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2
Table Of Contents
(Click On Any Chapter To Be Taken There Immediately)
3
Introduction
There are a few…just a VERY few…traits that a person must cultivate
and develop in their lives before they can even START to become successful
in whatever path they choose.
You can think of these traits as the building blocks…the foundation…of
your growth into a successful life.
You can build a life without them, but, like building a house without a
strong foundation, it’ll be put at risk with the first heavy wind or rainstorm.
Believe me, you will have a few of those in your life for sure!
A very successful businessman and public speaker originally wrote this
book in the late 1800s. The author knows what he’s talking about!
The text was thoroughly edited and updated to make the language
more readable and more current. However, the concepts and “laws” that
are discussed in the book are ageless.
These are traits that are a “must” for any person who is looking for
long-term success in their life…no matter WHAT their goals may be.
Read them carefully and thoughtfully. They WILL make a HUGE
difference in your life!
4
 
The Power Of Concentration
Throughout the ages, great people have invariably had great
concentration. In art and science, business and warfare, literature, politics
and philosophy, the real achievements of the race have been due to this
power. Concentration arises chiefly from being deeply interested, and is very
closely related to persistency and definiteness of purpose. Concentration is
an enemy to self-consciousness and vacillation. It enables a man to do the
best that is in him. It is one of the characteristic marks of genius itself.
A timid person is erratic in their habits. They shift constantly from one
thing to another, accomplishing nothing worth anything. Is it a book they’re
reading? Soon they turn the page_news impatiently, skim lightly over the most
important parts, hasten to learn the conclusion, and cast the book aside. Is
it a new business venture? They enter upon it enthusiastically, but at the
first sign of difficulty lose heart and give up. Every change they make causes
a loss of time and energy, so that they are always going but never arriving.
People make their own world. To cultivate concentration they must
think and do only one thing at a time. Concentration is the art of continuous
and intense application to a task. It is not an abstraction; therefore it cannot
be offered as an excuse for carelessness. Here’s an example: A young man
who worked in a bank was assigned to collect a note for $75,000. He
received the customer's check for the amount, had it certified, and returned
to the bank. Upon arriving at the bank, he immediately engaged a fellow
worker in conversation, and then was sent out again for another errand. He
loitered on the way, and when he returned, the bank had closed and
everyone had gone home. That night the young man told his father how he
came to have the check still in his pocket.
5
 
His father made him call the president of the bank at home, and early
next morning the young man handed in the check. The president called him
into his office and said: "We don’t require your services any longer."
Thoroughness is one of the marks of a self-confident person. They do
everything they undertake just as well as they can. If it is a business matter
to be discussed, they first inform themselves so completely that they are
able to talk with accuracy and intelligence. If it is a public speech to be
delivered, they don’t wait until the day before and then put together a few
hastily considered thoughts, but all is carefully and thoroughly prepared long
in advance. Such a person speaks little of what they are going to do, but
first does it and lets their work speak for itself.
Every person should get an idea of values in their life. There can be no
true success where time and talent are squandered. "Every moment lost,"
said Napoleon, himself a wonderful example of concentration, "gives an
opportunity for misfortune." The building of a self-confident person requires
effort, self-sacrifice, and singleness of purpose.
It is not quantity but quality of work that differentiates one man from
another. One thing well and thoroughly done is better than any amount of
careless work. The person who is completely absorbed in the present duty
has no time for discontent and discouragement. Time does not hang heavily
on their hands, for the clock is not their master.
6
No one can become deeply interested in work that is distasteful to
them. Thousands of people struggle up-stream all their lives because they
are in a job that doesn’t fit them. An anonymous writer said: "It is a sad
parody on life to see a man earning his living by a vocation which has never
received his approval. It is pitiable to see a youth, with the image of power
and destiny stamped upon him, trying to support himself in a mean,
contemptible occupation, which dwarfs his nature, and makes him despise
himself; an occupation which is constantly condemning him, ostracizing him
from all that is best and truest in life. Dig trenches, shovel coal, carry a rod;
do anything rather than sacrifice your self-respect, blunt your sense of right
and wrong, and shut yourself off forever from the true joy of living, which
comes only from the consciousness of doing one's best."
In order to cultivate concentration a person must bring their will to
bear strongly upon their work and their life. They should realize that every
difficulty yields to this power, and that uninterrupted application to one thing
will achieve the seemingly impossible. Mental shiftlessness is powerless in
the face of difficulty, but a person of strong will and concentration uses
obstacles as stepping-stones to higher things.
You need to begin to develop your concentration today in little things.
Cultivate the most intense earnestness in whatever you may be doing. Say
to yourself: "This one thing I do and I do it to the very best of my ability. My
purpose is sure and steady. My aim is accurate and certain. I hold my
thought severely and positively to the work in hand. My endeavor is to do
better at each succeeding effort. I don’t think about tomorrow, for today
demands the best that’s in me.”
7
“I move quietly but persistently toward a definite goal. I shall be
immensely successful through constant, earnest and sincere application to
my work and duty. I grow daily in my power of concentrated effort. I am
absorbed in all I do."
A person should concentrate not only in matters of business, but in
their reading and recreation. This great power brings with it many other
valuable elements, such as order, punctuality, thoroughness, self-respect,
and self-reliance. Through concentration a person may aspire to the highest
achievements. By its aid there is practically no limit to ambition.
Buskin said that "men's proper business in this world falls mainly into
three divisions: First, to know themselves. Secondly, to be happy in
themselves. Thirdly, to mend themselves as far as either are marred or
mend able."
We hear people constantly deploring the fact that they lack
concentration, memory, definiteness, and other qualities of excellence, but
those same people don’t make the slightest effort to cultivate them. Few
persons are born with really great gifts; most of the truly great have
achieved greatness. Napoleon ascribed his greatest victories to his ability to
concentrate his forces on a single point in the enemy. Gladstone was
remarkable for this same power. When the great statesman died, Lord
Eosebery said: "My lords, there are two features of Mr. Gladstone's intellect
which I can not help noting on this occasion, for they were so signal, so
salient, and distinguished him so much from all other minds that I have
come in contact with, that it would be wanting to this occasion if they were
not noted. The first was his enormous power of concentration!”
8
“There never was a man, I feel, in this world, who, at any given
moment, on any given subject, could so devote every resource and power of
his intellect, without the restriction of a single nerve within him, to the
immediate purpose of that subject."
The story is told of an English statesman whose powers of
concentration were so great that after a great debate in Parliament, they
hurried from the House bareheaded, passed his coach at the door, and
walked all the way home in a pouring rain. In the highest form of public
speaking men become so absorbed in their subject that they lose for the
time being all consideration and thought of everything else. This power is
really indispensable to the highest form of extempore address. The great
pulpit orators of the world possessed this faculty in preeminent degree.
Whitefield, Mirabeau, Wilberforce, Parker, Spurgeon, Beecher, Phillips
Brooks, all were men of tremendous earnestness and concentration. John
Bright was so completely absorbed in the subject of a forthcoming speech
that they brooded over it day and night, talked it over with his friends, and
when no one else was available discussed it with his gardener.
But along with a person’s concentration there must be actual
performance. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler says that "Indefinite absorption
without production is fatal both to character and to the highest intellectual
power. Do something and be able to do it well; express what you know in
some helpful and substantial form; produce, and do not everlastingly feel
only and revel in feelings--these are counsels which make for a real
education and against that sham form of it which is easily recognized as
well-informed incapacity."
9
The power of concentration is to be developed so as to enable a
person to do better work, to produce the best of which they is capable. It
does not mean brooding and meditating, with no thought of action and
production. It is to encourage work, not restrain it.
It’s a mistake to think that concentration means a straining of the
mind. On the contrary, it is power in repose. It’s not a nervous habit of
doing your work under pressure, but the ease of self-control. Every person
should have one great ideal in life toward which they direct their best
powers.
By constantly keeping that aim before you, by bending your energies
to it, you can hope eventually to attain to your highest goals. When a
successful financier was asked the secret of his great success, he said that
as a young man they made a strong mental picture of what some day he
would become. Day and night he concentrated his powers upon that one
goal. There was no feverish haste, no nervous overreaching, and no
squandering of mental and physical power, but a strong, reposeful, never-
wavering determination to make that picture of his youth a living reality.
Such is the power of concentration; such is the secret of success.
10
Developing Self-confidence
The development of self-confidence begins properly with intelligent
self-examination. The mind must be closely scrutinized, undesirable
tendencies checked; faults eradicated, and correct habits of thought and
conduct firmly established.
To achieve the best results this personal overhauling, or house
cleaning, should be thorough and fearless.
Fearful thought is a disease, to be diagnosed as carefully as any other
illness. It comes largely from perverted mental habits. The mind is
permitted habitually to dwell upon thoughts of doubt, failure, and
inefficiency. So great does this power become, when permitted to rule
unchecked, that it affects to greater or less degree almost every act of one's
life.
The extremes to which a fearful person will sometimes go are as
amusing as they are absurd. People fear poverty, darkness, ridicule,
microbes, insomnia, dogs, lightning, burglars, cold, solitude, marriage,
Friday, lawyers, death, thirteen, accident, and ghosts. The catalog of
dreaded possibilities might include black cats, mice, ill luck, criticism, travel,
disease, evil eyes, dreams, and old age.
It’s true there is legitimate and honest fear, like that of the young
soldier who, upon being asked after his first battle how they felt, replied: "I
was afraid I would be afraid, but I was not afraid."
11
 
It’s right and proper that one should fear to do a mean or cowardly
thing, to injure another, or to commit any kind of wrong. This fear, however,
instead of weakening personal character, imparts to it new and manly force.
To walk straight up to the thing feared will often strip it of its terror. In
one of the old fables we read that when man first beheld the camel its huge
size caused him to flee in dreadful fear. But later, observing the animal's
seeming gentleness, he approached him less timidly, and then, seeing the
almost spiritless nature of the beast, he boldly put a bridle in his mouth and
set a child to drive him. We can in like manner conquer fearful thoughts of
the human mind.
Fear has well been called our most ancient enemy. Primitive humanity
was unprotected against more powerful animals, and in those early days
they had good reason to be fearful, but it is difficult to justify the widespread
fear that exists today.
Thousands of persons can say truthfully: "I have all my life feared
things that never happened." The danger of this fearful attitude is that it
frequently attracts that which is dreaded most, and the words of Job are
literally fulfilled: "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me and
that which I was afraid of is come unto me." We are told that one of the
bravest of African chiefs was driven into a cold sweat of agonizing fear
merely by the constant ticking of a watch.
12
If worry is due to lack of self-reliance, fear is an acknowledgment of
inferiority. It does not stand still, and unless throttled will gradually
overwhelm its victim, making him at last "Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread, And having once turned round walks on, And
turns no more his head; Because he knows a frightful fiend doth close
behind him tread."
Timidity is quickly recognized by the world, and not only argues an
ignoble mind, as Virgil says, but actually invites pursuit and imposition. John
Foster observes in his splendid essay "On Decision of Character ":
“Weakness, in every form, tempts arrogance; and a man may be allowed to
wish for a kind of character with which stupidity and impertinence may not
make so free. When a firm, decisive spirit is recognized, it is curious to see
how the space clears around a man, and leaves him room and freedom. The
disposition to interrogate, dictate, or banter, preserves a respectful and
polite distance, judging it not unwise to keep the peace with a person of so
much energy."
It’s surprising how confidence breeds confidence. Courage in danger is
sometimes half the battle, while self-reliance will often safeguard a person's
interests and give him an abiding sense of security. It makes them feel
equal to almost any undertaking, however difficult, leading them to think
with Dryden "They can conquer who believe they can."
13
The building of self-confidence is not difficult, but it requires patience
and intelligent effort. There should be no straining, no anxiety, and no haste.
The story of the man who tried to jump over a hill should be kept in mind.
He went a long way back, then ran so hard toward the hill that when he got
there he was obliged to lie down and rest. Then he got up and walked over
the hill. Many men are always preparing, but never achieving.
It is said that with regard to any final or definite end, most people live
without purpose, and without any fixed star to guide them. So, as a writer
has expressed it, "To him that knoweth not the port to which he is bound, no
wind can be favorable; neither can he who has not yet determined at what
mark he is to shoot, direct his arrow correctly."
Indecision is a frequent cause of the fear. People hesitate to take a
step one way or the other for fear that they might do the wrong thing, and
this spirit of irresolution and hesitation often leads them into the very
mistakes they would avoid. It’s like a man on a bicycle, endeavoring to steer
clear of an obstruction on the road, but all the while keeping his eye
fastened upon it so that a collision is inevitable. There is nothing more
disastrous to success than lack of purpose. "He who hesitates is lost," while
he grows great who puts on "the dauntless spirit of resolution." The world
generally accepts a man at his own value. If you give an impression that you
are afraid, you will elbowed aside and imposed upon at almost every turn.
14
Let me illustrate: The other day I saw a dog leisurely pass a cat on the
street, and to all appearance there was no ill feeling on either side. The cat
looked him straight in the eye as they approached, and the dog returned her
confident glance and quietly passed on. Then the cat, seeing a good chance
for escape, bolted across the street, but the instant the dog saw her running
he turned and followed in hot haste. It was cat and dog for some yards,
when suddenly the cat stopped, humped her back and looked defiantly at
her adversary. He stopped, caught his breath, blinked uncertainly, turned up
his nose, and walked off. As long as the cat showed fear and ran, the dog
chased her; but the moment she took her stand, he respected her. When a
person stands up boldly and self-confidently for their rights, fear slinks
tremblingly into the shadows.
If you want to learn how to be self-confident, resolve to follow it to
completion with bulldog tenacity. Realize that no weak-hearted, intermittent
efforts will achieve your desired purpose. Hold in your mind the supreme
assurance that you can and will achieve this indispensable power, and your
reward for your energy and perseverance will be great!
15
Overcoming Self-consciousness
Daily speech offers one of the vast opportunities for eliminating self-
consciousness. The student should aim here to develop definiteness of idea,
sincerity of expression, and concentration of mind. Nothing leads so quickly
to hesitation and embarrassment in a speaker as mental uncertainty. To
speak confidently, they must not guess, or imagine, or take for granted:
they must know. Lack of proper mental equipment is responsible for a large
part of the fearfulness of people. People who really know what they’re
talking about, and are absolutely sure of it, are likely to be sure of
themselves. It shows itself in their voice, their use of words, their manner,
and their entire personality.
The speaker should cultivate sincerity in his conversation. They will
avoid formal compliments and empty platitudes. They will not talk like a
book. They will not talk just to hear themselves. They will speak for a
purpose, and this will easily enable them to concentrate their mind upon the
subject of his conversation. They will listen attentively and interestedly to
others. Above all, they will not speak of themselves unless obliged to do so,
and then briefly, modestly, and gently.
In what manner, then, shall they speak? Newman's definition of a
good person answers that question well: "They guard against unseasonable
allusions or topics which may irritate; they are seldom prominent in
conversation, and never wearisome. They make light of favors when they do
them, and seem to be receiving when they are conferring.
16
 
They never speak of themselves except when compelled, never defend
themselves by a mere retort; they have no ears for slander or gossip, are
scrupulous in assigning motives to those who interfere with them, and
interpret everything for the best."
This self-discipline begins naturally with deep breathing. Many people
don’t realize that the manner in which they breathe affects their attitude of
mind. It is altogether too common to use but one half of the breathing
capacity. A man who breathes only with his upper chest lacks the vigor and
vitality essential to a high degree of self-confidence. Deep breathing should
be practiced daily until it becomes an unconscious habit.
So, what is the remedy for self-consciousness? It’s mainly a matter of
securing control of one's thoughts and intelligently directing them. The mind
is a machine, which must be made obedient to the owner's will. When
brought under subjection, it will serve man's highest and best purposes, but
left to itself it may run easily to confusion and destruction.
You might say: "But my mind wanders." Then go after it and bring it
back. You say you can’t? Who’s operating your mind? Does it run itself?
What would you think of a train that had no engineer, no conductor, no one
to direct it, and was allowed to run just anywhere? Yet this is what you
permit with your train of ideas. Be sensible. Take hold of yourself seriously.
Set your will to work. Straighten your spine. Take time today for mental
overhauling. You are about to educate your will and it’s serious business.
Procrastination will not do. From this time forward resolve to control and
direct your mental powers for definite purposes.
17
Let it be said here, without attempt to moralize, that wrongdoing will
contribute its share to self-consciousness. It may be an injury done another,
an unfair advantage in business, or a secret habit; but whatever it may be,
its mark is seared upon the conscience, and sooner or later finds expression
in embarrassment. What should one do who comes under this classification?
Repair the injury, stop every undesirable habit, and resolve hereafter to deal
justly with all people.
Constantly hold in your mind a high estimate of yourself, but be sure
you have reasons for doing so. It is of little use to say you are well if you are
ill. Don’t deceive yourself. You are no greater than the sum of your thoughts
and habits. Do you have good and sufficient reasons for holding yourself in
high esteem? Are you a person of noble impulses? Is your ambition lofty?
Do you have high ideals and do you work persistently to realize them? Are
you doing the best you can? Do you have an uncompromising love for
truth?
A business man recently wrote to a teacher, saying: "I lose control and
become embarrassed when I speak even to my own employees, and can’t
keep a straight face at any time when meeting strangers. I feel
embarrassed, turn red in the face, and otherwise feel uncomfortable when
talking to a single individual. If I were called upon to address an audience, I
believe I should drop dead." This is an illustration of the extremes to which
self-consciousness may carry its victim. The mind is a fertile field for the
growth of all kinds of thought. If false and negative ideas are allowed to take
root, they, like weeds of an ordinary field, spread with wonderful rapidity,
and may easily discourage and overwhelm the owner. The man to whom we
have referred has long neglected his mental field and now finds himself in a
bad way.
18
The remedy for him, and for lots of others, is to patiently root out
every obnoxious habit and to substitute strong, healthy, positive thoughts in
its place. They must be content with small victories at first, since they have
permitted their mental field and garden to be overrun with these
objectionable thought habits, but they can comfort themselves with the
assurance that in this way they can and will attain success.
Timid people concern themselves too much about what others will
think and say. They are constantly studying the impression they are making
upon people who probably are not even thinking of them. Their super
sensitiveness causes them to imagine themselves being criticized, slighted,
and unfairly condemned by those who all the while are absorbed in their own
affairs.
A man may be on the road to success when a single act of timidity
may ruin all his chances. People lose confidence in him if he lacks faith in
himself. Courage is admired, fear never is. Courage is dignified, fear is
repulsive. The man of courage is welcomed everywhere, while fear invites
itself to a seat in the rear. The following incident actually occurred in a
second-hand bookshop. The salesman had been talking for some time to a
customer, when another man who had selected a book for himself mustered
up enough courage to say: "Don't let me interrupt you, sir, if you are busy
with that gentleman—I wanted to get—this book--but I can just as well call
in on my way back--I would have to trouble you anyway--to change--a five-
dollar bill--and perhaps--you haven't--the change-so I'll come back--in a
little while--don't trouble, sir--and then I'll have the right change with me."
19
This sounds exaggerated, but it can be vouched for. What chance, do you
think, does that man have for advancement or distinction in the world? He
is doomed to failure unless he changes his entire mental attitude.
Every person should learn to stand firmly upon his own feet. As
themselves they may become great; as an imitator they will amount to little.
"Intellectual intrepidity," says Samuel Smiles "is one of the vital conditions
of independence and self-reliance in character. A man must have the
courage to be himself, and not the shadow or the echo of another. He must
exercise his own powers, think his own thoughts, and speak his own
sentiments. He must elaborate his own opinions, and form his own
convictions. It has been said that they who dare not form an opinion must
be a coward; they who will not, must be an idler; they who can not, must be
a fool."
The timid man should take inspiration from the experience of many of
the world's greatest orators and actors. For the most part they at first were
self-conscious men. Demosthenes, Cicero, Curran, Chalmers, Erskine, Pitt,
Gladstone, Disraeli, Mirabeau, Patrick Henry, Clay, Gough, Beecher, Salvini,
Henry Irving, Richard Mansfield, and many others were subject to "stage-
fright." But this sensitivity, when at last controlled and intelligently directed,
enabled them to reach a foremost place among distinguished men. It is said
of Rufus Choate, the great lawyer, that before an important address to a
jury, looked as nervous and wretched as a criminal about to be hanged.
20
Probably every public speaker who has amounted to anything could
testify to this initial feeling of nervousness or anxiety, but the cure lies in
becoming so absorbed in one's subject, or the welfare of others, as to forget
one's self.
Self-consciousness may arise from self conceit. The victim says to
himself: "What impression am I making?" "Do I look okay? " "What are they
thinking and saying about me? " On the other hand, it may be due to
extreme humility. Such a man says inwardly: "I am not equal to this," "I
lack so many things," "If I had only been born right," "My father was bashful
before me," "I know I’m going to fail." Natural humility need not necessarily
be a stumbling block to any person. It’s a safeguard against rashness,
familiarity, and over-confidence.
The evil of extreme self-consciousness is that it makes a man do so
many things they don’t want to do. It changes his line of conduct a hundred
times a day, makes him say "yes" when they would rather say "no," and, in
short, robs him of his power and individuality.
When Thackeray said that sensitivity was a great mistake in a public
man, he doubtless meant that super sensitivity by which a man loses
initiative, self-reliance, and independence. A self-conscious man must sooner
or later rid himself of this fault if he is to be preeminently successful.
21
Thinking Right, Being Positive
We shouldn’t apologize to ourselves. A sense of the dignity of life, and
the sovereignty of the soul, should keep us strong and positive. We should
be too big for that little habit of making excuses. Self-depreciation never
won a single battle of life. It has, on the contrary, killed ambition, weakened
the will, and incapacitated thousands of men for noble work. Apology is
weakness on parade. Avoid it. Observe some man who comes toward you,
walking with short, jerky steps, his dress careless, the corners of his mouth
turned down, keeping well to one side of the walk. As he passes,he gives
you a hasty, frightened glance, which shows you, unmistakably, despair,
discouragement, and failure. The man's whole life probably has been
negative in its character and outlook. The daily, and perhaps hourly, streams
of false suggestions poured into his mind have at last overwhelmed him and
his life closes in an eclipse.
Many people who are tormented by fear and timidity does not realize
what a flood of negative thoughts daily affects them. They hem themselves
in with suggestions of limitation, incapacity, and unworthiness. They
constantly think not of how they will succeed, but of how they will surely fail.
When Washington Irving was asked to preside at a public dinner for Charles
Dickens, upon his visit to America, he hesitated and said he would surely
fail. It was pointed out to him that he was really the man to be the
toastmaster for that function, and at last was prevailed upon to accept. But
to many friends he repeated his fear that they would fail. The night came,
and before a brilliant gathering Irving arose to speak. He made an excellent
beginning, but suddenly stopped and brought his remarks to a close. As he
sat down, he whispered to a friend on his left, "There, I told you I would fail,
and I did!"
22
 
In developing the habit of positive thinking--of seeing only the best in
yourself and others--of regarding yourself as capable of great things—it’s
well to bear in mind that our thoughts really make us what we are. What you
did yesterday makes you what you are today, and what you do today
determines what you will be tomorrow. Suppose you put these practical
questions to yourself: Does negative thinking pay? Is it desirable for me to
encourage thoughts in my mind that break down, hinder, and incapacitate
me for good work? Do I want negative thoughts that inevitably bring
discontent, unhappiness, and ultimate failure in their train?
Your answer will be, of course, that you don’t want them. But such
thoughts work insidiously, and will find an entrance into your mind if you’re
not extremely vigilant. The surest way to keep them out, however, is to fill
the mind completely with vital positive thoughts, to think constantly of
yourself as a person of unlimited possibilities, growing daily in mental and
spiritual power, equipped for great things, a necessary part of God's glorious
creation, and moving forward toward a triumphant and immortal destiny.
It’s difficult to construct positive thoughts out of the poor stuff from
which dreams are made. People should devote themselves particularly to the
practical things of life. Some people learn this lesson all too late, for, as
Thoreau says, "Youth gets together the materials for a bridge to the moon,
and maturity uses them to build a wood-shed."
23
The habit of positive thinking, when firmly established, becomes a
source of attraction. Good thoughts soon become great thoughts, and the
mature mind attempts even the impossible. The power of a single thought at
the beginning of a day can NOT be over-estimated. It can change
despondency into hope, and fear into courage. It can nerve the arm for
great and noble deeds. It can strengthen a weak and timid character into a
whole person. It’s possible for it to set in motion an influence that will reach
the ends of the world.
The importance of positive thinking is its effect upon doing right for
YOUR life. How many disastrous mistakes are made for lack of proper
thought? How many of life's failures are due to a careless and unwise
selection of a business or profession?
It was Sidney Smith who said: "If we represent the occupations of life
by holes in a table, some round, some square, some oblong, and persons by
bits of wood of like shapes, we shall generally find that the triangular person
has got into the square hole, the oblong into the triangular, while the square
person has squeezed himself into the round hole."
But meditation, too, is an essential part of positive thinking. A writer
said that there is not much real, honest thinking done in the world, but I’m
not inclined to agree with him. Much of the thinking is honest enough, but it
is badly organized, and even more badly applied. We must learn to brood
more over our thoughts, to dwell long and intently upon ideas that seem
dark and obscure, to fashion patiently intricate links of truth into chains of
powerful argument.
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In his pursuit of positive thinking the student should learn the art of
definition. Thoughts fully matured in the mind are seen to be there in so
many words. What do our thoughts or words really mean? The first step is
to define them, and next to consider their truth. The habit of "constant and
searching reflection," recommended by Gladstone, is what more than
anything else produces right thinking.
"I wish to congratulate you, Mr. Webster," said a young admirer,
"upon your wonderful impromptu effort to-day." "Impromptu!" exclaimed
the great orator, "my young friend, I have been thinking out that speech for
over six months!"
"How long does it take to prepare a sermon? " some one asked Dr.
John Watson. "If you mean to write the manuscript, then a day may suffice;
but if you mean to think a sermon, then it may be ten years!''
It’s good sometimes to think out loud, when you’re alone, in order to
bring your thoughts out into concrete form. There is the advantage of
definiteness, of getting an impression of the sound of words, and of making
them seem real. Thoughts when uttered take on a life, reality, and character
they didn’t have before. They can better be considered, analyzed, and
assigned to their proper duty or thrown in the garbage. The very act of
giving expression to our thoughts illuminates and invests them with new
power and significance.
An excellent way to furnish the mind with material for positive thinking
is to commit to memory some of the sayings of great men and to ponder
them at leisure.
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This helps you establish a standard of truth, and at the same time
furnishes the mind with many nourishing and useful thoughts. Here are
some examples:
"The confidence which we have in ourselves gives birth to much of that
which we have in others.''--La Rochefoucauld.
"â€Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.'' --
Tennyson.
"They who has once been very foolish will at no other time be very wise.''--
Montaigne.
"Nothing is said nowadays that has not been said before.''--Terence.
'' They must necessarily fear many, whom many fear.''--Seneca.
"Courage in danger is half the battle." --Plautus.
"The multitude is always in the wrong." --Dillon.
"Thought once awakened does not again slumber.''--Carlyle.
'' Second thoughts, they say, are best.'' --Dryden.
"There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to
fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in
miseries." --Shakespeare.
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"We should not let others do our thinking for us. Our individuality is too
precious to be so sacrificed.”
Too many persons are like a chief of the South Sea Islands described
by Sir John Lubbock. "Wishing to question him, Sir John first bountifully fed
him, whereupon they fell into slumber. "When awakened they simply said:
"Ideas make me sleepy." There are men who dislike thinking for them-
selves; it is too much like work; it makes them drowsy, and, after all, what
is the use of it? Such men lack the true spirit of independence and courage.
They are not in line; let it be said with pity, for great work, leadership, and
noble success.
Positive thinking gives tone and vigor to the physical man, purifies and
enlarges his mental world, and leads him into spiritual realization. While our
thoughts are building body and character, they are also shaping human
destiny.
"What a man thinks in his spirit in the world," declared Swedenborg,
"that he does after his departure from the world when he becomes a spirit."
To think that our thoughts comprise "the city of man's soul" should
awaken in us a determination not to waste this precious substance in
reckless prodigality.
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A person who thinks positively has reason to feel proud of themselves,
and they walk with "the magic in their eye." There is no weakness, no
timidity, no hesitation, since to them right is might. They have learned to
make their thoughts selective; they take the good and reject the bad. They
know, too, how to fit each thought into its proper place, make correct
inferences, and form well-considered judgments.
This clear and positive thinking is constructive in its character; it builds
new power and discloses ever-widening fields of usefulness. Wrong or
negative thinking is destructive; it produces nothing but paralysis, fear,
hopelessness, and heartrending failure.
Positive thinking means cheerful thinking. It means that a person is
an intellectual optimist, who sees nothing but good in himself and in those
about him. His thought goes out to clarify and brighten the lives of other
men. Let Robert Louis Stevenson inspire discouraged men to similar
heroism. Propped up in bed for weeks at a time, and racked by pain, not a
weak or negative thought escaped his lips. But his glorious mind framed
this: "A happy man or woman is a better thing to find than a five-pound
note. He or she is a radiating focus of good will; and their entrance into a
room is as though another candle had been lighted. We need not care
whether they could prove the forty-seventh proposition; they do a better
thing than that, they practically demonstrate the great theorem of the
livableness of life."
When a difficult question came to Webster they would say, "Let me
sleep on it." He must give his thought time to mature. Deliberateness and
patient meditation played a prominent part in the building of his mind.
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How would a man exclude negative thought from his life? Certainly
not by affirming such sentences as "I have no fear," "I am not weak," "I do
not lack ability," "I am not a failure." Remembering that only positive
thoughts are constructive, they will avoid even the use of negative symbols
as "weak," "fear," "lack," "failure." They will say, rather, "I am self-
confident," "I am strong," "I am able," "I am a success." These affirmations
will be made both silently and audibly, always with deep conviction and
earnestness.
Let the student remember, however, that these affirmations must be
confirmed by actual performance. A man might sit in his office chair and
continually affirm that he was a success, and nothing but success, until they
fell over from heart failure. When you say "I am courageous," you must
demonstrate it in your daily life. You may say "I am hopeful, powerful,
buoyant, cheerful," but if you then proceed to sit down in a corner by
yourself and moan about your fate, you are simply deluding yourself. It is
not sufficient that you believe what you affirm; you must be it, live it, and
act it.
Every person who aspires to positive thinking should shut the door of
his mind against fear thought and negative thought as they would against
their most bitter enemies. Negative thought works its way cunningly, by
plausible excuse and subterfuge, until it holds a person in its death-like
grasp. It subdues, discourages, weakens, intimidates, and at last brands its
victim a failure and outcast. To harbor it in one's mind is to entertain an
enemy.
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Positive thinking means that which constructs, strengthens, and
ennobles. It means better manhood, the courage to do and to dare, and the
heroism of mighty effort. It knows no limitation, but reaches out daily for
new conquests. It is a power unto itself, growing through its own use.
Our habits of thought must be governed by fixed principles. One clear-
cut, positive suggestion made in good time may frighten off a thousand
petty negative thoughts. The thing we repeat frequently enough in our mind
comes to acquire undisputed authority. We should not seek to perform some
one great act of courage, but courageously perform all acts, however small,
of our every-day life. Pascal says:
"Positive thoughts come from faith, negative thoughts from doubt; the
right fear, joined to hope, because it is born of faith and we hope in the God
in whom we believe; the wrong, joined to despair, because we fear the God
in whom we have faith; some fear to lose Him, others fear to find Him."
Let us persist in our aim to think positively, and to do right, knowing
that "true courage consists in long persevering patience." Let us more
earnestly direct our thought toward the lofty and sublime. Above all let us
seek the best sources of inspiration, that the great thoughts of other men
may become our thoughts, and that we may rise into the fullness of our rich
inheritance.
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Developing Imagination And Initiative
Every great work in the world first has its place in the human
imagination. If a man is about to build a bench, he first pictures in his own
mind the kind of bench it should be. Similarly the painter, architect,
contractor, or manufacturer, traces in his imagination an image of that which
they would produce.
The imagination, then, is a gallery in which we hang pictures, both of
what we have done and what we intend to do. We may not always turn
these pictures into realities at once, but they are there to interest and
encourage us, and to come to our aid when needed. Upon one occasion
Webster used, in one of his speeches, an illustration that he had carried in
his imagination for fifteen years. Beecher, who was endowed with an
unusually vivid imagination, placed this faculty first in importance in the
making of a preacher.
They affirmed that a man with a trained imagination could not possibly
wear out or become uninteresting to his congregation, and asked
pertinently: "Did you ever hear anybody say that spring has been worn out?
It has been coming for thousands of years, and it is just as sweet, just as
welcome, and just as new, as if the birds sang for the first time; and so it
will be for a thousand years to come.''
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If it’s important that a man have a clear and accurate image of what
his material product is to be, how much more important is it that they have
a picture of the character and life he is building. It has well been said that no
man ever made his mark in the world who did not have a master passion for
something. When a boy is scribbling a picture on paper and in answer to
your question tells you he doesn't know what it is going to be, you feel sure
it will not amount to much. When you ask a youth what line of work he
intends to follow, and he replies that he has not yet made up his mind, you
begin to fear for his success. But what will you say to a man who at thirty,
forty, and even fifty, has not determined what his life's ambition is, to what
ultimate goal they is working? The fact that less than five per cent of men
succeed be attributed to this aimless, hit-or-miss way of living one's life?
In the imagination, we find again much of the difference between the
timid and self-confident man. One pictures defeat and failure, the other sees
himself as successful and influential. One man thinks of all the ways in which
they will fail, imprints them upon his mind, places them in the gallery of his
imagination, to haunt him day and night. The other man thinks of the one
way in which they will succeed, sketches himself as a strong, noble,
courageous character, places the picture before his mind's eye, delights in it
by day and dreams of it by night.
Fear is nowhere else more destructive than in the imagination. It is
often a greater enemy than the thing feared. We have all heard of the
soldier, a prisoner who was experimented upon many years ago, blindfolded
and then told he was bleeding to death, while merely water was trickling
from his arm. When subsequently examined he was found to be dead,
although not the slightest injury had been done to his body.
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The fear had so completely possessed him that he believed he was
actually bleeding to death. Fear sometimes rises from over-caution, but
frequently it is the result of selfishness. William James puts it in a strong,
appealing way when he says: '' The attitude of unhappiness is not only
painful, it is mean and ugly. What can be more base and unworthy than the
pining, puling, grumpy mood, no matter by what outward ills it may have
been caused by? What is more injurious to others? We ought to scout it in
ourselves and others, and never show it tolerance." Physicians tell us that
nine-tenths of the ills of their patients are imaginary. In many instances a
placebo pill is all that’s necessary to affect a complete cure.
We all know of persons who think themselves born under an unlucky
star, or pursued by some unhappy fate. Their imagination is crowded with
pictures of the direful things that will surely happen to them sooner or later.
They reproach themselves for physical weakness, lack of memory, want of
ambition, fear of failure, inability to attract friends, or other shortcomings.
Instead of resolutely setting out to develop themselves, they exhaust their
remaining powers in useless regrets. They’re like the people described in
medical literature, utterly unable to initiate a single thing on their own
behalf.
"A negative man," it says, "too suddenly ejected from his long-
accustomed groove, where, like a toad embedded in the rock, he had made
his niche exactly fitting to his own shape, presents a wretched picture of
helplessness and unshiftiness. His friends suggest this or that independent
endeavor; he shakes his head, and says he can't—it won't do; what he
wants is a place where he is not obliged to depend on himself, where he has
to do a fixed amount of work for a fixed amount of salary, and where his
spineless attitude may find a mold ready formed, into which it may run
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without the necessity of forging shapes for itself. Many a man of respectable
intellectual powers has gone down to ruin, and died miserably, because of
his negativity, which made it impossible for him to break new ground, or to
work at anything whatsoever, with the stimulus of hope only. He must be
bolstered up by certainty, supported by the walls of his groove, or else he
can do nothing; and if he can’t get into his friendly groove, he lets himself
drift into destruction. Negative people never to be depended upon, their very
central quality being fluidity, which is a bad thing to rest on."
Few people realize how important a part imagination plays in the
every-day matters of life. A businessman endeavors to give a prospective
customer a mental picture of his products, or of what they will do for him.
The physician holds before his patient an image of what they will be and can
do when well. The politician describes the condition of things as they would
be if he is elected. The public speaker illuminates and illustrates his subject
chiefly by means of the imagination. So in every human activity the order is
first the mental picture, then the act.
Only second in importance to the image-making faculty is that of
initiative, or the power of originality. Many business and professional men
acknowledge that, had they known what difficulties awaited them, they
could not have gone forward so hopefully. But they just couldn’t bring
themselves to turn back once they had put their hand to the plow. The story
of almost every successful man would be a recital of uphill work at first, with
many obstacles to be met and overcome, disappointments to be bravely
borne, new resolutions of determination made at the beginning of each day.
34
There are a thousand imitators to one who can originate. A man who is
constantly watching to see what others are doing in order to steal their
thunder, is not true to himself nor developing his best faculties. Nothing
could be more humbling to a person than the inner realization that they are
a mere copycat, a make-believe. We should avail ourselves, it is true, of the
experience and ideas of others, and frankly acknowledge our indebtedness
to them, but we cannot rightly call this material our own until we have put it
through our mental process and stamped it with our individuality.
Let a man take to heart these inspiring words of Emerson: "Insist on
yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with
the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of
another you have only an extemporaneous half possession. That which each
can do best, none but the Maker can teach him. No man yet knows what it
is, nor can, till that person has exhibited it. Where is the master who could
have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed
Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? Every great man is unique.
The Scipionism of Scipio is precisely that part they could not borrow.
Another Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do
that which is assigned you, and you can not hope too much or dare too
much. There is at this moment for you an utterance brave and grand as
that of the colossal chisel of Phidias, or trowel of the Egyptians, or the pen of
Moses or Dante, but different from all these. Not possibly will the soul, all
rich, all eloquent, with thousand-cloven tongue, deign to repeat itself; but if
you can hear what these patriarchs say, surely you can reply to them in the
same pitch of voice; for the ear and the tongue are two organs of one
nature. Abide in the simple and noble regions of thy life, obey thy heart and
thou shalt reproduce the foreworld again.''
35
When Shakespeare says, "To thine own self be true," he indicates the
way to originality. Let a person first place in the gallery of his imagination
only such images as he would care to see materialized in his life. Then let
him go bravely forth, resolved to make these a living reality, and by full use
of originality, initiative, and courage, win an enduring place among
successful men.
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Summary
As we said at the beginning of this book, when you are trying to build
a mansion it just makes sense for you to start with a strong foundation. It
doesn’t matter if it’s a one bedroom cottage or a 30 bedroom estate, the
principle is the same…build whatever you’re building on a strong foundation
and it’ll last. Build it on shifting sand and it’ll collapse around your ears!
The five traits that we discussed are integral parts of that strong
foundation.
The secret here is to NOT just read this book! The secret is to
apply…on a daily basis…what you’ve learned from this book.
Chances are, if you take a close hard look at yourself, you’ll see
yourself in one of these chapters. Take that to heart and fix it! This book
tells you how.
Don’t be just a reader…be a doer. Go out and make these positive
traits a part of your everyday life.
The fact that you bought this book is a great start. It shows that you
WANT to fix your life. This book has given you the tools to start doing that.
All YOU need to do is read it, absorb it, and apply it!
We wish you the best in your pursuit of whatever success you desire.
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