Success means successful living. A long period of peace, joy and happiness on this plane may be termed success. The eternal experience of
these qualities is the everlasting life spoken of by Jesus. The real things of
life, such as peace, harmony, integrity, security and happiness are intangible. They come from the Deep Self of man. Meditating on these qualities
builds these treasures of heaven in our subconscious.. it is where moth
and rust do not consume, and where thieves do not break through and
steal. Matthew 6:20.
Let us discuss three steps to success.
The first step to success is to find out the thing you love to do, then do it.
Success is in loving your work. Although, if a man is a psychiatrist, it is
not adequate for him to get a diploma and place it on the wall; he must
keep up with the times, attend conventions, and continue studying the
mind and its workings. The successful psychiatrist visits clinics and reads
the latest scientific articles. In other words, he is informed in the most advanced methods of alleviating human suffering. The successful psychiatrist or doctor must have the interest of his patients at heart.
Someone may say, “How can I put the first step into operation? I do not
know what I should do.” In such a case, pray for guidance as follows:
“The Infinite Intelligence of my subconscious mind reveals to me my true
place in life.” Repeat this prayer quietly, positively and lovingly to your
deeper mind. As you persist with faith and confidence, the answer will
come to you as a feeling, a hunch or a tendency in a certain direction. It
will come to you clearly and in peace, and as an inner silent awareness.
The second step to success is to specialize in some particular branch of
work and know more about it than anyone else. For example, if a young
man chooses chemistry as his profession, he should concentrate on one of
the many branches in this field. He should give all of his time and attention to his chosen specialty. He should become sufficiently enthusiastic to
try to know all there is available about his field; if possible, he should
know more than anyone else. The young man should become ardently interested in his work and should desire to serve the world.
He that is great among you, let him become your servant. There is a
great contrast in this attitude of mind in comparison to that of the man
who only wants to make a living or just “get by.” “Getting by” is not true success. Man’s motive must be great, nobler and more altruistic. He must
serve others, thereby casting his bread upon the waters.
The third step is the most important one. You must be sure that the thing
you want to do does not redound to your success only. Your desire must
not be selfish; it must benefit humanity. The path of a complete circuit
must be formed. In other words, your idea must go forth with the purpose
of blessing or serving the world. It will then come back to you pressed
down, shaken together and running over. If it is to benefit yourself exclusively, the circle or complete circuit is not formed, and you may experience a short circuit in your life which may consist of limitation or sickness.
Some people may say, “But Mr James made a fortune in selling fraudulent
oil stock.” A man may seem to succeed for a while, but the money he obtained by fraud usually takes wings and flies away.
When we rob from another, we rob from ourselves, because we are in a
mood of lack and limitation which may manifest itself in our body, home
life and affairs. What we think and feel, we create. We create what we believe. Even though a man may have accumulated a fortune fraudulently,
he is not successful. There is no success without peace of mind. What
good is man’s accumulated wealth if he cannot sleep nights, is sick or has
a guilt complex?
I knew a man in London who told me of his exploits. He had been a professional pickpocket and had amassed a large amount of money. He had a
summer home in France and lived in a royal fashion in England. His story
was that he was in constant dread of being arrested by Scotland Yard. He
had many inner disorders which were undoubtedly caused by his constant
fear and deep-seated guilt complex. He knew he had done wrong. This
deep sense of guilt attracted all kinds of trouble to him. Subsequently, he
voluntarily surrendered to the police and served a prison sentence. After
his release from prison, he sought psychological and spiritual counsel and
became transformed. He went to work and became an honest, law-abiding citizen. He found what he loved to do and was happy.
A successful person loves his work and expresses himself fully. Success is
contingent upon a higher ideal than the mere accumulation of riches. The
man of success is the man who possesses great psychological and spiritual understanding. Many of the great industrialists today depend upon the
correct use of the subconscious minds for their success.
There was an article published some years ago about Flagler, an oil magnate. He admitted that the secret of his success was his ability to see a
project in its completion. For instance, in his case, he closed his eyes, imagined a big oil industry, saw trains running on tracks, heard whistles
blowing and saw smoke. Having seen and felt the fulfillment of his prayer,
his subconscious mind brought about its realization. If you imagine an objective clearly, you will be provided with the necessities, in ways you know
not of, through the wonder-working power of your subconscious mind.
In considering the three steps to success you must never forget the underlying power of the creative forces of your subconscious mind. This is
the energy in back of all steps in any plan of success. Your thought is creative. Thought fused with feeling becomes a subjective faith or belief, and
according to your belief it is done unto you. Matthew 9:29.
A knowledge of a mighty force in you which is capable of bringing to pass
all your desires gives you confidence and a sense of peace. Whatever your
field of action may be, you should learn the laws of your subconscious
mind. When you know how to apply the powers of your mind, and when
you are expressing yourself fully and giving of your talents to others, you
are on the sure path to true success. If you are about God’s business, or
any part of it, God, by His very nature, is for you, so who can be against
you? With this understanding there is no power in heaven or on earth to
withhold success from you.
A movie actor told me that he had very little education, but he had a
dream as a boy of becoming a successful movie actor. Out in the field
mowing hay, driving the cows home or even when milking them he said,
“I would constantly imagine I saw my name in big lights at a large theater. I kept this up for years until finally I ran away from home. I got extra jobs in the motion picture field and the day finally came when I saw
my name in great, big lights as I did when I was a boy!” Then he added,
“I know the power of sustained imagination to bring success.”
Thirty years ago I knew a young pharmacist who was receiving forty dollars a week plus commission on sales, “After twenty-five years,” he said to
me, “I will get a pension and retire.”
I said to this young man, “Why don’t you own your own store? Get out of
this place. Raise your sights! Have a dream for your children. Maybe your
son wants to be a doctor, perhaps your daughter desires to be a great
musician.”
His answer was that he had no money! He began to awaken to the fact
that whatever he could conceive as true, he could give conception.
The first step toward his goal was his awakening to the powers of his subconscious mind which I briefly elaborated on for his benefit. His second step was his realization that if he could succeed in conveying an idea to
his subconscious mind, the latter would somehow bring it to pass.
He began to imagine that he was in his own store. He mentally arranged
the bottles, dispensed prescriptions and imagined several clerks in the
store waiting on customers. He also visualized a big bank balance. Mentally he worked in that imaginary store. Like a good actor he lived the
role. Act as though I am, and I will be. This pharmacist put himself wholeheartedly into the act, living, moving and acting on the assumption that
he owned the store.
The sequel was interesting. He was discharged from his position. He found
new employment with a large chain store, became manager, and later on,
district manager. He saved enough money in four years to provide a down
payment on a drugstore of his own. He called it his “Dream Pharmacy.”
“It was,” he said, “exactly the store I saw in my imagination.” He became
a recognized success in his chosen field and was happy doing what he
loved to do.
Some years ago I gave a lecture to a group of businessman on the powers of imagination and the subconscious mind. In this lecture I pointed
out how Goethe used his imagination wisely when confronted with difficulties and predicaments.
His biographers point out that he was accustomed to fill many hours quietly holding imaginary conversations. It is well known that his custom was
to imagine one of his friends before him in a chair answering him in the
right way. In other words, if he were concerned over any problems, he
imagined his friends giving him the right or appropriate answer, accompanied with the usual gestures and tonal qualities of the voice, and he made
the entire imaginary scene as real and as vivid as possible.
One of the men present at my lecture was a young stockbroker. He proceeded to adopt the technique of Goethe. He began to have mental,
imaginary conversations with a multimillionaire banker friend of his who
used to congratulate him on his wise and sound judgment and compliment him on his purchase of the right stocks. He used to dramatize this
imaginary conversation until he had psychologically fixed it as a form of
belief in his mind.
The broker’s inner talking and controlled imagination certainly agreed with
his aim which was to make sound investments for his clients. His main
purpose was to make money for his clients and to see them prosper financially by his wise counsel. He is still using his subconscious mind in his
business, and he is a brilliant success in his field of endeavor.
A young boy who was attending high school said to me, “I am getting
very poor grades. My memory is failing, I do not know what is the matter.” I discovered that the only thing wrong with this boy was his attitude,
which was one of indifference and resentment toward some of his teachers and fellow students. I taught him how to use his subconscious mind,
and how to succeed in his studies.
He began to affirm certain truths several times a day particularly at night
prior to sleep, and also in the morning after awakening. These are the
best times to impregnate the subconscious mind.
He affirmed as follows: “I realize that my subconscious mind is a storehouse of memory. It retains everything I read and hear from my teachers.
I have a perfect memory and the Infinite Intelligence in my subconscious
mind constantly reveals to me everything I need to know at all my examinations, whether written or oral. I radiate love and good will to all my
teachers and fellow students. I sincerely wish for them success and all
good things.”
This young man is now enjoying a greater freedom than he has ever
known. He is now receiving all “A’s.” he constantly imagines the teachers
and his mother congratulating him on his success in his studies.
In buying and selling, remember that your conscious mind is the starter
and your subconscious mind is the motor. You must start the motor to enable it to perform its work. Your conscious mind is the dynamo that awakens the power of your subconscious mind.
The first step in conveying your clarified desire, idea or image to the
deeper mind is to relax, immobilize the attention, get still and be quiet.
This quiet, relaxed and peaceful attitude of mind prevents extraneous
matter and false ideas from interfering with your mental absorption of
your ideal. Furthermore in the quiet, passive and receptive attitude of
mind, effort is reduced to a minimum.
The second step is to begin to imagine the reality of that which you desire. For example, you may wish to buy a home, and in your relaxed state
of mind affirm as follows: “The Infinite Intelligence of my subconscious
ind is all-wise. It reveals to me now the ideal home which is central, ideal,
is in a lovely environment, meets all my requirements and is commensurate with my income. I am now turning this request over to my subconscious mind, and I know it responds according to the nature of my request. I release this request with absolute faith and confidence in the
same way that a farmer deposits a seed in the ground, trusting implicitly in the laws of growth.”
The answer to your prayer may come through an advertisement in the paper, through a friend, or you may be guided directly to a particular home
which is exactly what you are seeking. There are many ways by which
your prayer may be answered. The principle knowledge, in which you may
place your confidence, is that the answer always comes, provided you
trust the working of your deeper mind.
You may wish to sell a home, land, or any kind of property. In private
consultation with real estate brokers I have told them of the way I sold
my own home on Orlando Avenue in Log Angeles. Many of them have applied the technique I used with remarkable and speedy results. I placed a
sign which read, “For sale by owner,” in the garden in front of my home.
The day after, I said to myself as I was going to sleep, “Supposing you
sold your house, what would you do?”
I answered my own question and I said, “I would take that sign down and
throw it into the garage.” In my imagination I took hold of the sign, pulled
it up from the ground, placed it on my shoulder, went to the garage,
threw it on the floor and said jokingly to the sign, “I don’t need you anymore!” I felt the inner satisfaction of it all, realizing it was finished.
The next day a man gave me a deposit of $1,000 and said to me, “Take
your sign down. We will go into escrow now.”
Immediately I pulled the sign up and took it to the garage. The outer action conformed to the inner. There is nothing new about this. As within, so
without, meaning according to the image impressed on your subconscious
mind, so it is on the objective screen of life. The outside mirrors the inside. External action follows internal action.
Here is another very popular method used in selling homes, land or any
kind of property. Affirm slowly, quietly and feelingly as follows: “Infinite
intelligence attracts to me the buyer for this home who wants and who
prospers in it. This buyer may look at many other homes, but mine is the
only one he wants and will buy, because he is guided by the Infinite Intelligence within him. I now the buyer is right, the time is right and the price
is right. Everything about it is right. The deeper currents of my subconscious mind are now in operation bringing both of us together in divine order. I know that it is so.”
Remember always that what you are seeking is also seeking you, and
whenever you want to sell a home or property of any kind, there is always
someone who wants what you have to offer. By using the powers of your
subconscious mind correctly, you free your mind of all sense of competitor
and anxiety in buying and selling.