Think and Grow Rich

The following thoughts are my notes from the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This will serve as a condensed version of the book, and will likely miss much of the original author’s intended thoughts as it is only the parts I considered important. I highly encourage folks to read the book for themselves. Hopefully this will entice readers to go fully dissect the original text.

When you begin to think and grow rich, you will observe that riches begin with a state of mind, With definiteness of purpose, with little or no hard work.

One of the main weaknesses of mankind is the average man’s familiarity with the word impossible. He knows all the rules which will not work. He knows all the things which cannot be done.

Failure comes to those who do indifferently allow themselves to become failure conscious.

The object of this book is to help all who seek it, to learn the art of changing their minds from failure consciousness to success consciousness.

Another weakness found in altogether too many people is the habit of measuring everything, and everyone, by their own impressions and beliefs.

Some who will read this, will believe that no one can think and grow rich. They cannot think in terms of riches, because their thought habits have been steeped in poverty, want, misery, failure, and defeat.

Before we can accumulate riches and great abundance, we must magnetize our minds with intense desire for riches, then we must become money conscious until the desire for money drives us to create definite plans for requiring it.

Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win, essential to success.

Every human being who reaches the age of understanding of the purpose of money, wishes for it. Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring riches with a state of mind becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.

The method by which desire for riches can be transmuted into its financial equivalent consists of six definite, practical steps, Vis:

1. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say I want plenty of money. Be definite as to the amount.

2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire.

3. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.

4. Create a definite plan for caring at your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.

5. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.

6. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. As you read, see and feel and believe yourself already in possession of the money.

The steps call for no hard labor. They call for no sacrifice. They do not call for one to become ridiculous or credulous. To apply them calls for no great amount of education. But the successful application of the six steps does call for sufficient imagination to enable want to see, and to understand, that accumulation of money cannot be left to chance, good fortune, and luck.

Those who are afraid of new ideas are doomed before they start.

If the thing you wish to do is right, and you believe in it, go ahead and do it! Put your dream across, and never mind what they say if you meet with temporary defeat, for they, perhaps, do not know that every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success.

Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty.

Our only limitations are those we set up in our own minds.

A burning desire has devious ways of transmitting itself into its physical equivalent.

Faith is the head chemist of the mind. When faith is blended with the vibration of thought, the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration, translated into a spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to infinite intelligence, as in the case of prayer.

The emotions of faith, love, and sex are the most powerful of all the major positive emotions. When the three are blended, they have the effect of “coloring“ the vibration of thought in such a way that it instantly reaches the subconscious mind, where it is changed into its spiritual equivalent, the only form that induces a response from infinite intelligence.

Love and faith are psychic; related to the spiritual side of men. Sex is purely biological, and related only to the physical. The mixing, or blending, of these three emotions has the effect of opening a direct line of communication between the finite, thinking mind of men, and infinite intelligence.

When men first come into contact with crime, they abhor it. If they remain in contact with crime for a time, they become accustomed to it, and endure it. If they remain in contact with it long enough, they finally embrace it, and become influenced by it.

Any impulsive thought which is repeatedly passed on to the subconscious mind is, finally, accepted and acted upon by the subconscious mind, which proceeds to translate that impulse into its physical equivalent by the most practical procedure available.

The subconscious mind Will translate into its physical equivalent, A thought impulse of a negative or destructive nature, just as readily as it will act upon thought impulses of a positive or constructive nature.

This accounts for the strange phenomenon which so many millions of people experience, referred to as “misfortune” or “bad luck.”

There are millions of people who believe themselves “doomed“ to poverty and failure because of some strange force over which they believe they have no control. They are the creators of their own “misfortunes“ because of this negative belief, which is picked up by the subconscious mind and translated into its physical equivalent.

A mind dominated by positive emotions becomes a favorable abode for the state of mind known as faith. Mind so dominated may, at will, give the subconscious mind instructions, which it will accept and act upon immediately.

Self-confidence formula:

1. I know I have the ability to achieve the object of my definite purpose in life. Therefore, I demand of myself persistent, continuous action towards its attainment, and I hereby promise to render such action.

2. I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality. Therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for 30 minutes daily upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person.

3. I know through the principle of autosuggestion, any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining the object back of it. Therefore, I will devote 10 minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of self-confidence.

4. I have clearly written down a description of my definite chief aim in life, and I will never stop trying until I have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.

5. I fully realize they know wealth or position can log into her, unless built upon truth and justice. Therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others. I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, Selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know the negative attitude towards others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself.

During his work of research, the author discovered, from the analysis of the life work and achievements of hundreds of men of outstanding accomplishment, that there was the influence of a woman’s love backing nearly every one of them.

Gandhi wielded more potential power than any man living in his time, and this despite the fact that he had none of the orthodox tools of power, such as money, battleships, soldiers, and materials of warfare. Gandhi had no money, he had no home, he did not own a suit of clothes, but he did have power.

Auto suggestion is self suggestion. It is the agency of communication between that part of the mind where conscious thought takes place, and that which serves as the seat of action for the subconscious mind.

No thought, whether it be negative or positive, can enter the subconscious mind without the aid of the principle of auto suggestion, with the exception of thoughts picked up from the ether. Stated differently, all sense impressions which are perceived through the five senses are stopped by the conscious thinking mind, and may either be passed onto the subconscious mind, or rejected, at will.The conscious faculty serves, therefore, as an outer guard to the approach of the subconscious.

Plain, unemotional words do not influence the subconscious mind. You will get new appreciable results until you learn to reach your subconscious mind with thoughts or spoken words which have been well emotionalized with belief.

There are two kinds of knowledge. One is general, the other is specialized. General knowledge, no matter how great in quantity or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money. The faculties of the great universities possess, in the aggregate, practically every form of general knowledge known to civilization. Most of the professors have but little or no money. They specialize in teaching knowledge, but they do not specialize in the organization or the use of knowledge.

Knowledge will not attract money unless it is organized and intelligently directed, through practical plans of action, to the definite end of accumulation of money

And lack of understanding of this fact has been a source of confusion to millions of people who falsely believe that “knowledge is power.“ It is nothing of the sort! Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.

The “missing Link” in all systems of education known to civilization today, may be found in the failure of educational Institutions to teach their students how to organize and use knowledge after they acquire it.

An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.

As knowledge is acquired, it must be organized and put into use for a definite purpose through practical plans. Knowledge has no value except that which can be gained from its application towards some other end. This is one reason why college degrees are not valued more highly. They represent nothing but miscellaneous knowledge.

If you contemplate taking additional schooling, first determine the purpose for which you want the knowledge you are seeking, then learn where this particular sort of knowledge can be obtained from reliable sources.

Successful men, in all callings, never stop acquiring specialized knowledge related to their major purpose, business, or profession. Those who are not successful usually make the mistake of believing that the knowledge acquiring period ends when one finishes school. The truth is that schooling does but little more than to put one in the way of learning how to acquire practical knowledge.

Particularly sought after by employing companies are candidates who have specialized in some field business school graduates of training in accounting and statistics, engineers of all varieties, journalists, architects, chemist, and also outstanding leaders in activity men at the senior class.

The man who has been active on the campus, whose personality is such that he gets along with all kinds of people and he has done an adequate job with his studies, has a decided edge over the strictly academic student.

In departing from the conception that the “straight A“ student was invariably the one to get the choice of the better jobs, most companies look not only to academic records but the activity records and personalities of the students.

Anything acquired without effort and without cost is generally unappreciated, often discredited; perhaps this is why we get so little from our marvelous opportunity in public schools. The self discipline one receives from a definite program of specialized study makes up to some extent for the wasted opportunity when knowledge was available without cost.

Doing things well is never trouble.

Both success and failure are largely the result of habit.

Creative faculties of imagination become more alert with use, just as any muscle or organ of the body develops through use.

Desire is only a thought, an impulse. It is nebulous and ephemeral. It is abstract, and has no value, until it has been transformed into its physical counterpart.

God seems to throw himself on the side of the man who knows exactly what he wants, if he’s determined to get just that!

Millions of people go through life hoping for favorable breaks. Perhaps a favorable break can get one an opportunity, but the safest plan is not to depend upon luck.

How to build plans which will be practical:

1. Allow yourself with a group of as many people as you may need for the creation and caring out of your plan for the accumulation of money.

2. Before forming your master mind lines, decide what advantages and benefits you may offer the individual members of your group in return for their cooperation. No one will work indefinitely without some form of compensation. No intelligent person will either request or expect another to work without adequate compensation, although this may not always be in the form of money.

3. Arrange to meet with the members of your mastermind group at least twice a week, and more often if possible, until you have jointly perfected a necessary plan, or plans, for the accumulation of money.

4. Maintain perfect harmony between yourself and every member of your mastermind group. If you fail to carry out the instructions to the letter, you may expect to meet with failure. The mastermind principle cannot obtain where perfect harmony does not prevail.

Keep in mind these facts:

1. You are engaged in an undertaking of major importance to you. To be sure of success, you must have plans which are faultless.

2. You must have the advantage of the experience, education, native ability in imagination of other minds. This is in harmony with the methods followed by every person who has accumulated a great fortune.

No individual has sufficient experience, education, native ability, and knowledge to ensure the accumulation of a great fortune without the cooperation of other people.

Every plan you adopt in your endeavor to accumulate wealth should be the joint creation of yourself and every other member of your mastermind group. You may originate your own plans, either in whole or in part, but see that those plans are checked and approved by the members of your mastermind alliance.

If the first plan which you adopt does not work successfully, replace it with a new plan. If this new plan fails to work, replace it in turn with still another, and so on, until you find a plan which does work.

The most intelligent man living cannot succeed in accumulating money, nor in any other undertaking, without plans which are practical and workable.

Just keep this fact in mind, and remember when your plans fail, that temporary defeat is not permanent failure.

Thomas A. Edison “failed” 10,000 times before he perfected the incandescent electric lightbulb. That is, he met with temporary defeat 10,000 times, before his efforts were crowned with success.

Your achievement can be no greater than your plans are sound.

We see men who have accumulated great fortunes, but we often recognize only the triumph, overlooking the temporary defeat which they had to surmount before “arriving.“

No follower of this philosophy can reasonably expect to accumulate a fortune without experiencing “temporary defeat.“ When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your covered goal. If you give up before your goal has been reached, you are a “quitter.“

A quitter never wins — and — A winner never quits.

Some people foolishly believe that only money can make money. That is not true! Desire, transmuted into its monetary equivalent through the principles laid down here, is the agency through which money is “made.“ Money, of itself, is nothing but inert matter. It cannot move, think, or talk, but it can “hear“ when a man who desires it, calls it to come!

Here will be found detailed instructions to those who must begin the accumulation of riches by selling personal services.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of people in the world. One type is known as leaders, and the other as followers. Decide at the outset whether you intend to become a leader in your chosen calling, or remain a follower.

The difference in compensation is vast. The follower cannot reasonably expect the compensation to which a leader is entitled, although many followers make the mistake of expecting such pay.

It is no disgrace to be a follower. On the other hand, it is no credit to remain a follower. Most great leaders began in the capacity of followers. They became great leaders because they were intelligent followers.

With few exceptions, the man who cannot follow a leader intelligently, cannot become an efficient leader. The man who can follow a leader most efficiently is usually the man who develops into leadership most rapidly.

The major attributes of leadership:

1. Unwavering courage based upon knowledge of self, and of one’s occupation. No follower wishes to be dominated by a leader who lacks self-confidence and courage. No intelligent follower will be dominated by such a leader for very long.

2. Self-control. The man who cannot control himself, can never control others. Self-control sets a mighty example for one’s followers, which the more intelligent will emulate.

3. A keen sense of justice. Without a sense of fairness and justice, no leader can command and retain the respect of his followers.

4. Definiteness of decision. The man who wavers in his decisions shows that he is not sure of himself. He cannot lead others successfully.

5. Definiteness of plans. The successful leader must plan his work, and work his plan. A leader who moves by guesswork, without practical, definite plans, is comparable to a ship without a rudder. Sooner or later he will land on the rocks.

6. The habit of doing more than paid for. One of the penalties of leadership is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of the leader, to do more than he requires of his followers.

7. A pleasing personality. No slovenly, careless person can become a successful leader. Leadership calls for respect. Followers will not respect a leader who does not grade high in all of the factors of a pleasing personality.

8. Sympathy and understanding. The successful leader must be in sympathy with his followers. Moreover, he must understand them and their problems.

9. Mastery of detail. Successful leadership calls for mastery of details of the leader’s position.

10. Willingness to assume responsibility. The successful leader must be willing to assume responsibility for the mistakes in the shortcomings of his followers. If he tries to shift this responsibility, he will not remain leader. If one of his followers makes a mistake and shows himself incompetent, the leader must consider that it is he who failed.

11. Cooperation. The successful leader must understand and apply the principle of cooperative effort and be able to induce his followers to do the same. Leadership calls for power, and power calls for cooperation.

The 10 major causes of failure in leadership

1. In ability to organize details. Efficient leadership calls for ability to organize into master details. No genuine leader is ever “too busy“ to do anything which may be required of him in his capacity as leader. When a man, whether he is a leader or follower, admits that he is “too busy“ to change his plans, or to give attention to any emergency, he admits his inefficiency. The successful leader must be the master of all details connected with his position. That means, of course, that he must acquire the habit of relegating details to capable lieutenants.

2. Unwillingness to render humble service. Truly great leaders are willing, when occasion demands, to perform any sort of labor which they would ask another to perform. “The greatest among ye shall be the servant of all“ is it truth which all able leaders observe and respect.

3. Expectation of pay for what they “no“ instead of what they do with that which they know. The world does not pay men for that which they “no.“ And pays them for what they do, or induce others to do.

4. Fear of competition from followers. The leader who fears that one of his followers may take his position is practically sure to realize that fear sooner or later. The able leader trains understudies to whom he may delegate, At will, any of the details of his position. Only in this way may a leader multiply himself and prepare himself to be at many places, and give attention to many things at one time. It is an eternal truth that men receive more pay for their ability to get others to perform then they could possibly earn by their own efforts. An efficient leader may, through his knowledge of his job in the magnetism of his personality, greatly increase the efficiency of others, and induce them to render more service and better service than they could render without his aid.

5. Lack of imagination. Without imagination, the leader is incapable of meeting emergencies, and creating plans by which to guide his followers efficiently.

6. Selfishness. The leader who claims all the honor for the work of his followers is sure to be met by resentment. The really great leader claims none of the honors. He’s content to see the honors, when there are any, go to his followers, because he knows that most men will work harder for commendation and recognition and they will for money alone.

7. Intemperance. Followers do not respect an intemperate leader, moreover, intemperance in any of his various forms destroys the endurance and the vitality of all who indulge in it.

8. Disloyalty. Perhaps they should have come at the head of the list. The leader who is not loyal to his trust and to his associates, those above him and those below him, cannot long maintain his leadership. Disloyalty marks one as being less than the dust of the earth, and brings down on one’s head to contempt he deserves. Lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in every walk of life.

9. Emphasis of the “authority” of leadership. The efficient leader leads by encouraging, and not by trying to instill fear in the hearts of his followers. The leader who tries to impress his followers with his “authority“ comes within the category of leadership through force. If a leader is a real leader, he will have no need to advertise that fact except by his conduct— his sympathy, understanding, fairness, and the demonstration that he knows his job.

10. Emphasis of title. The competent leader requires no “title“ to give him the respect of his followers. The man who makes too much over his title generally has a little else to emphasize. The doors to the office of the real leader are wide open to all who wish to enter, and his working quarters are free from formality or ostentation.

Remember that it is not the lawyer who knows the most law, but the one who best prepares his case, who wins. If your “case” is properly prepared and presented, your victory will have been more than half-won at the outset.

Some Fertile fields in which “new leadership” will be required:

• Politics

• banking

• industry

• religion

• law

• medicine

• education

• journalism

Media through which services may be marketed:

• Employment bureaus

• Newspapers

• Trade journals

• magazines

• radio

• Personal letters of application

• Application through personal acquaintances

• Application in person.

Information to be supplied in a written “brief”

• Education. State briefly, but definitely, what schooling you have had, and then what subjects you specialized in school, giving the reasons for that specialization.

• Experience. If you have had experience in connection with a position similar to the one you speak, describe it fully, stating names and addresses of former employers.

• References. Practically every business room desires to know all about the previous records, Antecedents, etc. of prospective employees who seek positions of responsibility.

• Photograph of self

• Apply for a specific position

• State your qualifications

• Offer to go to work on probation. - In the majority of instances, it will be most effective if you offer to work for a week, or a month, or for sufficient length of time to enable your prospective employer to judge your value without pay. This may appear to be a radical suggestion, but experience has proved it seldom fails to win at least a trial.

• Knowledge of your prospective employers business

How to get the exact position you desire:

1. Decide exactly what kind of job you want. If the job doesn’t exist, perhaps you can create it.

2. Choose the company or individual for whom you wish to work.

3. Study a prospective employer, as to policies, personnel, and chances of advancement

4. By analyzing yourself, your talents and capabilities, figure what you can offer, and plan ways and means of giving advantages, services, developments, and ideas that you believe you can successfully deliver.

5. Forget about “a job.“ Forget whether or not there’s an opening. Forget the usual routine of “have you got a job for me?“ Concentrate on what you can give.

6. Once you have a plan in mind, arrange with an experienced rider to put it on paper in need form and in full detail.

7. Present it to the proper person with authority and he will do the rest. Every company is looking for men who can give something of value, Whether it be ideas, services, or “connections.” Every company has room for the man who has a definite plan of action which is to the advantage of that company.

The causes of success In marketing services effectively and permanently have been clearly described. Unless those classes are studied, analyzed, understood and applied, no man can market his services effectively and permanently. Every person must be his own salesman of personal services. The quality and the quality of service rendered, and spirit in which it is rented, determine to a large extent The price and the duration of employment.

To market personal services effectively, one must adopt and follow the “QQS“ formula which means that quality plus quantity plus the proper spirit of cooperation equals perfect salesmanship of service.

Let us analyze the formula to make sure we understand exactly what it means.

1. Quality of service shall be construed to mean the performance of every detail in connection with your position in the most efficient manner possible, with the object of greater efficiency always in mind.

2. Quantity of service shall be understood to me in the habit of rendering all the surface of which you are capable, at all times, with a purpose of increasing the amount of service rendered as greater scale is developed through practice and experience. Emphasis is again placed on the word habit.

3. Spirit of service shall be construed to me in the habit of agreeable, harmonious conduct which will induce cooperation from associates and fellow employees.

The 30 major reasons for failure:

1. Unfavorable hereditary background.

2. Lack of well-defined purpose in life.

3. Lack of ambition to aim above mediocrity.

4. Insufficient education.

5. Lack of self discipline.

6. Ill health.

7. Unfavorable environmental influences during childhood.

8. Procrastination.

9. Lack of persistence.

10. Negative personality.

11. Lack of controlled sexual urge.

12. And control desire for “something for nothing.“

13. Lack of a well defined power of decision.

14. One or more of the six basic fears.

15. Wrong selection of a meet in marriage.

16. OverCaution.

17. Wrong selection of associates in business.

18. Superstition and prejudice.

19. Wrong selection of a location.

20. Lack of concentration of effort.

21. The habit of indiscriminate spending.

22. Lack of enthusiasm.

23. Intolerance.

24. Intemperance.

25. Inability to cooperate with others.

26. Possession of power that was not acquired through self effort.

27. Intentional dishonesty.

28. Egotism in vanity.

29. Guessing instead of thinking.

30. Lack of capital.

In these 30 major causes of failure is found a description of the tragedy of life, which obtains her practically every human who tries and fails. It will be helpful if you can induce someone he knows you well to go over this list with you, and help to analyze you by the 30 causes of failure. It may be beneficial if you try this alone. Most people cannot see themselves as others see them. You may be one who cannot.

Actual self analysis is an essential in the effective marketing of personal services, as is annual inventory in merchandising.

Self analysis questionnaire for personal inventory:

1. Have I attained the goal which I established as my objective for this year?

2. Have I delivered service of the best possible quality of which I was capable, or could I have improved any part of this service?

3. Have I delivered service in the greatest possible quantity of which I was capable?

4. Has the spirit of my conduct been harmonious and cooperative at all times?

5. Have I permitted the habit of procrastination to decrease my efficiency, and if so, to what extent?

6. Have I improved my personality, and if so, in what ways?

7. Have I been persistent in following my plans through to completion?

8. Have I reached decisions promptly and definitely on all occasions?

9. Have I permitted any one or more of the six basic fears to decrease my efficiency?

10. Have I been either “overcautious“ or “under cautious?“

11. Has my relationship with my associates in work been pleasant or unpleasant? If it has been unpleasant, has the fog been partly or holy mine?

12. Have I dissipated any of my energy through lack of concentration or effort?

13. Have I been open minded and tolerant in connections with all subjects?

14. In what way have I improved my ability to render service?

15. Have I been intemperate in any of my habits?

16. Have I expressed, either openly or secretly, any form of egotism?

17. Has my conduct toward my associates been such that it has induced them to respect me?

18. Have my opinions and decisions been based upon guesswork, or accuracy of analysis and thought?

19. Have I followed the habit of budgeting my time, my expenses, and my income, and have I been conservative in these budgets?

20. How much time have I devoted to unprofitable effort which I might have used a better advantage?

21. How may I budget my time, and change my habits so I will be more efficient during the coming year?

22. Have I been guilty of any conduct which was not approved by my conscience?

23. In what ways have I rendered more service and better service than I was paid to render?

24. Have I been unfair to anyone, and if so, in what way?

25. If I had been the purchaser of my own services for the year, would I be satisfied with my purchase?

26. Am I in the right location, and if not, why not?

27. Has the purchaser of my service been satisfied with the service I have rendered, and if not, why not?

28. What is my present rating on the fundamental principles of success?

Let’s take a sum of the benefits available to every member in the land of opportunity and plenty.

1. Food

2. Shelter

3. Clothing

I have the right to analyze the source and nature of this unseen power, because I know, and I’ve known for more than a quarter of a century, many of the men who organize that power, and many who are now responsible for its maintenance.

The name of this mysterious benefactor of mankind is capital!

Capital consists not alone of money, but more particularly of highly organized, intelligent groups of men who plan ways and means of using money efficiently for the good of the public, and profitably to themselves.

These groups consist of scientists, educators, chemists, inventors, business analysts, publicity men, transportation experts, accountants, lawyers, doctors, and both men and women who have highly specialized knowledge in all fields of industry in business.

Stated briefly, the capitalists are the brains of civilization, because they supply the entire fabric of which all education, enlightenment and human progress consist.

Money without brains is always dangerous. Properly used, it is the most important essential of civilization.

This is a capitalistic country; it was developed through the use of capital, and we who claim the right to partake of the blessing of freedom and opportunity, we who seek to accumulate riches here, may as well know that neither riches nor opportunity would be available to us if organized capital had not provided these benefits.

It has become a popular pastime for radicals, self-seeking politicians, racketeers, crooked labor leaders, and on occasion religious leaders, to take pot shots at “Wall Street, the money changers, in big business.“

Millions of men and women throughout the nation are still engaged in this popular pastime of trying to get without giving. Some of them are lined up with labor unions, where they demand shorter hours and more pay! Others do not take the trouble to work at all. They demand government relief and are getting it.

If you are one of those who believe that riches can be accumulated by the mirror act of men who organize themselves into groups and demand more pay for less service, if you are one of those who demand government relief, if you are one of those who believe in treating their votes to politicians in return for the passing of laws which permit the rating of the public treasury, you may rest surely on your belief with certain knowledge that no one will disturb you, because this is a free country where every man may think as he pleases, where nearly everybody can live with that little effort, where many may live well without doing any work whatsoever.

However, you should know the full truth concerning this freedom of which so many people boast and so if you understand. As great as it is, as far as it reaches, as many privileges as it provides, it does not and cannot bring riches without effort.

There is but one dependable method of accumulating and legally holding Richards, and that is by rendering useful service. No system has ever been created by which men can legally acquire riches through mere force of numbers, or without giving in return an equivalent value of one form or another.

There is a principle known as the law of economics. This is more than a theory. It is a law no man can beat

Practice by government officials extending to men and women the privilege of raiding the public treasury in return for votes sometimes results in election, but as night follows the day, the final payoff comes when every penny wrongfully used must be repaid with compound interest and compound interest. If those who make the grab are not forced to repay, the burden falls on their children and their children’s children,“even until the third and fourth generations.“ There is no way to avoid the debt.

Accurate analysis of over 25,000 men and women who had experienced failure disclosed the fact that lack of decision was near the head of the list of the 30 major causes of failure. This is no mere statement of a theory, it is a fact.

Procrastination, the opposite of decision, is a common enemy which practically every man must conquer.

You will have an opportunity to test your capacity to reach quick and definite decisions when you finish reading this book, and are ready to begin putting into action the principles which it describes.

Analysis of several hundred people who had accumulated fortune‘s well beyond the million dollar mark disclose the fact that every one of them have a habit of reaching decisions promptly and of changing those decisions slowly, if and when they were changed. People who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly end up changing these decisions quickly and often.

One of Henry Ford’s most outstanding qualities is his habit of reaching decisions quickly indefinitely and changing them slowly. This quality is so pronounced in Mr. Ford that it has given him the reputation of being obstinate. It was this quality which prompted Mr. Ford to continue manufacturing his famous model T when all of his advisers and many of the purchasers of the car were urging him to change it.

Majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs, are, generally, easily influenced by the “opinions“ of others.

If you are influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no desire of your own.

Close friends and relatives, I’m not meaning to do so, often handicap one through “opinions“ and sometimes through ridicule that is meant to be humorous.

Thousands of men and women carry inferiority complexes with them all through their life because some well-meaning, but ignorant person destroyed their confidence through “opinions“ or ridicule.

You have a brain in mind of your own. Use it, and reach your own decisions. If you need facts or information from other people to enable you to reach decisions, as you probably will in many instances, acquire these facts or security information you need quietly, without disclosing your purpose.

Those who talk too much to little else. If you talk more than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of many opportunities to accumulate useful knowledge, but you also disclose your plans and purposes to people who will take great delight in defeating you because they envy you.

Remember, also, that every time you open your mouth in the presence of a person who has an abundance of knowledge, you display to that person, your exact stock of knowledge, or your lack of it. Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence.

Keep in mind the fact that every person with whom you associate is, like yourself, seeking the opportunity to accumulate money. If you talk about your plans too freely, you may be surprised when you learn that some other person has beaten you to your goal by putting into action ahead of you, the plans of which you talked unwisely.

Let one of your first decisions be to keep a closed mouth and open ears and eyes. As a reminder to yourself to follow this advice, it will be helpful if you copy the following epigram in large letters and place it where you will see it daily.

“Tell the world what you intend to do, but first show it. ”

This is the equivalent of saying that “deeds, and not words, are what count most.”

The value of decisions depends upon the courage required to render them. The great decisions that served as the foundation of civilization were reached by assuming great risks, which often meant the possibility of death.

Lincoln's decision to issue his famous proclamation of emancipation, which gave freedom to the colored people of America, was rendered with full understanding that his act would turn thousands of friends and political supporters against him. He knew, too, that the caring out of that proclamation would mean the death of thousands of men on the battlefield. In the end, it cost Lincoln his life. That required courage.

Socrates' decision to drink the cup of poison, rather than compromise in his personal belief, was a decision of courage. It turned time ahead 1000 years, and gave to people then unborn, the right to freedom of thought and of speech.

The decision of General Robert E Lee, when he came to the parting of the way with the union and took up the cause of the south, was a decision of courage, for he well knew that it might cost him his own life, that it would surely cost the lives of others.

But, the greatest decision of all time, as far as any American citizen is concerned, was reached in Philadelphia, July 4, 1776, when 56 men signed their names to a document, which they well knew would bring freedom to all Americans, or leave everyone of the 56 hanging from a gallows.

In your search for the secret of the method, do not look for a miracle, because you will not find it. You will find only the eternal laws of nature. These laws are available to every person who has the faith and the courage to use them. They may be used to bring freedom to a nation, or to accumulate riches. There is no charge, save the time necessary to understand and appropriate them.

Those who reach decisions properly indefinitely, know what they want, and generally get it. The leaders in every walk of life decide quickly and firmly. That is the major reason why they are leaders. The world has the habit of making room for the man whose words and actions show that he knows where he is going.

Indecision is a habit which usually begins in youth. The habit takes on permanency as the youth goes through grade school, high school and even through college, without definiteness of purpose. The major weakness of all educational systems is that they neither teach nor encourage the habit A definite decision. It would be beneficial if no college would permit the enrollment of any student unless and until the student declared his major purpose in matriculating. It would be a still greater benefit if every student who enters the grade schools were compelled to accept training in the habit of decision, and forced to pass a satisfactory examination on this subject before being permitted to advance in the grades.

The habit of indecision acquired because of the deficiencies of our school systems, goes with the student into the occupation he chooses… if … in fact, he chooses his occupation. Generally, the youth just out of school seeks any job that can be found. He takes the first place he finds, because he has fallen into the habit of indecision. 98 out of every hundred people working for wages today are in the positions they hold because they lacked the definiteness of decision to plan a definite position, and the knowledge of how to choose an employer.

Definiteness of decision always requires courage, sometimes very great courage. The 56 men who signed the declaration of independence staked their lives on the decision to fix their signatures to that document. The person who reaches a definite decision to procure the particular job, and make life pay the price he asks, does not state his life on that decision; he states his economic freedom. Financial independence, riches, desirable business and professional positions are not within reach of the person who collects or refuses to expect, plan, and demand these things. The person who desires riches in the same spirit that Samuel Adams desired freedom for the colonies is sure to accumulate wealth.

Persistence

the sustained effort necessary to induce faith.

The eighth step towards riches

Persistence is an essential factor in the procedure of transmitting desire into its monetary equivalent. The basis of persistence is the power of well.

The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. If you carry-on despite all opposition until they attain their goal. These few are the Fords, Carnegie‘s, Rockefellers, and Edison‘s.

There may be no heroic connotation to the word “persistence,” but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel

The starting point of all achievements is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. We desire spring with results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat. If you find yourself lacking in persistence, this weakness may be remedied by building a stronger fire under your desires.

If you find you are weak in persistence, center your attention upon the instructions contained in the chapter on power; surround yourself with a mastermind group, and through the cooperative efforts of the members of this group you can develop persistence.

Your subconscious mind works continuously, while you are awake and while you are asleep.

There is no substitute for persistence. It cannot be supplanted by any other quality. Remember this, and it will harden you in the beginning, when the going may seem difficult and slow. Those who have cultivated the habit of persistence seem to enjoy insurance against failure. No matter how many times they are defeated, they finally arrive up toward the top of the ladder. Sometimes it appears that there is a Hidden guide whose duty is to test men through all sorts of discouraging experiences. Those who pick themselves up after defeat and keep on trying, arrive; and the world cries, “bravo! I knew you could do it!“

Persistence is a state of mind, therefore it can be cultivated. Like all states of mind, persistence is based upon definite causes, among them these:

1. Definiteness of purpose. Knowing what one wants is the first and perhaps the most important step toward the development of persistence. The strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties.

2. Desire. It is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence in pursuing the object of intense desire.

3. Self reliance. Belief in one’s ability to carry out a plan encourages 1 to follow the plan through with persistence.

4. Definiteness of plans. Organize plans, even though they may be weak and entirely impractical, encourage persistence.

5. Accurate knowledge. Knowing that one’s plans are sound, based upon experience or observation, encourages persistence; “guessing“ instead of “knowing“ destroys persistence.

6. Cooperation. Sympathy, understanding, and harmonious cooperation with others tend to develop persistence.

7. Willpower. The habit of concentrating one’s thoughts upon the building of plans for the attainment of a definite purpose leads to persistence.

8. Habit. Persistence is the direct result of habit. The mind absorbs and becomes a part of the daily experiences upon which it feeds. Fear, the worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of acts of courage. Everyone who has seen active service in war knows this.

Symptoms of lack of persistence

Here you will find the real enemies which stand between you and noteworthy achievement. Here you will find not only the “symptoms“ indicating weakness of persistence, but also the deeply seeded subconscious causes of this weakness. Study the list carefully, and face yourself squarely if you really wish to know who you are and what you are capable of doing. These are the weaknesses which must be mastered by all who accumulate riches.

1. Failure to recognize it clearly defined exactly what 1 wants.

2. Procrastination, with or without cause. (usually backed up with a formidable array of alibis and excuses.)

3. Lack of interest in acquiring specialized knowledge.

4. Indecision, the habit of “passing the book“ on all occasions, instead of facing issues squarely. (also backed by alibis)

5. The habit of relying upon alibis instead of creating definite plans for the solution of problems.

6. Self satisfaction. There's little remedy for this affliction and no hope for those who suffer from it.

7. Indifference, usually reflected in one’s readiness to compromise on all occasions rather than meat opposition and fight it.

8. Habit of blaming others for one’s mistakes, and accepting unfavorable circumstances as being unavoidable.

9. Weakness of desire, due to neglect in the choice of motives the impel action.

10. Willingness, even eagerness, to quit at the first sign of defeat. (Based upon one or more of the six basic fears.)

11. Lack of organized plants, placed in writing where they may be analyzed.

12. The habit of neglecting to move on ideas, or to grasp opportunity when it presents itself.

13. Wishing instead of willing.

14. The habit of compromising with poverty instead of aiming at riches. General absence of ambition to be, to do, and to Own.

15. Searching for all the shortcuts to riches, trying to get without giving a fair equivalent, usually reflected in the habit of gambling or endeavoring to drive “sharp” bargains.

16. Fear of criticism, failure to great plans and to put them into action because of what other people think, do, or say. This enemy belongs at the head of the list because he generally exists in one subconscious mind, where his presence is not recognized.

Let us examine some of the symptoms of the fear of criticism. The majority of people permit relatives, friends, and the public at large to influence them so that they cannot live their own lives, because they fear criticism.

Huge numbers of people make mistakes in marriage, stand by the bargain, and go through life miserable and unhappy, because they fear criticism which may follow if they correct the mistake. (Anyone who has submitted to this form of fear knows the irreparable damage it does by destroying ambition, self-reliance, and the desire to achieve.)

Millions of people neglect to acquire belated education after having left school, because they fear criticism.

Countless numbers of men and women, both young and old, permit relatives to wreck their lives in the name of duty, because they fear criticism. (Duty does not require any person to submit to the destruction of his personal ambitions and the right to live his own life in his own way.)

People refuse to take chances in business, because they fear the criticism which may follow if they fail. The fear of criticism in such cases is stronger than the desire for success.

Too many people refuse to set high goals for themselves, or even neglect selecting a career, because they fear the criticism of relatives and “friends“ who may say “don’t and so high, people will think you are crazy.“

The only “break” anyone can afford to reply upon is a self-made “break.” These come from the application of persistence. The starting point is definiteness of purpose.

Examine the first hundred people you meet, ask them what they want Most in life, and 98 of them will not be able to tell you. If you press them for an answer, some will say security, many will say money, a few will say happiness, others will say fame and power, and still others will say social recognition, ease in living, ability to sing, dance, or right. But none of them will be able to find those terms, or give the slightest indication of a plan by which they hope to attend these vaguely expressed wishes. Riches do not respond to wishes. They respond only to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence.

How to develop persistence

There are four simple steps which lead to the habit of persistence. They call for no great amount of intelligence, no particular amount of education, and but little time or effort. The necessary steps are:

1. A definite purpose backed by burning desire for its fulfillment.

2. A definite plan, expressed in continuous action.

3. In mind close tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances.

4. Friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.

In the words of Stuart Aueston we’re we raise our cup and drink this toast to ask King Edward and Wallis Simpson:

Blessed is the man who has come to know that our muted thoughts are our sweetest thoughts.

Blessed is the man who, from the blackest depths, can see the luminous figure of love, and seeing, sing; and seeing, say: “sweeter far than uttered lays are the thoughts I have of you.“

In these words we pay tribute to the two people who, more than all others of modern times, have been the victims of criticism and the recipients of abuse because they found life‘s greatest treasure and claimed.

Power of the mastermind

The driving force

The ninth step toward riches

Power is essential for excess in the accumulation of money.

Planes are inert and useless without sufficient power to translate them into action. This chapter will describe the method by which an individual may attain and apply power.

Power may be defined as “organized and intelligently directed knowledge.“ Power, as the term is here used, refers to organized effort, sufficient to enable an individual to transmit desire into its monetary equivalent. Organized effort is produced through the coordination of effort of two or more people who work toward a definite end, in the spirit of harmony.

Power is required for the accumulation of money. Power is necessary for the retention of money after it has been accumulated.

What does ascertain how power may be acquired. If power is “organize knowledge,“ let us examine the sources of knowledge:

1. Infinite intelligence. This source of knowledge may be contacted through the procedure described in another chapter, with the aid of creative imagination.

2. Accumulated experience. The accumulated experience of men (or that portion of it which has been organized and recorded) may be found in any well equipped public library. An important part of this accumulated experience is taught in public schools and colleges, where it has been classified and organized.

3. Experiment and research. In the field of science and in practically every other walk of life, men are gathering, classifying, and organizing new FAQs daily. This is the source to which one must turn when knowledge is not available through “accumulated experience.“ Here, too, the creative imagination must often be used.

Knowledge may be acquired from any of the foregoing sources. It may be converted into power by organizing it into definite plans and by expressing those plans in terms of action.

Examination of the three major sources of knowledge will readily disclose the difficulty in individual would have, if he depended upon his efforts alone, and assembling knowledge and expressing it through definite plans in terms of action if his plans are comprehensive and if they contemplate large proportions, he must, generally, and induce others to cooperate with him before he can inject into them the necessary element of power.

New individual may have a great power without availing himself to the mastermind.

So you may better understand the “intangible” potentialities of power available to you through a properly chosen mastermind group, we will explain the two characteristics of the mastermind principle, one of which is economic in nature, and the other psychic.

The economic feature is obvious. Economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds himself with advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of a group of men who are willing to lend him whole hearted aid in a spirit of perfect harmony. This form of cooperative alliance has been the basis of nearly every great fortune. Your understanding of this great truth may definitely determine your financial status.

The psychic phase of the mastermind principle is much more abstract, much more difficult to comprehend, because it has a reference to the spiritual forces of the human race, as a whole, is not well acquainted. You may catch a significant suggestion from the statement: “no two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.“

Keep in mind the fact that there are only two known elements in the whole universe, energy and matter. It is a well-known fact that matter may be broken down into units of molecules, Adams, and electrons. There are units of matter which may be isolated, separated, and analyzed.

Likewise, there are units of energy.

The human mind is a form of energy, a part of it being spiritual in nature. When the minds of two people are coordinated in a spirit of harmony, the spiritual units of energy of each mind form an affinity, which constitutes the “psychic“ phase of the mastermind.

Energy is nature's universal set of building blocks, out of which she constructs every material thing in the universe, including man, and every form of animal and vegetable life. Through a process which only nature completely understands, she translates energy into matter.

Nature’s building blocks are available to man in the energy involved in thinking. Man’s brain may be compared to an electric battery. It absorbs energy from the ether, which permeates every atom of matter and fills the entire universe.

It is a well-known fact that a group of electric batteries will provide more energy than a single battery. It is also a well-known fact that an individual battery will provide energy in proportion to the number and capacity of the cells it contains.

Through this metaphor it becomes immediately obvious that the mastermind principle holds the secret of the power wielded by men who surround themselves with other men of brains.

“Men take on the nature and habits in the power of thought of those with whom they associate in a spirit of sympathy and harmony.“

Perhaps the majority of those who have heard of Gandhi look upon him as merely an eccentric little man who goes around without formal wearing apparel, and makes trouble for the British government.

In reality, Gandhi is not eccentric, but he is the most powerful man now living (estimated by the number of his followers and their faith in their leader). Moreover, he is probably the most powerful man who has ever lived. His power is passive, but it is real.

Let us study the method by which he attained his stupendous power. It may be explained in a few words. He came by power through inducing over 200 million people to coordinate, with mind and body, and a spirit of harmony for a definite purpose.

In brief, Gandhi has accomplished a miracle, bread is a miracle when 200 million people can be induced not forced to cooperate in a spirit of harmony for a limitless time. If you doubt this is a miracle, try to induce any two people to cooperate in a spirit of harmony for any length of time.

Every man who manages a business knows what a difficult matter it is to get employees to work together in a spirit even remotely resembling harmony.

When two or more people coordinate in the spirit of harmony and work toward a definite objective, they place themselves in position, through that alliance, to absorb power directly from the great universal storehouse of infinite intelligence. This is the greatest of all sources of power. It is the source to which the genius turns. It is the source to which every great leader turns (whether he may be conscious of the fact or not).

Money is as shy and elusive as the “old Time” made it. It must be rude and one by methods not unlike those used by a determined lover in pursuit of the girl of his choice. And, coincidental as it is, the power used in the “wooing” of money is not greatly different from that used in Wheeling a meeting. That power, when successfully used in the pursuit of money, must be mixed with faith. It must be mixed with desire. It must be mixed with persistence. It must be applied through a plan, and that plan must be set into action.

When the money comes in quantities known as “the big money,” it flows to the one who accumulated as easily as water flows downhill. There exists A great unseen stream of power, which may be compared to a river, except it once and flows in one direction, caring all who get into that side of the stream onward and upward to wealth and the other side flows in the opposite direction, caring all who are unfortunate enough to get into it (and not able to extricate themselves from it) downward to misery and poverty.

Every man who has accumulated a great fortune has recognized the existence of the stream of life. It consists of one’s thinking process. The positive emotions of that form the side of the stream which carries one to fortune. The negative emotions form the side which carries one down to poverty.

Poverty and riches often change places.

Poverty May, and generally does, voluntarily take the place of riches. When riches take the place of poverty, change is usually brought about through well conceived and carefully executed plans. Poverty needs no plan. It needs no one to aid it, because it is bold and ruthless. Riches are shy and timid. They have to be “attracted.”

The mystery of sex transmutation

The 10th step toward riches

The motion of sex brings into being state of mind. Because of ignorance on the subject, the state of mine is generally associated with the physical. And because of improper influences to which most people have been subjected in acquiring knowledge of sex, things essentially physical have highly biased mind.

The Emotion have sex has back of it the possibility of three constructive potentialities; they are:

1. The perpetuation of mankind.

2. The maintenance of health (as a therapeutic agency, it has no equal).

3. The transformation of mediocrity into genius through transmutation.

Sex transportation is simple and easily explained. It means the switching of the mind from thoughts of physical expression to thoughts of some other nature.

Sex desire is the most powerful of human desires. When driven by this desire, men develop kindness of imagination, courage, willpower, persistence, and creative ability unknown to them at other times. So strong and impelling is the desire for sexual contact them and freely run the risk of life and reputation to indulgent. When harnessed and redirected along other lines, this motivating force maintains all of its attributes of kindness of imagination, courage, etc., which may be used as powerful creative forces in literature, art, or in any other profession or calling, including, of course, the accumulation of riches.

The transmutation of six energy calls for the exercise of willpower, to be sure, but the reward is worth the effort. The desire for sexual expression is inborn and natural. The desire cannot and should not be submerged or illuminated. But it should be given an outlet through forms of expression which enrich the body, mind, and spirit of men. If not given this form of outlet through transportation, it will seek outlets through purely physical channels.

A river may be damned, and it’s water controlled for a time, but eventually it will force an outlet. The same is true for the emotion of sex. It may be submerged and controlled for time, but its very nature causes it to be ever seeking means of expression. If it is not transmuted into some creative effort, it will find a less worthy outlet.

Fortunate, indeed, is the person has discovered how to have sex emotion and outlet through some form of creative effort, for he has, by that discovery, lifted himself to the status of a genius.

Scientific research has disclosed the significant facts:

1. The men of greatest achievement are men with highly developed sex natures, men who have learned the art of sex transmutation.

2. The men who have accumulated great fortune and achieved outstanding recognition in literature, art, industry, architecture, and the professions were motivated by the influence of a woman.

The emotion of sex is an “Irresistible force“ against which there can be no such oppression as an immovable body. When driven by this emotion, men become gifted with a superpower for action. Understand his truth, and he will catch the significance of the statement the sex transmutation left one to the status of a genius.

The emotion of sex contains the secret of creative ability.

Destroy the sex glands, weather in men or beast, and you have removed the major source of action. Approve of this, observe what happens to any animal after it has been castrated. A bull becomes docile as a cow after it has been sexually altered. Sex alteration takes out of the male, whether man or beast, all the fight that was in him. Sex alteration of the female has the same effect.

The 10 mind stimuli

Stimuli to which the mind responds most freely are:

1. Desire for sex expression

2. Love

3. Burning desire for fame, power, or financial gain

4. Music

5. Friendship between either those of the same sex or those of the opposite sex

6. Mastermind alliance based upon the Harmony of two or more people who alive them self for spiritual or temporal advancement

7. Mutual suffering such as that experience by people who are persecuted

8. Autosuggestion

9. Fear

10. Narcotics and alcohol

“Genius“ is developed through the sixth sense

The reality of a “6th sense“ has been fairly well established. The sixth sense is “creative imagination.“ The faculty of creative imagination is one which the majority of people never use during an entire lifetime, and if used at all, it usually happens by mere accident. A relatively small number of people use, with the liberation and purpose of forethought, a faculty of creative imagination. Those who use this faculty voluntarily, and with understanding of its functions, Are geniuses.

The faculty of creative imagination is a direct link between the finite mind of me in infinite intelligence. Also called revelations, referred to in the realm of religion, and all discoveries of basic or new principles in the field of invention, take place through the faculty of creative imagination.

When ideas or concepts flashing to one’s mind through what is popularly called a “hunch,” they come from one or more of the following sources:

1. Infinite intelligence

2. One subconscious mind, wearing is stored every since impression and thought impulse which ever reach the brain through any of the five senses

3. From the mind of some other person was just released a thought, or picture of the idea or concept, for conscious thought or

4. From the other person's subconscious storehouse.

When the brain action has been stimulated through one or more of the 10 mind stimulants, has the effect of lifting the individual far above the horizon of ordinary thought, and permits him to envision distance, scope, and quality of thoughts not available in the lower plane, such as that occupied or one is engaged in the solution of the problems of business and professional routine.

When lifted to this higher level of thought through any form of mind stimulation, an individual occupies, relatively, the same position as one who has ascended in an airplane to height from which he may see over and beyond the horizon line which will limit his vision while on the ground. Moreover while on this higher level of thought, the individual is not hampered or bound by any of the stimuli which circumscribe and limit his vision wrestling with the problems of gaining the three basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter. He’s in a world of thought in which the ordinary, work a day that I’ve been as effectively removed as are the hills and valleys and other limitations of physical vision when he rises in an airplane.

While on this exalted plan of thought, the creative faculty of the mind is given freedom for action. The way it has been cleared for the sixth sense to function; it becomes receptive to ideas which could not reach the individual under any other circumstance. The “sixth sense“ is a faculty which marks the difference between a genius and an ordinary individual.

The creative faculty becomes more alert and receptive to vibrations originating outside the individual subconscious mind, the more this faculty is used in the more the individual relies upon it and makes demands upon it for thought impulses. This faculty can be cultivated and developed only through use.

The major difference between the genius and the ordinary inventor may be found in the fact that the genius works through his faculty of creative imagination, while the ordinary inventor knows nothing of this faculty. The scientific inventor (such as Mr. Edison and Dr. Gates) makes use of both the synthetic and the creative faculties of imagination.

For example, the scientific inventor, or “genius,” begins in invention by organizing and combining the new ideas or principles accumulated through experience, through the synthetic faculty. If you find this accumulated knowledge to be insufficient for the completion of his invention, he can dress up on the source of knowledge available to him through his creative faculty. The method by which he does this varies with the individual, but this is the sum and substance of his procedure:

1. He stimulates his mind so that it vibrates on a higher than average plane, using one or more of the 10 mind stimuli or some other stimulant of his choice.

2. He concentrates upon the known factors (the finished part) of his invention, and creates in his mind a perfect picture of unknown factors (the unfinished part) of his invention. He holds his picture in his mind until it has been taken over by the subconscious mind, then relaxes by clearing his mind of all thought, and waits for his answer to “flash” into his mind.

Sometimes the results are both definite and immediate. At other times, the results are negative, depending upon the state of development of the “sixth sense,” or creative faculty.

The human mind responds to stimulation.

Among the greatest and most powerful of the stimuli is the urge of sex. When harnessed and transmitted, this driving force is capable of lifting men into the higher space of thought which enables them to master the sources of worry and pity annoys which percent the pathway on the lower plane.

Unfortunately, only the geniuses have made the discovery. Others have excepted the experience of a sex urge without discovering one of its major potentialities affect which accounts for the great number of “other” as compared to the limited number of geniuses.

Find, if you can, a single man in all history of civilization to achieved outstanding success in any Colin who is not driven by a well developed sex nature.

Sex energy is the creative energy of all geniuses. There has never been and never will be a great leader, builder, or artist lacking in this driving force of sex.

Surely no one will misunderstand these statements to mean that all who are highly sexed are geniuses. Man attains to the status of his genius only when, and if, he stimulates his mind so that it draws upon the force available through the creative faculty of the imagination. Chief among the stimuli With which this “stepping up” of the vibrations may be produced is sex energy. The mirror possession of this energy is not sufficient to produce a genius. The energy must be transmitted from desire for physical contact into some other form of desire and action before it will lift one to the status of a genius.

Far from becoming geniuses because of this great desire, the majority of men lower themselves through misunderstanding and miss use of discrete force, to the status of the lower animals.

Why men seldom succeed before 40

I discovered, from the analysis of over 25,000 people, the men who succeed in an outstanding way seldom do so before the age of 40, and more often they do not strike real pace until they are well beyond the age of 50. This fact was so astounding that prompted me to go into the study of its cause most carefully, carrying the investigation over a period of more than 12 years.

This study disclosed the fact that the major reason why the majority of men who succeed do not begin to do so before the age of 40 to 50 is their tendency to dissipate their energies through overindulgence in physical expression of the emotion of sex. A majority of men never learn the urge of sex has other possibilities, which far transcend in importance, that of mere physical expression. The majority of those who make this discovery do so after having wasted many years at a period when the sex energy is at his height, prior to the age of 45 to 50. This usually is followed by noteworthy achievement.

The lives of many men up to, and sometimes well past, at the age of 40 reflect a continued dissipation of energies, which could have been more profitably turned into better channels. Their finer and more powerful emotions or sown wildly to the four winds. Out of this habit of the male grew the term “sowing his wild oats.“

The desire for sexual expression is by far the strongest and most compelling of all the human emotions, and for this very reason this desire, when harnessed and transmuted into action other than that a physical expression, they raise one to the status of a genius.

The world is ruled, and the destiny of civilization is established by human emotions. People are influenced in their actions not by reason so much as by “feelings.“ The creative faculty of the mind is set into action entirely by emotions, and not by cold reason. The most powerful of all human emotions is that of sex. There are other mine stimulants, some of which have been listed, but no one of them, nor all of them combined, can equal the driving power of sex.

A teacher who has trained and directed the efforts of more than 30,000 sales people made the astounding discovery that highly sexed men are the most efficient salesmen. The explanation is that the factor of personality known as “personal magnetism“ is nothing more than or less than sex energy. Highly six people always have a plentiful supply of magnetism. Through cultivation in understanding, this vital force may be drawn upon and used to create advantage in the relationships between people. This energy may be communicated to others through the following media:

1. The handshake. The touch of the hand indicates, instantly, the presence of magnetism or the lack of it.

2. The tone of voice. Magnetism, or sex energy, is the factor with which the voice may be colored, or made musical and charming.

3. Posture and courage of the body. Highly sexed people move briskly, and with grace and ease.

4. The vibration of thought. Highly sexed people mix the emotion of sex with their thoughts, or may do so and will, and that way the influence those around them.

5. Body adornment. People who are highly sexed are usually very careful about their personal appearance. They usually select clothing of a style becoming to their personality, physique, complexion, etc.

People who lack sex energy will never become enthusiastic nor inspire others with enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is one of the most important prerequisite in salesmanship, no matter what one is selling.

The public speaker, orator, preacher, lawyer, or salesman who is lacking in sex energy is a “flop,“ as far as being able to influence others is concerned. Couple days with the fact that most people can be influenced only through an appeal to their emotions, and he will understand the importance of sex energy as a part of the salesman’s native ability.

The salesman he knows how to take his mind off the subject of sex, and directed and sales effort with as much enthusiasm and determination as he would apply to its original purpose, has acquired the art of sex transportation, whether he knows it or not.

Transmutation of sex energy calls for more willpower than the average person cares to use for this purpose. Those who find it difficult to summon willpower sufficient for transmutation gradually acquire disability. So this requires willpower, the reward for the practice is more than worth the effort.

Every intelligent person knows that stimulation in excess, through alcoholic drink and narcotics, is a form of intemperance which destroys the vital organs of the body, including the brain. Not every person knows, however, that overindulgence in sex expression may become a habit as destructive and is detrimental to creative effort as narcotics or liquor.

A sex Mad Men is not essentially different than a dope-mad-man. Both of them lost control over their faculties of reason and willpower. Sexual overindulgence may not only destroy reason and willpower, but it may also lead to temporary or permanent insanity. Many cases of hypochondria grow out of habits developed in ignorance of the true function of sex.

Between the ages of 30 and 40 men begins to learn the art of sex transmutation. This discovery is generally accidental, and more often than otherwise, the man who makes it is totally unconscious of his discovery.

Sex alone is a mighty urge to action, but it’s forces are like a cyclone they are often uncontrollable. When the motion of left begins to mix itself with emotion of sex, the result is calmness of purpose poise, accuracy of judgment, and balance.

Emotion of love brings out and develops the artistic and the aesthetic nature of man. It leaves an impression upon one’s very soul, even after the fire has been subdued by time and circumstance.

Memories of love never pass. They linger, guide, influence long after the source of stimulation has faded. There’s nothing new in this. Every person who has been moved by genuine love knows that it leaves enduring traces upon the human heart. Defective love endures because love is spiritual in nature. The man who cannot be stimulated to great heights of achievement by love is hopeless— he is dead, though he may seem to live.

Love is, without question, life‘s greatest experience. It brings one into communion with infinite intelligence. We mixed with the emotions of romance and sex, it may lead one for the latter of creative effort. Emotions of love, sex, and romance or sides of the eternal triangle of achievement building genius. Nature creates geniuses through no other force.

Man’s greatest motivating force is his desire to please women.

The woman who understands men’s nature and tactfully caters to it and you have no fear of competition from other women. Men may be “Giants” with indomitable willpower when dealing with other men, but they are easily managed by the woman of their choice.

Some men know that they are being influenced by the woman of their choice – your wives, sweethearts, mothers, or sisters – but they tactfully refrain from rebelling against this influence because they are intelligent enough to know if the new man is happy or complete without the modifying influence of the right woman. The man who does not recognize this important truth deprives himself of the power which has done more to help men achieve success than all other forces combined.

The subconscious mind

The connecting link

The 11th step toward riches

Remember that the subconscious mind may be voluntarily directed only through habit, under the directions given in the chapter on face. We have not yet had time to master faith. Be patient. Be persistent.

Your subconscious mind functions voluntarily whether you make any effort to influence it or not. This, naturally, suggests thoughts of fear and poverty, and all negative thoughts, serve as stimuli to your subconscious mind, unless you master these impulses and give it more desirable food upon which to feed.

The subconscious mind will not remain idle. If you fail to plant desires in your subconscious mind, it will feed a panda thoughts which region as a result of your neglect. We have already explained the thought impulses, both negative and positive, reaching the subconscious mind continuously from the four sources which were mentioned in the chapter on sex transmutation.

The subconscious mind is more susceptible to influence by impulses of mixed thought with “feeling” or emotion than those originating solely from the reasoning proportion of the mind.

The seven major positive emotions:

1. Desire

2. Thanks

3. Love

4. Ses

5. Enthusiasm

6. Romance

7. Hope

The seven major negative emotions:

1. fear

2. Jealousy

3. Hatred

4. Revenge

5. Greed

6. Superstition

7. Anger

Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time. One or the other must Dominic. It is your responsibility to make sure that positive emotions constitute the dominating influence of your mind. Here the law of habit will come to your aid. Form the habit of applying and using the positive emotions. Eventually they will dominate your mind so completely but the negatives cannot enter it.

Most people resort to prayer only after everything else has failed. Or else they pray by ritual of meaningless words. They go to prayer with their minds filled with fear and doubt, which are the emotions the subconscious mind acts upon and passes on to infinite intelligence. If you pray for a thing but have fear as you pray that you may not receive it, or that your prayer will not be acted upon by infinite intelligence, your prayer will have been in vain.

Faith is the only known agency which will give your thoughts a spiritual nature. Face in fear make poor bedfellows. Where one is found, the other cannot exist.

Chapter 13

The brain

Broadcasting in receiving station for thought

The 12th step toward riches

To the medium of the ether, in fashion similar to that employed by the radio broadcasting principle, every human brain is capable of picking up vibrations of thought which are being released by other brains.

The subconscious mind is the “sending station“ of the brain, through which vibrations of thought or broadcast. The creative imagination is the “receiving set,“ through which the vibrations of thought are picked up from the ether.

Operation of your mental “broadcasting“ station is a comparatively simple procedure. You have the three principles to bear in mind and to apply when you wish to use your broadcasting station – the subconscious mind, creative imagination, and autosuggestion. The stimuli through which you put these three principles into action have been described – the procedure begins with desire.

Chapter 14

The sixth sense

The door to the temple of wisdom

The 13th step toward riches

The sixth sense is that proportion of the subconscious mind which has been referred to as the creative imagination. It has also been referred to as the “receiving said“ through which ideas, plans, and thoughts flash to the mind. The “flashes“ are sometimes called “conscious“ or “inspirations.“

To the eighth of the sixth sense, you will be warned of impending dangers in time to avoid them, and notified of opportunities in time to embrace them.

There comes to your aid and to do your bidding, with the development of the sixth sense, a “guardian angel“ who will open to you at all times the door to the temple of wisdom.

Whether or not this is a statement of truth you will never know, except by following the instructions described in the pages of this book or some similar method of procedure.

The author is not a believer in, nor an advocate of, “miracles,“ for the reason that he has enough knowledge of nature to understand that nature never deviates from her established laws. Some of her laws are so incomprehensible that they produce what would appear to be “miracles.“ The sixth sense comes as near to being a miracle as anything I’ve ever experienced, and it appears so only because I do not understand the method by which this principle is operated.

Being an earnest student of psychology, I knew, of course, that all men have become what they are because of their dominating thoughts and desires. I knew that every deeply seated desire has the effect of causing one to seek outward expression through which that desire may be transmuted into reality. I knew that self suggestion is a powerful factor in building character, but it is in fact the sole principle through which character is built.

Chapter 15

How to outwit The six ghosts of fear

Take inventory of yourself as you read this closing section, and find out how many of the “ghosts” are standing in your way.

The six basic fears:

1. Poverty

2. Criticism

3. Ill health

4. Loss of love of someone

5. Old age

6. Death

There could be no compromise between poverty and riches. The two roads that lead to poverty and riches travel in opposite directions. If you want riches, you must refuse to accept any circumstance that leads toward poverty. The starting point of the path that leads to riches is desire.

This is one decision you cannot avoid. If you demand riches, determine what form, and how much will be required to satisfy you. you know the road that leads to riches. You have been given a roadmap, which, followed, will keep you on that road. If you neglect to make the start or stop before you arrive, no one will be to blame but you. This responsibility is yours. No alibi will save you from accepting responsibility if you now fail or refuse to demand the main riches of life, because the acceptance calls for about one thing – incidentally, the only thing you can control – and that is a state of mind. A state of mind is something that one assumes. It cannot be purchased, it must be created.

The fear of poverty is, without doubt, the most destructive of the six basic fears. It has been placed at the head of the list because It is the most difficult to master. Considerable courage is required to state the truth about the origin of the sphere, and still greater courage to accept the truth after its been stated. If you’re of poverty grew out of man’s inherited tendency to pray upon his fellowman economically. Nearly all animals lower than men are motivated by instinct, but their capacity to “think“ is limited; therefore, they pray upon one another physically. Men, with a superior sense of intuition, with a capacity to think into reason, does not eat his fellow men badly; he gets more satisfaction out of “eating“ him financially. Man is so avaricious that every conceivable law has been passed to safeguard him from his fellow man.

Nothing brings man so much suffering in humility as poverty. Only those who have experienced poverty understand the full meaning of this.

It is no wonder that man fears poverty.

Symptoms of the fear of poverty

• indifference

• Indecision

• Doubt

• Worry

• Over caution

• Procrastination

The fear of criticism

The fear of criticism robs man of his initiative, destroys his power of imagination, limits his individuality, takes away his self-reliance, and does him damage in 100 other ways. Parents often do their children irreparable injury by criticizing them. The mother of one of my boyhood chums used to punish him with a switch almost daily, after completing the job with the statement, “you’ll land in the penitentiary before you were 20.“ He was sent to the reformatory at the age of 17. Criticism is the one form of service in which everyone has too much. Everyone has a stock of it which is handed out, gratis, whether called for or not. When’s nearest relatives often are the worst offenders. It should be recognized as a crime for any parent to build an inferiority complex in the mind of a child through unnecessary criticism. Employers to understand human nature get the best there is in men, not by criticism, but by constructive suggestions. Parents may accomplish the same results with their children. Criticism will plant fear in the human heart, or resentment, but it will not build love or affection.

Symptoms of the fear of criticism

• Self-consciousness.

• Lack of poise

• Personality. Lacking in firmness of decision, personal charm, and ability to express opinions definitely.

• Inferiority complex.

• Extravagance.

• Lack of initiative.

• Lack of ambition.

The fear of ill health

In the main, man fears ill health because of the terrible pictures which have been planted in his mind of what may happen if death should overtake him. He also fears it because of the economic toll which you may claim.

Symptoms of the fear of ill health

• Autosuggestion. The habit of negative use of self suggestion by looking for, and expecting to find, the symptoms of all kinds of disease.

• Hypochondria.

• Exercise. Fear of ill health often interferes with proper physical exercise, and results in being overweight, by causing one to avoid outdoor life.

• Susceptibility. Fear of ill health breaks down nature's body resistance, and creates a favorable condition for any form of disease when they contact

• The fear of ill health is often related to the fear of poverty, especially in the case of the hypochondriac, who constantly worries about the possibility of having to pay doctors bills, hospital bills, etc.

• Self coddling. The habit of making a bid for sympathy, using imaginary illness as the lure.

• Intemperance. Habit of using alcohol or narcotics to destroy pain such as headaches, neuralgia, etc., Instead of eliminating the cause.

The fear of loss of love

The original source of this inherent fear needs but a little description, because it obviously grew out of man’s polygamist habit of stealing his fellow man’s meat, and his habit of taking liberties with her whenever he could.

The fear of the loss of love probably dates back to the Stone Age, when men stole women by brute force. They continue to steal females, but their technique has changed. Instead of force they now use persuasion, the promise of pretty clothes, motorcars, and other “date“ much more effective than physical force.

Careful analysis has shown that women are more susceptible to this fear than men. This fact is easily explained. Women have learned from experience that men are polygamous by nature, that they are not to be trusted in the hands of rivals.

Symptoms of the fear of loss of love:

• Jealousy. The habit of being suspicious of friends and loved ones without any reasonable evidence of sufficient grounds.

• Fault Finding. They find fault with friends, relatives, business associates and loved ones upon the slightest provocation, or without any cause whatsoever.

• Gambling. The habit of gambling, stealing, cheating, and otherwise taking hazardous chances to provide money for loved ones, with the belief that love can be bought. The habit of spending beyond one's means, or incurring debts, to revive gifts for loved ones, with the object of making favorable showing.

The fear of old age

This fear grows out of two sources. First, The thought that old age may bring with it poverty. Secondly, and by far the most common source of origin, from false and cruel teachings of the past which have been too well mixed with “fire and brimstone” and other boobies cunningly designed to enslave man through fear.

The possibility of ill health, which is more common in people growing older, is also a contributing cause of this common fear of old age. Eroticism also enters into the cause of the fear of old age, as no man cherishes the thought of diminishing sex attraction.

Symptoms of the fear of old age

• The tendency to slow down and develop an inferiority complex at the age of mental maturity, around the age of 40, falsely believing one’s self to be slipping because of age

• The habit of speaking apologetically to oneself as “being old” merely because 1 has reached the age of 40 or 50, instead of reversing the rule expressing gratitude for having reached the age of wisdom and understanding.

• The habit of killing off initiative, imagination, and self-reliance by falsely believing oneself too old to exercise these qualities. The habit of a man or woman of 40 dressing with the aim of trying to appear much younger, and affecting mannerisms of youth, thereby inspiring ridicule by both friends and strangers.

The fear of death

This fear is useless. Death will come, no matter what anyone may think about it. Accept it as a necessity, and pass the thought out of your mind. It must be a necessity, it would not come to all. Perhaps it is not as bad as it has been pictured.

Life is energy, if it is anything. Neither energy nor matter can be destroyed, of course life cannot be destroyed. Life, like other forms of energy, may be passed through various processes of transition or change, but it cannot be destroyed. Death is near transition.

If death is not near change or transition, then nothing comes after death except a long, eternal, peaceful sleep, and sleep is nothing to be feared. Thus you may wipe out, forever, the fear of death.

Symptoms of the fear of death:

• The habit of thinking about dying instead of making the most of life, do, generally, the lack of purpose, or lack of a suitable occupation. This fear is more prevalent among the aged, but sometimes the more useful are victims of it. The greatest of all remedies for the fear of death is a burning desire for achievement, backed by useful service to others. A busy person seldom has time to think about dying. He finds life too thrilling to worry about death. Sometimes the fear of death is closely associated with the fear of poverty, or one’s death Woodleave loved ones poverty stricken. In other cases the fear of death caused by illness and the consequent breaking down of physical body resistance. The communist causes a fear of death are: your Health, poverty, lack of appropriate occupation, disappointment over love, insanity, religious fanaticism.

Old man worry

Where is a state of mind based upon fear. It works slowly, but persistently. Worry is a form of sustained fear caused by indecision, therefore it is a state of mind which can be controlled.

An unsettled mind is helpless. Indecision makes an unsettled mind. Most individuals lack the willpower to reach decisions promptly, and to stand by them after they’ve been made, even during normal business conditions. During periods of economic unrest, the individual is handicapped, not only by his inherent nature to be slow at reaching decisions, but he’s influenced by the indecision of others around him who have created the state of “mass indecision.“

We do not worry about conditions once we have reached a decision to follow a definite line of action.

Kill the habit of worry, in all its forms, by reaching in general, a blanket decision that nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry. With this decision will come poise, peace of mind, and calmness of thought that will bring happiness.

A man his mind is filled with fear not only destroys his own chances of intelligent action, but he transmits these destructive vibrations to the minds of all who come into contact with him, and destroys, also, their chances.

Even a dog or a horse knows when it’s master lacks courage; moreover, a dog or a horse will pick up the vibrations of fear thrown off by its master, and behave accordingly.

The person who gives expression, by word of mouth, to negative or destructive thoughts is practically certain to experience the results of those words in the form of a destructive “kick back.” The release of the destructive thought impulses, alone, without the aid of words, produce is also a “kickback” in more ways than one.

One is never through with a thought merely by releasing it. Once A thought is released, it spreads in every direction through the medium of the ether, but it also plants itself permanently in the subconscious mind of the person releasing it.

The devil's workshop

The seventh basic evil

In addition to the six basic fears, there’s another evil by which people suffer. A constitutes a rich soil in which the seeds of failure grow abundantly. It is so subtle its presence often is not detected. This affliction cannot properly be classed as a fear. It is more deeply seated and often more fatal than all of the six fears. For want of a better name, let’s call this evil susceptibility to negative influences.

Men who accumulate great riches always protect themselves against this evil. The poverty-stricken never do. Those who succeed in any calling must be prepared to resist this evil.

How to protect yourself against negative influences

• Recognize the fact that you, and every other human being, are by nature lazy, indifferent, and susceptible to all suggestions which harmonize with your weaknesses.

• Recognize that you are by nature susceptible to all the six basic fears, and set up habits for the purpose of contracting all these fears.

• Recognizing the negative influences often work on you through your subconscious mind; therefore they are difficult to detect. Keep your mind closed against all people who depress or discourage you in any way.

• Clean out your medicine chest, throw away all pill bottles, and start pandering to colds, eggs, pains, an imaginary illness.

• Deliberately seek the company of people who influence you to think and act for yourself.

• Do not expect troubles, as they have a tendency not to disappoint.

Self analysis test questions:

SELF-ANALYSIS TEST QUESTIONS

Do you complain often of "feeling bad," and if so, what is the cause?

Do you find fault with other people at the slightest provocation?

Do you frequently make mistakes in your work, and if so, why?

Are you sarcastic and offensive in your conversation?

Do you deliberately avoid the association of anyone, and if so, why?

Do you suffer frequently with indigestion? If so, what is the cause?

Does life seem futile and the future hopeless to you? If so, why?

Do you like your occupation? If not, why?

Do you often feel self-pity, and if so why?

Are you envious of those who excel you?

To which do you devote most time, thinking of success, or of failure?

Are you gaining or losing self-confidence as you grow older?

Do you learn something of value from all mistakes? Are you permitting some relative or acquaintance to worry you? If so, why?

Are you sometimes "in the clouds" and at other times in the depths of despondency?

Who has the most inspiring influence upon you? What is the cause?

Do you tolerate negative or discouraging influences which you can avoid?

Are you careless of your personal appearance? If so, when and why?

Have you learned how to "drown your troubles" by being too busy to be annoyed by them?

Would you call yourself a "spineless weakling" if you permitted others to do your thinking for you?

Do you neglect internal bathing until autointoxication makes you ill-tempered and irritable?

How many preventable disturbances annoy you, and why do you tolerate them?

Do you resort to liquor, narcotics, or cigarettes to "quiet your nerves"?

If so, why do you not try willpower instead?

Does anyone "nag" you, and if so, for what reason?

Do you have a definite major purpose, and if so, what is it, and what plan do you have for achieving it?

Do you suffer from any of the six basic fears? If so, which ones?

Do you have a method by which you can shield yourself against the negative influence of others?

Do you make deliberate use of autosuggestion to make your mind positive?

Which do you value most, your material possessions, or your privilege of controlling your own thoughts?

Are you easily influenced by others, against your own judgment?

Has today added anything of value to your stock of knowledge or state of mind?

Do you squarely face the circumstances which make you unhappy, or sidestep the responsibility? Do you take the attitude that this is not your duty?

Can you name three of your most damaging weaknesses? What are you doing to correct them?

Do you encourage other people to bring their worries to you for sympathy?

Do you choose, from your daily experiences, lessons or influences which aid in your personal advancement?

Does your presence have a negative influence on other people as a rule?

What habits of other people annoy you most?

Do you form your own opinions or permit yourself to be influenced by other people?

Have you learned how to create a mental state of mind with which you can shield yourself against all discouraging influences?

Does your occupation inspire you with faith and hope?

Are you conscious of possessing spiritual forces of sufficient power to enable you to keep your mind free from all forms of fear?

Does your religion help you to keep your own mind positive?

Do you feel it your duty to share other people's worries? If so, why?

If you believe that "birds of a feather flock together," what have you learned about yourself by studying the friends whom you attract?

What connection, if any, do you see between the people with whom you associate most closely and any unhappiness you may experience?

Could it be possible that some person whom you consider to be a friend is, in reality, your worst enemy because of his negative influence on your mind?

By what rules do you judge who is helpful and who is damaging to you?

Are your intimate associates mentally superior or inferior to you?

How much time out of every 24 hours do you devote to:

a. your occupation

b. sleep

c. play and relaxation

d. acquiring useful knowledge

c. plain waste

Who among your acquaintances,

a. encourages you most

b. cautions you most

c. discourages you most

d. helps you most in other ways

What is your greatest worry? Why do you tolerate it?

When others offer you free, unsolicited advice, do you accept it without question, or analyze their motive?

What, above all else, do you most desire? Do you intend to acquire it?

Are you willing to subordinate all other desires for this one? How much time daily do you devote to acquiring it?

Do you change your mind often? If so, why?

Do you usually finish everything you begin?

Are you easily impressed by other people's business or professional titles, college degrees, or wealth? Are you easily influenced by what other people think or say of you?

Do you cater to people because of their social or financial status?

Whom do you believe to be the greatest person living? In what respect is this person superior to yourself?

How much time have you devoted to studying and answering these questions? (At least one day is necessary for the analysis and the answering of the entire list.)

If you have answered all these questions truthfully, you know more about yourself than the majority of people. Study the questions carefully.

57 famous alibis:

IF I didn't have a wife and family

IF I had enough "pull"

IF I had money . .

IF I had a good education ..

IF I could get a job ..

IF I had good health.

IF I only had time...

IF times were better ..

IF other people understood me ..

IF conditions around me were only different .

IF I could live my life over again .

IF I did not fear what "they" would say

IF I had been given a chance .

IF I now had a chance . .

IF other people didn't "have it in for me" .

IF nothing happens to stop me . .

IF I were only younger . .

IF I could only do what I want .

IF I had been born rich..

IF I could meet "the right people"

IF I had the talent that some people have .

IF I dared assert myself ..

IF I only had embraced past opportunities

IF People didn’t get on my nerves…

IF I didn’t have to keep house and look after the children.

IF I could save some money . .

IF the boss only appreciated me .

IF I only had somebody to help me .

IF my family understood me .

IF I lived in a big city..

IF I could just get started .

IF I were only free . . .

IF I had the personality of some people .

IF I were not so fat . ..

IF my talents were known .

IF I could just get a "break"

IF I could only get out of debt .

IF I hadn't failed ...

IF I only knew how.

IF everybody didn't oppose me

IF I didn't have so many worries .

IF I could marry the right person

IF people weren't so dumb .

IF my family were not so extravagant .

IF I were sure of myself ..

IF luck was not against me .

IF I had not been born under the wrong star.

IF it were not true that "what is to be will be"

IF I did not have to work so hard .

IF I hadn't lost my money .

IF I lived in a different neighborhood.

IF I didn't have a "past"..

IF I only had a business of my own . .

IF other people would only listen to me .

IF *** and this is the greatest of them all * * *