Helene Hadsell is The Winning Sage – Part 3

In 2008, Vishen Lakhiani and his team from Finer Minds, now Mindvalley, interviewed Helene Hadsell and created a program called The Winning Sage, which included 13 videos, 4 audio recordings, and a PDF version of the 2nd Edition of Contesting: The Name It & Claim It Game.

As clips from those interviews are widely shared on Instagram and TikTok, I thought it would be prudent to create a blog series featuring highlights along with the full video (or audio) from each interview to ensure Helene’s teachings are not lost to quick sound bites.

Interview Three

The #1 question everyone has about how Helene Hadsell manifested all of her prizes and winning adventures was, “How did she do it?”

Her answer was SPEC.

NOTE: Using SPEC to Win in ALL Ways outlines the history of Helene’s manifesting journey along with the original article about SPEC she wrote for The Sun magazine in 2009.

Helene described SPEC as a simple methodology for getting the things you want. The letters stand for Select, Project, Expect, and Collect.

SELECT IT

What is it that you actually want? A car? A trip? A piece of jewelry? Helene’s point was that you have to know what you’re asking for before you can expect to receive it. Never be wishy-washy or general. Be specific.

PROJECT IT

Helene didn’t simply picture an object. She created a little scenario around it.

If she wanted a car, she would imagine seeing the car, noticing its color, getting inside, smelling the upholstery, and feeling herself sitting behind the wheel. If she wanted a diamond necklace, she would imagine herself wearing it, looking in the mirror and then being somewhere socially where people noticed it.

You’re not just looking at the thing. You’re experiencing it in your imagination, as if it were your current reality.

EXPECT IT

Helene talked about asking yourself, “When is it coming?” rather than wondering whether it is possible. That’s an important distinction in her philosophy. You have selected what you want and projected yourself having it. Now you expect it to arrive.

No different than placing an order in a restaurant. You selected it. You imagined how you would feel enjoying it. Then you wait for it to be prepared. You do not doubt it will arrive. It’s just a matter of when. Manifesting your goals, dreams, and wishes is no different.

COLLECT IT

And this is where I think people can sometimes misunderstand Helene’s teaching. She wasn’t saying you have to know how the result will happen. In her example, maybe your husband buys it, maybe you win it, maybe you suddenly have the money to purchase it.

You don’t need to figure out the route. You need to be clear about the destination.

“The HOW is the domain of the Universe.”
Mike Dooley

WINNING EXAMPLES

One of my favorite stories in this interview is Helene’s experience with Art Linkletter. (The full story can be found in the All Things Come to Him Who Waits chapter in Contesting: The Name It & Claim It Game.)

She wanted to meet him and appear on his show. The night before, she had a dream in which Art saw her and knew her. She even imagined herself wearing an orange sweater. And during the show, Art Linkletter walked through the audience, looked up at Helene, and selected her to come down to receive a gift. She ended up winning a $1,500 diamond watch. Helene attributed the experience to her projection.

Now, whether you think of that as manifestation, intuition, expectation, or simply the power of focused attention, the principle behind her story is fascinating. She had already seen herself there before she ever walked through the studio doors.

And then she did something else that I really like about this interview. She taught another woman and her daughter how to use the same technique.

The woman sitting beside her during a taping of It’s Your Bet said she had never won anything and desperately wanted a new refrigerator. Helene suggested they play a game. Instead of thinking about all the things she could win, she told her to focus on that refrigerator. They imagined the end result. And when the woman was selected from the audience, the prize that came up next was a refrigerator.

Helene’s response? “You already have the technique.”

To me, that is one of the most important messages in this interview. Helene didn’t believe winning was reserved for a special group of “lucky” people. She believed the technique could be learned and used by anyone. And she also emphasized that there might be a delay. Sometimes it happens in the moment. Sometimes it takes longer. Especially with contests, you might have to wait weeks before you even find out that you’ve won. So the lesson isn’t to project something once and immediately give up if it doesn’t appear. There can be a delay in results.

The interview ends with a story about a student who read Helene’s book, started entering contests, and deliberately chose contests offering the things he wanted. He wanted a car and $25,000 for a summer in Europe. He eventually got both.

And that’s another part of SPEC that I think is important: you still have to participate. Helene’s system wasn’t about sitting on the couch waiting for life to deliver everything. You select what you want, project it, expect it, and then take the opportunities that are available to you. That’s the part I find so interesting about revisiting these old interviews.

SPEC sounds incredibly simple. But as Helene demonstrated over and over again, there is a lot behind those four little words:

Select it. Project it. Expect it. Collect it.

Learn more about Helene and all of her adventures in her books:

• Contesting: The Name It & Claim It Game
• In Contact With Other Realms
• Confessions of an 83-Year-Old Sage
• A Man Called Friday