SELF-CONFIDENCE FORMULA
First. I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my
Definite Purpose in life, therefore, I DEMAND of myself persistent,
continuous action toward its attainment, and I here and now promise
to render such action.
Second. 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 thirty 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.
Third. I know through the principle of auto-suggestion, 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 ten minutes daily to demanding of myself
the development of SELF-CONFIDENCE.
Fourth. I have clearly written down a description of my DEFINITE
CHIEF AIM in life, and I will never stop trying, until I shall have
developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.
Fifth. I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure,
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 that a negative attitude toward others
can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me,
because I will believe in them, and in myself.
I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory, and repeat
it aloud once a day, with full FAITH that it will gradually influence
my THOUGHTS and ACTIONS so that I will become a self-reliant, and
successful person.
Back of this formula is a law of Nature which no man has yet been
able to explain. It has baffled the scientists of all ages. The
psychologists have named this law "auto-suggestion," and
let it go at that.
The name by which one calls this law is of little importance. The
important fact about it is— it WORKS for the glory and success of
mankind, IF it is used constructively. On the other hand, if used
destructively, it will destroy just as readily. In this statement
may be found a very significant truth, namely; that those who go
down in defeat, and end their lives in poverty, misery, and distress,
do so because of negative application of the principle of auto-suggestion.
The cause may be found in the fact that ALL IMPULSES OF THOUGHT
HAVE A TENDENCY TO CLOTHE THEMSELVES IN THEIR PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT.
The subconscious mind, (the chemical laboratory in which all thought
impulses are combined, and made ready for translation into physical
reality), makes no distinction between constructive and destructive
thought impulses. It works with the material we feed it, through
our thought impulses. The subconscious mind will translate into
reality a thought driven by FEAR just as readily as it will translate
into reality a thought driven by COURAGE, or FAITH.
The pages of medical history are rich with illustrations of cases
of "suggestive suicide." A man may commit suicide through
negative suggestion, just as effectively as by any other means.
In a midwestern city, a man by the name of Joseph Grant, a bank
official, "borrowed" a large sum of the bank's money,
without the consent of the directors. He lost the money through
gambling. One afternoon, the Bank Examiner came and began to check
the accounts. Grant left the bank, took a room in a local hotel,
and when they found him, three days later, he was lying in bed,
wailing and moaning, repeating over and over these words, "My
God, this will kill me! I cannot stand the disgrace." In a
short time he was dead. The doctors pronounced the case one of "mental
suicide."
Just as electricity will turn the wheels of industry, and render
useful service if used constructively; or snuff out life if wrongly
used, so will the law of auto-suggestion lead you to peace and prosperity,
or down into the valley of misery, failure, and death, according
to your degree of understanding and application of it.
If you fill your mind with FEAR, doubt and unbelief in your ability
to connect with, and use the forces of Infinite Intelligence, the
law of auto— suggestion will take this spirit of unbelief and use
it as a pattern by which your subconscious mind will translate it
into its physical equivalent.
THIS STATEMENT IS AS TRUE AS THE STATEMENT THAT TWO AND TWO ARE
FOUR!
Like the wind which carries one ship East, and another West, the
law of auto-suggestion will lift you up or pull you down, according
to the way you set your sails of THOUGHT. The law of auto-suggestion,
through which any person may rise to altitudes of achievement which
stagger the imagination, is well described in the following verse:
"If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost certain you won't. "If you think you'll lose,
you're lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will—
It's all in the state of mind.
.
"If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
.
"Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!"
Observe the words which have been emphasized, and you will catch
the deep meaning which the poet had in mind.
Somewhere in your make-up (perhaps in the cells of your brain) there
lies sleeping, the seed of achievement which, if aroused and put
into action, would carry you to heights, such as you may never have
hoped to attain.
Just as a master musician may cause the most beautiful strains of
music to pour forth from the strings of a violin, so may you arouse
the genius which lies asleep in your brain, and cause it to drive
you upward to whatever goal you may wish to achieve.
Abraham Lincoln was a failure at everything he tried, until he was
well past the age of forty. He was a Mr. Nobody from Nowhere, until
a great experience came into his life, aroused the sleeping genius
within his heart and brain, and gave the world one of its really
great men. That "experience" was mixed with the emotions
of sorrow and LOVE. It came to him through Anne Rutledge, the only
woman whom he ever truly loved.
It is a known fact that the emotion of LOVE is closely akin to the
state of mind known as FAITH, and this for the reason that Love
comes very near to translating one's thought impulses into their
spiritual equivalent. 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 back of nearly EVERY ONE OF THEM. The emotion
of love, in the human heart and brain, creates a favorable field
of magnetic attraction, which causes an influx of the higher and
finer vibrations which are afloat in the ether.
If you wish evidence of the power of FAITH, study the achievements
of men and women who have employed it. At the head of the list comes
the Nazarene.
Christianity is the greatest single force which influences
the minds of men. The basis of Christianity is FAITH, no matter
how many people may have perverted, or misinterpreted the meaning
of this great force, and no matter how many dogmas and creeds have
been created in its name, which do not reflect its tenets.
The sum and substance of the teachings and the achievements of Christ,
which may have been interpreted as "miracles," were nothing
more nor less than FAITH. If there are any such phenomena as "miracles"
they are produced only through the state of mind known as FAITH!
Some teachers of religion, and many who call themselves Christians,
neither understand nor practice FAITH.
Let us consider the power of FAITH, as it is now being demonstrated,
by a man who is well known to all of civilization, Mahatma Gandhi,
of India. In this man the world has one of the most astounding examples
known to civilization, of the possibilities of FAITH. Gandhi wields
more potential power than any man living at this time, and this,
despite the fact that he has none of the orthodox tools of power,
such as money, battle ships, soldiers, and materials of warfare.
Gandhi has no money, he has no home, he does not own a suit of clothes,
but HE DOES HAVE POWER. How does he come by that power?
HE CREATED IT OUT OF HIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRINCIPLE OF FAITH,
AND THROUGH HIS ABILITY TO TRANSPLANT THAT FAITH INTO THE MINDS
OF TWO HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE.
Gandhi has accomplished, through the influence of FAITH, that which
the strongest military power on earth could not, and never will
accomplish through soldiers and military equipment. He has accomplished
the astounding feat of INFLUENCING two hundred million minds to
COALESCE AND MOVE IN UNISON, AS A SINGLE MIND.
What other force on earth, except FAITH could do as much?
There will come a day when employees as well as employers will discover
the possibilities of FAITH. That day is dawning. The whole world
has had ample opportunity, during the recent business depression,
to witness what the LACK OF FAITH will do to business.
Surely, civilization has produced a sufficient number of intelligent
human beings to make use of this great lesson which the depression
has taught the world. During this depression, the world had evidence
in abundance that widespread FEAR will paralyze the wheels of industry
and business. Out of this experience will arise leaders in business
and industry who will profit by the example which Gandhi has set
for the world, and they will apply to business the same tactics
which he has used in building the greatest following known in the
history of the world. These leaders will come from the rank and
file of the unknown men, who now labor in the steel plants, the
coal mines, the automobile factories, and in the small towns and
cities of America.
Business is due for a reform, make no mistake about this! The methods
of the past, based upon economic combinations of FORCE and FEAR,
will be supplanted by the better principles of FAITH and cooperation.
Men who labor will receive more than daily wages; they will receive
dividends from the business, the same as those who supply the capital
for business; but, first they must GIVE MORE TO THEIR EMPLOYERS,
and stop this bickering and bargaining by force, at the expense
of the public. They must earn the right to dividends!
Moreover, and this is the most important thing of all— THEY WILL
BE LED BY LEADERS WHO WILL UNDERSTAND AND APPLY THE PRINCIPLES EMPLOYED
BY MAHATMA GANDHI. Only in this way may leaders get from their followers
the spirit of FULL cooperation which constitutes power in its highest
and most enduring form.
This stupendous machine age in which we live, and from which we
are just emerging, has taken the soul out of men. Its leaders have
driven men as though they were pieces of cold machinery; they were
forced to do so by the employees who have bargained, at the expense
of all concerned, to get and not to give. The watchword of the future
will be HUMAN HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT, and when this state of
mind shall have been attained, the production will take care of
itself, more effectively than anything that has ever been accomplished
where men did not, and could not mix FAITH and individual interest
with their labor.
Because of the need for faith and cooperation in operating business
and industry, it will be both interesting and profitable to analyze
an event which provides an excellent understanding of the method
by which industrialists and business men accumulate great fortunes,
by giving before they try to get.
The event chosen for this illustration dates back to 1900, when
the United States Steel Corporation was being formed. As you read
the story, keep in mind these fundamental facts and you will understand
how IDEAS have been converted into huge fortunes.
First, the huge United States Steel Corporation was born in the
mind of Charles M. Schwab, in the form of an IDEA he created through
his IMAGINATION! Second, he mixed FAITH with his IDEA. Third, he
formulated a PLAN for the transformation of his IDEA into physical
and financial reality. Fourth, he put his plan into action with
his famous speech at the University Club. Fifth, he applied, and
followed-through on his PLAN with PERSISTENCE, and backed it with
firm DECISION until it had been fully carried out. Sixth, he prepared
the way for success by a BURNING DESIRE for success.
If you are one of those who have often wondered how great fortunes
are accumulated, this story of the creation of the United States
Steel Corporation will be enlightening. If you have any doubt that
men can THINK AND GROW RICH, this story should dispel that doubt,
because you can plainly see in the story of the United States Steel,
the application of a major portion of the thirteen principles described
in this book.