"Act as if" doesn't mean sit back and pretend that everything is going to magically come to you with no action on your behalf. It's about living and practicing the kind of behaviours that are in alignment with what you're manifesting. It's not about pretending to have something that you don't have. Pretending you're rich (as in, money-rich) when you're not, isn't going to make you rich. It's delusion.

And "Asking the universe" for things is often misconstrued as well. After all, other people are the universe too.