LESSON I. CONCENTRATION FINDS THE WAY

Everyone has two natures. One wants us to advance and the otherwants to pull us back. The one that we cultivate and concentrateon decides what we are at the end. Both natures are trying togain control. The will alone decides the issue. A man by onesupreme effort of the will may change his whole career and almostaccomplish miracles. You may be that man. You can be if you Willto be, for Will can find a way or make one.

I could easily fill a book, of cases where men plodding along ina matter-of-fact way, were all at once aroused and as ifawakening from a slumber they developed the possibilities withinthem and from that time on were different persons. You alone candecide when the turning point will come. It is a matter of choicewhether we allow our diviner self to control us or whether wewill be controlled by the brute within us. No man has to doanything he does not want to do. He is therefore the director ofhis life if he wills to be. What we are to do, is the result ofour training. We are like putty, and can be completely controlledby our will power.

Habit is a matter of acquirement. You hear people say: "He comesby this or that naturally, a chip off the old block," meaningthat he is only doing what his parents did. This is quite oftenthe case, but there is no reason for it, for a person can break ahabit just the moment he masters the "I will." A man may havebeen a "good-for-nothing" all his life up to this very minute,but from this time on he begins to amount to something. Even oldmen have suddenly changed and accomplished wonders. "I lost myopportunity," says one. That may be true, but by sheer force ofwill, we can find a way to bring us another opportunity. There isno truth in the saying that opportunity knocks at our door butonce in a lifetime. The fact is, opportunity never seeks us; wemust seek it. What usually turns out to be one man's opportunity,was another man's loss. In this day one man's brain is matchedagainst another's. It is often the quickness of brain action thatdetermines the result. One man thinks "I will do it," but whilehe procrastinates the other goes ahead and does the work. Theyboth have the same opportunity. The one will complain of his lostchance. But it should teach him a lesson, and it will, if he isseeking the path that leads to success.

Many persons read good books, but say they do not get much goodout of them. They do not realize that all any book or any lessoncourse can do is to awaken them to their possibilities; tostimulate them to use their will power. You may teach a personfrom now until doom's day, but that person will only know what helearns himself. "You can lead him to the fountain, but you can'tmake him drink."

One of the most beneficial practices I know of is that of lookingfor the good in everyone and everything, for there is good in allthings. We encourage a person by seeing his good qualities and wealso help ourselves by looking for them. We gain their goodwishes, a most valuable asset sometimes. We get back what we giveout. The time comes when most all of us need encouragement; needbuoying up. So form the habit of encouraging others, and you willfind it a wonderful tonic for both those encouraged and yourself,for you will get back encouraging and uplifting thoughts.

Life furnishes us the opportunity to improve. But whether we doit or not depends upon how near we live up to what is expected ofus. The first of each month, a person should sit down and examinethe progress he has made. If he has not come up to "expectations"he should discover the reason, and by extra exertion measure upto what is demanded next time. Every time that we fall behindwhat we planned to do, we lose just so much for that time is goneforever. We may find a reason for doing it, but most excuses arepoor substitutes for action. Most things are possible. Ours maybe a hard task, but the harder the task, the greater the reward.It is the difficult things that really develop us, anything thatrequires only a small effort, utilizes very few of our faculties,and yields a scanty harvest of achievement. So do not shrink froma hard task, for to accomplish one of these will often bring usmore good than a dozen lesser triumphs.

I know that every man that is willing to pay the price can be asuccess. The price is not in money, but in effort. The firstessential quality for success is the desire to do--to besomething. The next thing is to learn how to do it; the next tocarry it into execution. The man that is the best able toaccomplish anything is the one with a broad mind; the man thathas acquired knowledge, that may, it is true, be foreign to thisparticular case, but is, nevertheless, of some value in allcases. So the man that wants to be successful must be liberal; hemust acquire all the knowledge that he can; he must be wellposted not only in one branch of his business but in every partof it. Such a man achieves success.

The secret of success is to try always to improve yourself nomatter where you are or what your position. Learn all you can.Don't see how little you can do, but how much you can do. Such aman will always be in demand, for he establishes the reputationof being a hustler. There is always room for him becauseprogressive firms never let a hustler leave their employment ifthey can help it.

The man that reaches the top is the gritty, plucky, hard workerand never the timid, uncertain, slow worker. An untried man isseldom put in a position of responsibility and power. The manselected is one that has done something, achieved results in someline, or taken the lead in his department. He is placed therebecause of his reputation of putting vigor and virility into hisefforts, and because he has previously shown that he has pluckand determination.

The man that is chosen at the crucial time is not usually agenius; he does not possess any more talent than others, but hehas learned that results can only be produced by untiringconcentrated effort. That "miracles," in business do not just"happen." He knows that the only way they will happen is bysticking to a proposition and seeing it through. That is the onlysecret of why some succeed and others fail. The successful mangets used to seeing things accomplished and always feels sure ofsuccess. The man that is a failure gets used to seeing failure,expects it and attracts it to him.

It is my opinion that with the right kind of training every mancould be a success. It is really a shame that so many men andwomen, rich in ability and talent, are allowed to go to waste, soto speak. Some day I hope to see a millionaire philanthropiststart a school for the training of failures. I am sure he couldnot put his money to a better use. In a year's time the scienceof practical psychology could do wonders for him. He could haveagencies on the lookout for men that had lost their grip onthemselves; that had through indisposition weakened their will;that through some sorrow or misfortune had become discouraged. Atfirst all they need is a little help to get them back on theirfeet, but usually they get a knock downwards instead. The resultis that their latent powers never develop and both they and theworld are the losers. I trust that in the near future, someonewill heed the opportunity of using some of his millions inarousing men that have begun to falter. All they need to be shownis that there is within them an omnipotent source that is readyto aid them, providing they will make use of it. Their minds onlyhave to be turned from despair to hope to make them regain theirhold.

When a man loses his grip today, he must win his redemption byhis own will. He will get little encouragement or advice of aninspiring nature. He must usually regain the right road alone. Hemust stop dissipating his energies and turn his attention tobuilding a useful career. Today we must conquer our weakeningtendencies alone. Don't expect anyone to help you. Just take onebig brace, make firm resolutions, and resolve to conquer yourweaknesses and vices. Really none can do this for you. They canencourage you; that is all.

I can think of nothing, but lack of health, that should interferewith one becoming successful. There is no other handicap that youshould not be able to overcome. To overcome a handicap, all thatit is necessary to do is to use more determination and grit andwill.

The man with grit and will, may be poor today and wealthy in afew years; will power is a better asset than money; Will willcarry you over chasms of failure, if you but give it the chance.

The men that have risen to the highest positions have usually hadto gain their victories against big odds. Think of the hardshipsmany of our inventors have gone through before they became asuccess. Usually they have been very much misunderstood byrelatives and friends. Very often they did not have the barenecessities of life, yet, by sheer determination and resolutecourage, they managed to exist somehow until they perfected theirinventions, which afterwards greatly helped in bettering thecondition of others.

Everyone really wants to do something, but there are few thatwill put forward the needed effort to make the necessarysacrifice to secure it. There is only one way to accomplishanything and that is to go ahead and do it. A man may accomplishalmost anything today, if he just sets his heart on doing it andlets nothing interfere with his progress. Obstacles are quicklyovercome by the man that sets out to accomplish his heart'sdesire. The "bigger" the man, the smaller the obstacle appears.The "smaller" the man the greater the obstacle appears. Alwayslook at the advantage you gain by overcoming obstacles, and itwill give you the needed courage for their conquest.

Do not expect that you will always have easy sailing. Parts ofyour journey are likely to be rough. Don't let the rough placesput you out of commission. Keep on with the journey. Just the wayyou weather the storm shows what material you are made of. Neversit down and complain of the rough places, but think how nice thepleasant stretches were. View with delight the smooth plains thatare in front of you.

Do not let a setback stop you. Think of it as a mere incidentthat has to be overcome before you can reach your goal.