vishen Lakhiani chimed in, “Is that how you really want to spend your days? Building websites? Or is that just something you convinced yourself you should be doing? Is that what your heart and soul is calling you to do?”

    Dr. Joe Dispenza piled on: “Familiar choices only lead to the same old familiar results. Who do you want to be when you get up in the morning? Instead, make the choice to do the opposite of what you’ve always done.”

    Then Ram Dass interrupted with this nugget: “The future and past don’t exist; they’re illusions of your mind. The only thing you’re manifesting is what you’re manifesting right now in this moment. It’s not about the content of your circumstances; it’s your level of presence.”

    He furthered: “Your karma will ultimately be your mind.”

    Dumbfounded, I began to ask, “So what are you guys saying exactly?” But before I could finish, Rumi gently stood up, reading from a piece of paper he had been scribbling on all night:

    “One day, you will find yourself resting on the grass, speaking passionately and truthfully. Your voice soothing and healing. You will open your eyes to the radiant faces around you and remember it was all worth it.”

    Leave it to Rumi to drop the mic and send us off, sound asleep.

    My “Invisible Counselors”

    Obviously, if you haven’t caught on, these are not real quotes said by these great minds. But I almost had you! Or did I?

    But this conversation actually did happen; it’s just that it happened within the recesses of my subconscious mind. These are some of the insights I documented from my ongoing sessions doing one of the most bizarre, yet profoundly influential mental visualization techniques, Napoleon Hill’s “Invisible Counselors” Technique.

    Let’s dive into it.

    Napoleon Hill’s Invisible Counselors Technique: Background and Overview

    In his classic Think and Grow Rich, Hill introduced this technique as a form of mental role-playing where one imagines conversations with influential and wise figures, both living and dead, to tap into the subconscious mind for wisdom, ideas, and inspiration.

    Napoleon Hill believed that our subconscious mind is connected to a universal intelligence that can guide and support us in achieving our deepest desires. The Invisible Counselor Technique was a culmination of Hill’s extensive research of successful people who attributed their great achievements to the ability to draw upon inner resources and guidance from this unseen intelligence.

    In an attempt to develop a method to harness this power, Hill began imagining himself in the presence of his “invisible counselors,” successful people he admired, believing he could tap into their wisdom and insights. He would vividly imagine council meetings with figures such as Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, and Henry Ford, asking them for guidance on his goals and challenges in the hopes that their brilliance would rub off on him

    Initially, the exercise seemed a mere figment of his imagination—a private conversation with some imaginary friends.

    But after doing this exercise a few times, Hill found it to be far more profound and real than he ever expected. The characters he envisioned began to assume lives of their own. For instance, Abraham Lincoln was always late to the council meetings and exhibited a solemn demeanor. Some of his counselors would even engage in heated arguments, leaving Hill flabbergasted.

    Remarkably though, his counselors provided advice and guidance that transcended the boundaries of Hill’s own knowledge. This process led him to generate new ideas and solutions by leveraging the imagined perspectives and advice of these great minds.

    How The Technique Works

    The technique involves visualizing an imaginary boardroom filled with great minds from history or individuals you admire. In doing so, it allows you to tap into the vast knowledge and wisdom of your subconscious mind by simulating the input of brilliant and successful individuals.

    The ultimate goals of the technique are to:

    • Encourage creative thinking and problem-solving.
    • Inspire insights and solutions to your challenges or goals.
    • Cultivate your intuition.

    The great thing about this technique is that you don’t need any meditation experience—just your imagination. Let’s break down the steps.

    How To Use The Invisible Counselors Technique To Tap Into Your Subconscious Mind For Insights and Clarity

    Step 1. Choose your council members.

    You can invite anyone to be a part of your council—literally anyone. Think of it as creating your very own group of advisors from history.

    Who would you choose?

    They could be successful entrepreneurs, historical figures, celebrities, or someone you personally know and admire. You can even choose history’s great sages like the Buddha, Jesus, or Gandhi. The goal is to select people who embody the qualities you aspire to possess and have the knowledge you want to tap into.

    Quick tip: Choose no more than five people per visualization session. If you go overboard, you might overwhelm your mind trying to remember all the insights.

    Step 2. Decide on the problem or issue you need help with.

    In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill suggests establishing a “definitive purpose” for each and every meeting you hold with your council. Meaning, you ideally want to keep each session hyper-focused on one particular topic or problem. So before starting the exercise, it’s important to decide on what specifically you are looking for your council members to provide you advice with.

    You can have a free-for-all all session where you ask your counsel about literally anything you want, but from my experience, the more you gear your sessions on one particular topic, the more insights you will generate from your subconscious mind.

    3. Get into a relaxed state of mind.

    Once you have your council members selected, close your eyes and get as relaxed as possible. The goal is to enter the Alpha state of mind, which is a state of heightened creativity, ideal for accessing your subconscious mind. If you are a regular meditator, you can use any method to help you relax and enter Alpha.

    One of my favorites is the countdown deepening technique.

    Additionally, you can consider doing the practice just before going to sleep at night. This will not only help you get into a relaxed state quicker, but your subconscious mind is much more susceptible to your instructions and suggestions in the few moments right before you drift off to sleep.

    4. Visualize your boardroom.

    Visualize yourself in a magnificent boardroom, sitting at a table surrounded by the individuals you selected for your council. Imagine the setting in as little or as much detail as you want, from the furniture to the surroundings. However, the important details to focus on are your council members. Visualize each individual sitting around the table, noticing their demeanor, attire, and mannerisms, making them as real and tangible as possible in your mind.

    5. Initiate the conversation.

    With the scene of your boardroom and your invisible counselors clearly in your mind, begin your dialogue about the specific problem you want guidance on. The way you do this is completely up to you, but it is important to immerse yourself in the experience as if you were engaging with them in reality. Remember, the power of this exercise lies in your imagination, so feel free to let it run wild.

    For example, you can converse with each member individually, visualizing each one’s presence next to you as you seek their unique wisdom and guidance. Or you can pose your questions and explain your challenges to the entire group, allowing them to jump in as they please and for the conversation to take on a life of its own.

    The goal here is to have fun and see if you can summon their expertise and wisdom.

    6. Pay attention to what emerges.

    As you interact with your counselors, pay attention to the thoughts, ideas, images, and even the tiniest details that arise out of your visualization. This could be a symbol, a facial expression, a gesture, or a simple word of encouragement from your counselors. Your subconscious mind will communicate with you in various ways but sometimes it’s subtle.

    Listen closely and read between the lines not only to what your counselors are saying but how they are behaving.

    7. Write down the insights that came to you.

    Finally, to solidify the insights and ideas you receive from your invisible counselors, after each session, write down everything that came to you and which member it came from. This will help you keep track of the insights over time and allow you to internalize their wisdom and advice.

    Learn to Look Within

    The purpose of the Invisible Counselors Technique, like any technique tapping into the subconscious mind, is to uncover and access an infinite source of wisdom within us. For Napoleon Hill, this meant using the technique to mold his character by summoning the qualities of those he admired and blending them into his being.

    For me, the goal was to discover direction and purpose and the courage to take action. At the time, I was at a crossroads in my career, feeling stuck and ready for a change but unsure how to achieve it.

    Looking back, these insights foreshadowed significant changes in my life. In the next two years, I gave up my 10-year career as a web developer, started writing online daily, publishing guided meditations, and created a digital marketing business for spiritual teachers.

    While it’s interesting to marvel at how things manifested, the truth is my “counselors” didn’t reveal anything I didn’t already feel deep down. Instead, they simply acted as conduits, helping me bring these insights to the surface by pushing aside layers of doubt and fear so I could confront the truth of where I was really yearning to take my life. And that’s the point.

    The first and perhaps the biggest shift we must make as conscious creators of our reality is to learn to rely on ourselves and seek solutions within, beyond the confines of our thinking minds and what the outside world tells us.

    More often than not, answers are closer than we think—and the qualities we seek to embody are already inside us. We just need to nurture them and learn to tap into them.

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