Getting into the Right Business
SUCCESS, in any particular business, depends for one thing upon
your possessing in a well-developed state the faculties required in
that business.
Without good musical faculty no one can succeed as a teacher of
music; without well-developed mechanical faculties no one can
achieve great success in any of the mechanical trades; without tact
and the commercial faculties no one can succeed in mercantile
pursuits. But to possess in a well-developed state the faculties
required in your particular vocation does not insure getting rich.
There are musicians who have remarkable talent, and who yet remain
poor; there are blacksmiths, carpenters, and so on who have
excellent mechanical ability, but who do not get rich; and there are
merchants with good faculties for dealing with men who nevertheless
fail.
The different faculties are tools; it is essential to have good
tools, but it is also essential that the tools should be used in the
Right Way. One man can take a sharp saw, a square, a good plane, and
so on, and build a handsome article of furniture; another man can
take the same tools and set to work to duplicate the article, but
his production will be a botch. He does not know how to use good
tools in a successful way.
The various faculties of your mind are the tools with which you
must do the work which is to make you rich; it will be easier for
you to succeed if you get into a business for which you are well
equipped with mental tools.
Generally speaking, you will do best in that business which will
use your strongest faculties; the one for which you are naturally
"best fitted." But there are limitations to this statement, also. No
man should regard his vocation as being irrevocably fixed by the
tendencies with which he was born.
You can get rich in ANY business, for if you have not the right
talent for you can develop that talent; it merely means that you
will have to make your tools as you go along, instead of confining
yourself to the use of those with which you were born. It will be
EASIER for you to succeed in a vocation for which you already have
the talents in a well-developed state; but you CAN succeed in any
vocation, for you can develop any rudimentary talent, and there is
no talent of which you have not at least the rudiment.
You will get rich most easily in point of effort, if you do that
for which you are best fitted; but you will get rich most
satisfactorily if you do that which you WANT to do.
Doing what you want to do is life; and there is no real
satisfaction in living if we are compelled to be forever doing
something which we do not like to do, and can never do what we want
to do. And it is certain that you can do what you want to do; the
desire to do it is proof that you have within you the power
which can do it.
Desire is a manifestation of power.
The desire to play music is the power which can play music
seeking expression and development; the desire to invent mechanical
devices is the mechanical talent seeking expression and development.
Where there is no power, either developed or undeveloped, to do a
thing, there is never any desire to do that thing; and where there
is strong desire to do a thing, it is certain proof that the power
to do it is strong, and only requires to be developed and applied in
the Right Way.
All things else being equal, it is best to select the business
for which you have the best developed talent; but if you have a
strong desire to engage in any particular line of work, you should
select that work as the ultimate end at which you aim.
You can do what you want to do, and it is your right and
privilege to follow the business or vocation which will be most
congenial and pleasant.
You are not obliged to do what you do not like to do, and should
not do it except as a means to bring you to the doing of the thing
you want to do.
If there are past mistakes whose consequences have placed you in
an undesirable business or environment, you may be obliged for some
time to do what you do not like to do; but you can make the doing of
it pleasant by knowing that it is making it possible for you to come
to the doing of what you want to do.
If you feel that you are not in the right vocation, do not act
too hastily in trying to get into another one. The best way,
generally, to change business or environment is by growth.
Do not be afraid to make a sudden and radical change if the
opportunity is presented, and you feel after careful consideration
that it is the right opportunity; but never take sudden or radical
action when you are in doubt as to the wisdom of doing so.
There is never any hurry on the creative plane; and there is no
lack of opportunity.
When you get out of the competitive mind you will understand that
you never need to act hastily. No one else is going to beat you to
the thing you want to do; there is enough for all. If one space is
taken, another and a better one will be opened for you a little
farther on; there is plenty of time. When you are in doubt, wait.
Fall back on the contemplation of your vision, and increase your
faith and purpose; and by all means, in times of doubt and
indecision, cultivate gratitude.
A day or two spent in contemplating the vision of what you want,
and in earnest thanksgiving that you are getting it, will bring your
mind into such close relationship with the Supreme that you will
make no mistake when you do act.
There is a mind which knows all there is to know; and you can
come into close unity with this mind by faith and the purpose to
advance in life, if you have deep gratitude.
Mistakes come from acting hastily, or from acting in fear or
doubt, or in forgetfulness of the Right Motive, which is more life
to all, and less to none.
As you go on in the Certain Way, opportunities will come to you
in increasing number; and you will need to be very steady in your
faith and purpose, and to keep in close touch with the All Mind by
reverent gratitude.
Do all that you can do in a perfect manner every day, but do it
without haste, worry, or fear. Go as fast as you can, but never
hurry.
Remember that in the moment you begin to hurry you cease to be a
creator and become a competitor; you drop back upon the old plane
again.
Whenever you find yourself hurrying, call a halt; fix your
attention on the mental image of the thing you want, and begin to
give thanks that you are getting it. The exercise of GRATITUDE will
never fail to strengthen your faith and renew your purpose. |