Your Invisible Power

In 'Your Invisible Power', Genevieve Behrend will guide you through the use of visualization, teaching you how to manifest the things in life that you want by visualizing them and making them come to you. This power of positive thinking has revolutionized how we look at the world. Everything you need to succeed is inside you and this book will help you unlock it. The author was initially a student of the Christian Science movement until she read lectures given by Thomas Troward and became a student of his New Thought discipline known as Mental Science. In ‘Your Invisible Power’, Behrend explains in detail how to use the incredible mental power available to everyone to manifest and create what they most want.
“Remember that things are symbols and that the thing symbolized is more important than the symbol itself.”
—Geneviève Behrend, Attaining Your Desires

Genevieve Behrend (1881–1960) was an American author, teacher, and lecturer whose writings on the power of thought and creative visualization helped popularize the New Thought movement in the early twentieth century. Best known for her classic book Your Invisible Power (1921), she encouraged readers to develop confidence, purpose, and a positive mental attitude by recognizing the creative potential of the human mind. Her simple, practical approach has influenced generations of readers interested in personal growth, self-improvement, and the relationship between thought and achievement.

Born in Paris, France, in 1881, Genevieve Behrend later moved to the United States, where she pursued a lifelong interest in philosophy and metaphysical studies. At a time when ideas about the power of the mind were gaining popularity, she became a dedicated student of Thomas Troward, the distinguished British judge and philosopher whose teachings formed the foundation of much of modern New Thought philosophy. Behrend was one of Troward's few personal students, and she devoted herself to understanding and sharing his ideas with a wider audience.

After completing her studies, Behrend began writing and lecturing, presenting complex philosophical concepts in language that ordinary readers could easily understand. Her best-known work, Your Invisible Power, explains how focused thinking, clear intention, faith, and disciplined imagination can help individuals work toward meaningful goals. Rather than promoting wishful thinking, she emphasized the importance of combining constructive thought with purposeful action, self-discipline, and perseverance. Her calm, encouraging style made her books accessible to readers from many different backgrounds.

In addition to Your Invisible Power, Behrend wrote several other books and instructional works that explored practical spirituality, mental training, prosperity, and personal development. Through her lectures and publications, she inspired countless individuals to believe in their own abilities and to approach life's challenges with optimism and determination.

Genevieve Behrend remained an active teacher and writer throughout much of her life, helping preserve and extend the teachings of Thomas Troward for future generations. She passed away in 1960, leaving behind a legacy that continues to resonate with readers around the world. Today, she is remembered as one of the leading voices of the New Thought tradition, admired for her clear writing, practical wisdom, and enduring message that positive thinking, guided by purposeful effort, can become a powerful force for personal growth and achievement.

Genevieve Behrend’s Your Invisible Power is a classic self-help and New Thought book about visualization, faith, imagination, desire, and the disciplined use of the mind. First published in 1921, the book is short in length but ambitious in its message: Behrend argues that the thoughts and mental pictures we repeatedly hold can influence the conditions we create and experience in our lives. Rather than treating visualization as simply daydreaming, she presents it as a deliberate mental practice through which a person gives direction to desire. Her central idea is that the visible circumstances of life are preceded by invisible causes, and that the individual mind can cooperate with a larger creative intelligence to bring desired conditions into form. The book is therefore best understood as a classic visualization and manifestation guide, but it is also a book about confidence, concentration, faith, purposeful thinking, and learning to replace vague wishing with a clear inner picture of what one wants.

At the heart of Your Invisible Power is the idea that every person possesses an inner creative faculty that is usually underused. Behrend calls attention to the power of imagination because she believes that imagination is not merely an escape from reality; it is one of the principal instruments through which people shape their experience of reality. Everyone imagines, she suggests, whether consciously or unconsciously. The difference is that some people allow imagination to be dominated by fear, worry, memories, and negative expectations, while others learn to direct it toward constructive goals. The first chapter, appropriately titled “Order of Visualization,” introduces this principle. The purpose of visualization is not simply to imagine pleasant scenes but to bring greater order to the mind. A clear mental picture gives scattered thought a definite direction and can reduce the anxious urgency that often accompanies desire.

Behrend's understanding of visualization is closely connected with the New Thought philosophy of her era. She believes that behind visible events exists an intelligent creative principle, which she variously associates with Universal Mind, Spirit, or the Creative Principle. The individual is not separate from this larger intelligence but participates in it. This is why she describes the mind as possessing an almost unlimited potential for creation. Her argument is spiritual rather than scientific in the modern sense, and readers should understand the book within the philosophical and religious context in which it was written. Nevertheless, the practical message remains surprisingly accessible: before trying to change an external circumstance, become clear about what you actually want and train your attention to remain focused on that possibility.

The second chapter, “How to Attract to Yourself the Things You Desire,” develops this concept further. Behrend uses the image of a lens or magic lantern to explain how imagination works. A vague desire is like unfocused light, while a definite mental picture concentrates that energy in a particular direction. In her framework, desire provides the motive force, imagination supplies the form, and will holds the image steadily in consciousness. The person therefore does not merely say, “I want a better life.” Instead, he or she mentally experiences the desired condition with enough clarity that it becomes a definite objective. The stronger and more consistent the picture, the more effectively the mind can organize itself around it.

This leads to one of the book’s most important distinctions: wanting something is not the same as believing it can happen. Behrend considers doubt to be one of the greatest obstacles to successful visualization. A person may create a beautiful mental image but immediately destroy its effect by filling the mind with thoughts such as “It will never happen,” “I am not capable,” or “There is no way.” Her solution is faith—not blind excitement, but a sustained inner confidence that the desired condition is possible. This is why the book repeatedly connects visualization with belief. The image gives direction, while faith allows the person to remain committed to that direction without constantly returning to fear.

The third chapter, “Relation Between Mental and Physical Form,” addresses a question that naturally arises from Behrend’s philosophy: how can an invisible mental image have anything to do with visible material circumstances? Her answer is that physical form should not be viewed as something fundamentally opposed to spirit or mind. Instead, she sees the physical world as an expression of a deeper creative principle. The mental picture functions as a pattern or blueprint through which formless creative potential can become specific. In this sense, Behrend is not telling readers simply to wish for objects. She is proposing a philosophy in which thought, consciousness, and physical experience are interconnected.

The fourth chapter, “Operation of Your Mental Picture,” makes the philosophy more practical. Behrend compares the individual mind to a telephone system connected to a larger central intelligence. The analogy suggests that a person does not need to understand every mechanism through which a desired result will appear. What matters is making the request clearly and maintaining the appropriate mental state. This is an important aspect of Behrend’s method: she repeatedly warns against becoming obsessed with the details of how a desire will be fulfilled. The individual’s responsibility is to define the desired result, hold it mentally, and remain receptive to opportunities and actions that move toward it.

The next sections of Your Invisible Power move from theory to examples. “Expressions from Beginners” presents stories of people who attempted visualization and believed that it helped them achieve personal goals. The examples involve subjects such as employment, relationships, property, money, health, and other everyday desires. These stories serve an important purpose in the book because Behrend wants readers to see visualization as something practical rather than merely philosophical. She is essentially saying that the principle can be tested in ordinary life. Instead of waiting for a dramatic transformation, a person can begin with a specific goal and observe how disciplined thought changes attention, confidence, decisions, and opportunities.

Her instructions become more concrete in “Suggestions for Making Your Mental Picture.” Behrend recommends that the mental image should be specific rather than vague. A person should know what he or she wants and imagine the desired condition as though it were already becoming real. The exercise requires concentration but should not involve painful mental strain. This is a subtle but important point in her philosophy. She does not believe that forcing the mind aggressively produces better results. Excessive effort often indicates anxiety and doubt. Instead, she favors a calm, confident form of concentration in which the desired image is held steadily but naturally.

This principle of relaxed concentration becomes one of the most useful ideas in the entire book. Behrend understands that desperation can undermine clarity. When someone desperately wants something, the mind may spend more time thinking about its absence than its presence. A person who constantly says, “I need this; I need this; I need this,” may actually be reinforcing the feeling of not having it. Behrend therefore encourages readers to move from anxious wanting toward confident expectation. The desired condition should be contemplated with satisfaction rather than fear.

The seventh chapter gathers together practical reminders about using thought power to produce new conditions. Behrend stresses clarity of intention, concentration, emotional balance, and the avoidance of negative mental pictures. One of her recurring themes is that people should not continually discuss their deepest desires with people who ridicule or discourage them. She believes that doubt from others can weaken one's concentration. In modern terms, this can be read less literally as a reminder to protect one's attention and avoid allowing every outside opinion to determine one's sense of possibility.

The book becomes more personal in the later chapters. Behrend explains why she became interested in Mental Science and describes her relationship with Thomas Troward, the influential New Thought teacher whose ideas strongly shaped her thinking. She portrays herself as someone searching for a deeper understanding of the relationship between individual consciousness and universal intelligence. Her interest was not merely academic. She wanted to know whether the principles she was studying could actually change her circumstances.

Her most famous personal example appears in Chapter Nine, “How I Attracted to Myself Twenty Thousand Dollars.” According to Behrend, she needed a substantial amount of money and deliberately applied the principles of visualization, faith, and mental concentration. She describes maintaining a clear inner picture of having the money while remaining alert to practical opportunities. After approximately six weeks of persistent practice, she says that she obtained the $20,000 she had sought. This story is central to the book because Behrend uses her own experience as evidence for the method. Modern readers may interpret the episode differently—some as a spiritual account of manifestation, others as an example of how focused intention can influence behavior and opportunity—but it clearly illustrates the philosophy she wants readers to adopt.

Her account of becoming Troward’s personal pupil is another important part of the narrative. Behrend describes traveling to study with him and eventually becoming his only personal student. This section reinforces her belief that disciplined study and personal experience are more valuable than merely accepting ideas intellectually. For Behrend, mental science becomes meaningful when it is practiced.

The chapters on the “power in your word” and increasing faith extend the method beyond silent visualization. Behrend argues that words reinforce mental patterns. What a person repeatedly says can strengthen either confidence or fear. Language, therefore, should correspond with the desired mental direction. This resembles the modern use of affirmations, although Behrend places it within a spiritual framework in which the spoken word expresses an underlying creative consciousness. She also recommends strengthening faith by remembering previous successes rather than continually concentrating on present difficulties. In other words, confidence can be deliberately cultivated by reviewing evidence that change is possible.

The later chapters develop the relationship between faith and action. This is especially important because Your Invisible Power is sometimes reduced to the simplistic claim that thinking about something automatically makes it happen. Behrend’s own discussion is more nuanced than that. “Faith With Works” explicitly brings action into the process. Visualization gives direction, faith sustains motivation, and action provides the practical expression of the inner picture. A person who visualizes a new career, for example, must still recognize opportunities, develop skills, communicate with people, and take concrete steps.

The chapter on prayer presents another version of the same principle. Behrend encourages readers to ask while believing they have already received, rather than praying from a state of panic and deficiency. The psychological effect of this approach is significant: instead of repeatedly rehearsing fear, the individual rehearses trust. The desired future becomes an internal reference point, allowing the person to approach circumstances with greater calm and confidence.

Ultimately, the central message of Your Invisible Power is that the mind becomes more powerful when it is given a clear direction. Behrend wants readers to stop treating imagination as something passive and start using it deliberately. Clarify what you want, construct a vivid mental picture, hold that picture with faith, avoid feeding contradictory thoughts, speak in ways that support your intention, remain calm, and take practical action when opportunities arise. Her philosophy is rooted in early twentieth-century New Thought and should not be confused with scientifically established evidence that thoughts alone can directly produce external events. But the book remains influential because its emphasis on visualization, confidence, focused attention, and purposeful action speaks to a timeless human desire: the desire to move from uncertainty toward a life that feels consciously chosen.

For anyone searching for a summary of Your Invisible Power by Genevieve Behrend, the book can ultimately be understood as a guide to visualization, manifestation, positive thinking, faith, mental imagery, affirmations, and personal development. Its most enduring lesson is not simply that imagining something will magically make it appear. Rather, Behrend asks readers to become more deliberate about the inner pictures that govern their lives. Fear creates one kind of mental future; hope creates another; focused intention creates another. By learning to choose the picture consciously and then supporting it with faith and action, a person can change the way they think, behave, notice opportunities, and pursue meaningful goals. That is the real significance of the “invisible power” in Behrend’s book: it is the largely unseen world of imagination, attention, belief, and intention through which a person begins to shape the direction of visible life.