driving motive is the starting point of
all worthwhile achievement criticizing
without destroying enthusiasm sometimes
it will be necessary to criticize
members of your mastermind alliance or
the people working for you who are not
carrying their share of the load you can
do this without destroying their
enthusiasm if you use a careful process
you must lead your black sheep to admit
their mistakes on their own here’s an
example of that process taught me by
Andrew Carnegie my personal secretary
was the young man who had been with me
several years he was efficient
dependable and had a pleasing
personality he became associated with a
group of people who had had the bad
habit of getting their enthusiasm out of
a whiskey bottle first thing I knew he
began to show up late on Monday mornings
and he became irritable and I knew the
time had come for me to do a little
friendly analysis on his behalf so I
prepared the way by inviting him to my
home for dinner
during the meal we chatted pleasantly
about everything except the subject I
had in mind discussing with him after
dinner we went to the library and
lighted our cigars stage was then set
though I began by asking him a few
questions
first I asked him if he believed a man
who was a regular drinker should be
considered for a promotion and he
replied that he thought not and I asked
him what he would do at the ED in his
employ a man so addicted to drink that
he could not get to work on time and he
replied that he was probably fired by
this time he had begun to squirm in his
chair and I waited a while to give him
the chance to do
I’m serious thinking then I asked him if
he thought it might be possible for a
sensible man to change his habits in
time to save himself from ruin he waited
for a couple of minutes before answering
and straightened up looked me squarely
in the eyes and said you needn’t go any
further I have known for a long time
that this hour was coming and I deeply
appreciate your kindness and making it
as easy as possible all I can say is
that I have been a fool but I can change
I will do so if you bear with me long
enough to let me prove though he was
disappointed but it was with
self-discipline took hold of his job was
renewed enthusiasm and promoted himself
from one position to another until he
became manager of one of our largest
steel plants you can see the value and
importance of this kind of approach if
Carnegie had angrily confronted this man
no doubt the fellow would have been so
ashamed he would have denied any problem
Carnegie would have lost a valuable
employee and the man would have been
driven only deeper into his destructive
habits instead both men came out ahead
respect and nurture the enthusiasm
others have it can overcome powerful
problems and from those problems it will
extract benefits beyond your imagination
enthusiasm changes lives another
person’s enthusiasm was what set me
moving toward the success I have
attained that person was my stepmother I
was nine years old when she entered our
home we lived in poverty in rural
Virginia but she had come from better
circumstances and she would not accept
our circumstances with our protest I
father introduced me to her with these
words I would like you to meet the
fellow who is distinguished for being
the worst boy in this county and will
probably start throwing rocks at you no
later than tomorrow morning
my stepmother walked over to me tilted
my head upward and looked me right in
the eye then she looked at my father and
replied were wrong
is not the worst boy in the county but
the smartest one who hasn’t yet found an
outlet for his enthusiasm that statement
began a friendship between us which was
destined to produce these 17 principles
of success carry their influence around
the world no one had ever called me
smart my family and neighbors had built
me up in my own mind as being a bad boy
they had done nothing to disappoint me
my stepmother in one brief statement
changed all that
he changed many things she persuaded my
father to go to dental school from which
he was graduated with honors
he moved our family into the county seat
where my father’s practice could
flourish and my brothers and I could be
better educated my father resisted these
efforts at first but her enthusiasm
always want him open when I turned 14 he
bought me a secondhand typewriter and
told me that she believed I could become
a writer
I knew her enthusiasm I relished it and
I saw how it had already improved our
lives I accepted her belief began to
write for local newspapers I was doing
the same kind of writing that fateful
day I went to interview Andrew Carnegie
and received the charge that became my
life’s work my stepmothers enthusiasm
had not just put me in a position to
grasp such an opportunity
but given me the self-confidence and
enthusiasm of my own to succeed at it I
wasn’t the only benefactor my father
became the most prosperous man in town
my brothers and step brothers became a
physician a dentist a lawyer and a
college president what power enthusiasm
has when that power is released to
support definiteness of purpose and is
constantly renewed by faith it becomes
an irresistible force for which poverty
and temporary defeat are no match you
can communicate that power to anyone who
needs it this is probably the greatest
work you can do with your enthusiasm
excite the imaginations of others
inspire their creative vision help them
connect with infinite intelligence
building demonstrating and sharing
enthusiasm are a perfect manifestation
of the moral principles behind the
science of success when you deliver your
work with enthusiasm you are already
going the extra-mile clear chapters have
placed heavy emphasis on the importance
of taking control of your mind his
control is pivotal to your personal
initiative positive mental attitude and
controlled enthusiasm self-discipline is
the process that ties all these efforts
together for it it isn’t possible to
achieve self-discipline without making
some progress on those other principles
self discipline requires self-knowledge
and an accurate assessment of your
current abilities likewise the other
principles can really be put into action
without self-discipline it is the
channel through which all your personal
power for success must flow think of
your mind as a reservoir in which you
have been storing up potential power you
will now learn to release that power in
precise quantities and specific
directions this is the essence of
self-discipline controlling your
emotions most people act first and think
about the consequences later
self-discipline will reverse that
process you will learn to think before
you act the primary means to this end is
your control of your emotions or review
the 14 major emotions are repeated below
positive emotions one love to sex free
hope or faith 5 enthusiasm 6 loyalty 7
desire negative emotions one fear 2
jealousy 3 hatred or revenge
5 greed 6 anger 7 superstition all these
emotions are states of mind and are thus
subject to your control you can see
right away how dangerous the negative
emotions can be if they’re not
mastered the positive emotions can also
be destructive if you do not organize
and release them with conscious control
inherent in these emotions is explosive
power if you regulate that power
properly it can lift you to the heights
of achievement but if you let it run
wild
it can dash you to pieces on the rocks
of failure you learned in earlier
chapters that a definite major purpose
activated by a driving motive is the
starting point of all worthwhile
achievement this motive must be so
strong that it will subordinate all your
thoughts and efforts to the attainment
of your definite purpose but your drive
your emotions must also be subject to
your own good judgment so that your
enthusiasm and desire will not run over
your wisdom in other words you must
discipline yourself so that your drive
is always under control and directed in
the proper channels self-discipline
calls for balancing your emotions with
your reasoning this means you must learn
to consult both your feelings and your
reason before you reach any decision
sometimes you will need to set aside
your emotions and follow the dictates of
reason alone other times you will decide
in favor of your emotions modified by
your reason a happy medium is important
consider for example those people who
are so in love that they will do
anything for their beloved they are
putty in the hands of others I rarely
amount to anything because they have no
purposes of their own in life you might
wonder if this danger means that it
would be safer and wiser to control your
life strictly on the basis of reason and
leave emotion out of every decision the
answer is an emphatic note don’t forget
your emotions provide your driving power
the activating force which enables you
to put your decisions into action if you
destroyed hope and faith what will there
be to live for
if you killed enthusiasm loyalty and
desire but still retain reason what good
would reason be it would still be there
to provide direction but with it
direct you must control and direct your
emotion not abolished
besides abolition would be an impossible
task emotions are like a river their
power can be dammed up and released
under control and direction but it
cannot be held forever in check sooner
or later the dam will burst unleashing
catastrophic destruction your negative
emotions can also be controlled and
directed PMA and self-discipline can
remove their harmful effects and make
them serve constructive purposes
sometimes fear and anger will inspire
intense action but you must always
submit your negative emotions and your
positive ones for the examination of
your reason before releasing them
emotion without reason is a dreadful
enemy what faculty provides the crucial
balance between emotion and reason it is
your willpower or ego a subject which
will be explored in more detail below
self-discipline will teach you to throw
your willpower behind either reason or
emotion and amplify the intensity of
their expression both your heart and
your mind need a master and they can
find that master in your ego however
your ego will fill this role only if you
use self-discipline in the absence of
self-discipline your mind and heart will
fight their battles as they please in
this situation the person with in whose
mind the fight is carried out often gets
badly hurt the big for your
self-discipline will not only control
your emotions and balance your reason
but also be incredibly useful in four
highly important areas appetite too much
food drink and other outside influences
such as drugs which are bad for your
body and shorten your life SAP your
energy and distract you from the work at
hand
it isn’t necessary to moralize on these
points the empirical effects of not
being in control of your appetite are
sufficient cause for you to subject your
appetites to self-discipline positive
mental attitude
PMA is the only frame of mind in which
you can have definiteness of purpose
through it you can induce others to
cooperate with you and help you it can
also attract the power of infinite
intelligence by applying your faith
self-discipline ensures that you use
your mental attitude to attract the
things you want and to repel the things
that threaten you time there’s an old
saying wasting time is sinful
most people waste enough time and gossip
alone to earn them all the luxuries they
Envy and others time is your most
precious asset if used correctly it is
like money in the bank you must spend it
under strict self-discipline one of the
easiest ways to do this is to schedule
your time use for the next 24 hours and
stick to that chart do it once and it
will be easier the next time Alexander
Solzhenitsyn is another example of
someone whose self-discipline allowed
him to have an enormous impact not only
did he survive years in Soviet gulags
and then dare to write about it he kept
to a rigorous schedule of writing even
after being exiled to the United States
oh he was an international celebrity and
could have spent the rest of his life
basking in attention souls and it’s–and
moved to a small town in Vermont so he
could find solitude until he returned to
Russia to participate in the reform of
the country he would get up at 6:00 and
begin to write after eating a small
breakfast he would stop for a short
lunch then begin writing again often
until late in the evening and sometimes
until the Sun rose again he didn’t allow
the telephone to interrupt his work he
rarely even left home the result was a
series of novels called the red wheel a
historical epic of tremendous importance
even when history finally caught up with
his Soviet oppressors
Solzhenitsyn resisted the urge to rush
back to Moscow because he knew he had to
finish his work he didn’t let countless
opportunities to appear on news programs
which would have gained publicity for
his books and made money distract him
from the job at hand
his self-discipline honed through his
years in the gulags allowed him to
finish what he had started and made him
a powerful figure when the Soviet empire
finally collapsed
[Music]
definiteness of purpose the importance
of definiteness of purpose had better be
clear to you by now you know that it is
the beginning of all achievements when
it is tied to a strong compelling motive
you haven’t yet made up your mind about
your definite purpose go back to the
first chapter and write out your major
objective and light and your plans for
attaining it this is the first step in
self-discipline even infinite
intelligence can help you get where
you’re going if you haven’t made up your
mind about exactly where you want to go
there’s an old joke about a preacher who
was stranded on the roof of his church
in the flood as the waters rose higher
around and he prayed fervently for God
to rescue him the Lord will provide he
told himself soon a boat floated five
documents fall to the preacher to swim
to them don’t worry about me the
preacher called back the Lord will
provide reluctantly the people on the
boat went on the waters rose higher and
soon were laughing around the knees of
the man of God another boat appeared
within a few yards of their church
rooftop rescuers inside called the
preacher and again he replied the Lord
will provide this boat went on and the
preacher prayed even more fervently just
as the water reached the preachers chin
a third boat appeared it came so close
that the preacher could have jumped
right on
but the terrified man clutched his
steeple and cried save someone else the
Lord will provide for me and the boat
went on within a few minutes the water
closed over the preachers head and he
drowned reaching the gates of heaven he
asked for an immediate audience with the
Lord which was granted in the divine
presence the preacher humbled himself
and asked Heavenly Father my work on
earth was not yet finished why didn’t
you save me but grief came to reply I
thought you wanted to come here I sent
you three boats didn’t I
self-discipline makes you jump when your
boat comes by
the power of self-discipline when you
speak of power you usually think of a
Rockefeller or a Trump somebody with
money or property one of the most
powerful men who ever lived had neither
Mahatma Gandhi didn’t own a house he had
no money but his influence eclipses that
of any other person of this century
that’s an outstanding statement until
you look at it and analyze the source of
Gandhi’s power here was a man who over
long years step-by-step defeated the
British Empire arrested freedom for
India from the British by using a power
his Majesty’s government didn’t
understand there were five sources to
his power definiteness of purpose
Gandhi’s purpose was to free the people
of India he knew precisely what he
wanted what his major aim in life was
and he was determined that nothing would
defeat him going the extra mile
no one asked Gandhi to spend his life as
he did no one paid him to do so he did
not have a selfish purpose he did not
think in terms of personal reward he
went not only the extra mile but
millions of extra miles because he was
planning to benefit the four hundred
million people living in his country a
wonder he had power applied faith Gandhi
completely cleared his mind of any doubt
that he would eventually win the freedom
he desired for his people he kept his
mind securely fixed on his definite
major purpose and this resolute purpose
and his persistent action to achieve it
opened his mind for the power of
infinite intelligence mastermind Gandhi
assemble but is probably the greatest
mastermind alliance in human history
it consisted of hundreds of millions of
minds many of these Minds may have been
lacking in formal education each had the
capacity for faith and a burning desire
to achieve the goal of freedom Gandhi
was leading it toward no power in the
world could have defeated such a
powerful mastermind alliance except an
even larger one self-discipline
how do you suppose Gandhi managed to
keep his mind focused on one definite
major purpose all those years he must
have had many opportunities to
capitalize on his situation or to use
his power for his personal benefit
anyone who had the power Gandhi had
might have been tempted by such
opportunities but he had the
self-discipline to lead a simple life
and thus he had the self-discipline to
free a nation
the structure of your mind your mind is
divided into six departments which are
subject to your conscious control
understanding these departments help you
understand self-discipline the six
departments are one the ego the source
of willpower it acts as a Supreme Court
with the power to reverse modify change
or eliminate the entire work of all the
other departments two emotions here is
generated the driving force which sets
your thoughts plans and purposes into
action three reason this is where you
way eliminate and properly evaluate the
products of your imagination and
emotions or imagination this is where
you create ideas plans and methods of
attaining your desired ends five
conscience here you test the moral
justice of your thoughts plans and
purposes six the memory this acts as the
keeper of records of all your
experiences and as a storehouse for all
sense perceptions and inspiration from
infinite intelligence the ego the ego
seat of your willpower is the most
valuable thing your body possesses the
rest of you is a collection of chemicals
which on the open market aren’t worth
the price of dinner in a decent
restaurant you must control and
discipline this priceless part of
yourself can stand for anything you
value from poverty and ill health
through your brightest ambitions some
egos are weak and lacking and courage
some are overinflated neither kind
amounts to anything most people struggle
with weak ones
don’t let a weak ego hold you back a
prosperous man I knew suffered a defeat
in business and ended up driving a
taxicab for a few hundred dollars a week
there’s nothing wrong with driving a
taxicab but it isn’t the right kind of
employment for someone who was making
six figures that man needed to bolster
his ego so he could return to success
one woman I know were a huge diamond
ring on her finger that ring was a
symbol of her success not a sign of
vanity or ostentation once she had been
poor but with that ring on her finger
she constantly reminded her ego that her
poverty was of the past she fed her ego
with images that strengthened it this is
just what you must do with your ego it
may not require something as visible and
expensive as a diamond ring but it
requires sustenance always treat your
ego as your most precious possession and
protect it as if it were a diamond you
certainly wouldn’t leave a diamond
around for anyone to pick up yet most
people leave their egos wide open for
anyone to come in and pollute with
thoughts of fear and worry don’t let
others know your secret thoughts and
don’t let them unload their burdens on
you you can’t afford to have worries of
your own let alone carry around someone
else’s you need a technique to protect
your inner self
your ego from the damaging effects of
negative ideas there are three walls to
build around your ego the outermost wall
is just high enough to keep out people
who have no business getting in to take
up your time this wall should have
several doors and if someone can
establish the reasonable right to your
time let that person in but make sure he
or she establishes that right first
the middle wall is much taller and it
has a single door you must watch closely
should at MIT only a few people the ones
who have established the fact that they
have something you want or something in
common which will be mutually helpful
the third and innermost wall is so tall
that no one will ever scale it it has no
doors who should not allow anyone inside
that wall because it protects your ego
you let people wander in they will
wander back out with things you cherish
leaving behind worry and anxiety build
this wall around your ego make a place
where you can retire by yourself and
communicate with infinite intelligence
emotion earlier in this chapter we
talked about the need for balancing your
emotions with the Faculty of reason here
we will look at a different aspect of
the emotions consider for a moment the
serious problems which can arise in your
mind on all disappointments and failures
surface again and again in your emotions
self-discipline is the only real
solution to such problems it begins with
the recognition that there are only two
kinds of problems those you can solve
and those you can’t problems that can be
solved should immediately be dealt with
by the most practical means available
this is why you were told in an earlier
chapter to make amends for all wrongs
you may have done problems which can’t
be solved should be put out of your mind
and forgotten think of this forgetting
as closing the door on whatever it is
that disturbs your emotional equilibrium
self-discipline allows you to close this
door and lock it securely instead of
standing in the door and looking
wistfully back at what might have been
look forward instead into the future one
method is to visualize some symbol of
the unsolvable problem floating deep in
space imagine a giant envelope opening
next to that symbol and the symbol
sliding gently into that envelope that
the envelope closed and then watch it
drift away into the void
whether you close the door or dispatch
an envelope you are employing a valuable
technique it requires a good strong will
and repeated practice of this process
only strengthens your will
door closing does not make you hard cold
or unemotional but it does require
firmness self-discipline cannot permit
lurking memories and you cannot waste
time worrying over the unsolvable doing
so destroys your creative force
undermines your initiative disturbs your
Faculty of reason and just plain
confuses all the departments of your
mind closing the door on fear and worry
allows you to open the doors of hope and
faith reason if your ego functions as a
Supreme Court your reason functions as a
Superior Court handling the more routine
functions of judgment it evaluates the
creations of the imagination modifies
the expression of the emotions and
ratifies the decisions of the conscience
you train your rational faculties by
observation study and analysis of truth
imagination your imagination is
responsible for all creative effort new
ideas are assembled here and you must
allow your reason to control its
activities carefully keep your
imagination workshop focused on things
related to your definite major purpose
not on fantasies about winning the
lottery because imagination is
responsible for creating everything you
in the world it is an invaluable tool
for your progress along the path to
success conscience your conscience keeps
an eye on the moral justice of all your
thoughts and deeds you always consult it
and heat its advice it will repay you by
keeping you honorable and esteemed by
others if you ignore this advice be
careful at the least you will alienate
the members of your mastermind alliance
cut yourself off from the power of
infinite intelligence and be plagued by
countless fears at the worst you will
discover that society has built many
special rooms for people who don’t obey
their
a view from these rooms as usually
obstructed by bars the memory here you
store all the impressions of both your
conscious and subconscious minds
self-discipline will allow you to keep
unpleasant memories tucked away after
you have learned the lessons those
memories inspire many positive things
may also be stored in your memory ready
to be called forth upon the man by a
willpower strengthened by
self-discipline your self discipline is
the procedure you use to coordinate
these departments of your mind and keep
each of them under control its most
immediate effect is the mental harmony
you need to focus all your efforts
towards success the things you cannot
discipline there are four other elements
that play a role in your mental process
but that you cannot control you must
learn to understand them and adapt to
their ways infinite intelligence a
chapter on applied faith explains the
power and importance of infinite
intelligence if you’re not discipline it
instead you must discipline yourself to
be ready to receive it and to act on its
wisdom the subconscious you cannot
directly control your subconscious
that’s a big part of what its name
implies it acts only in response to
stimulus from your emotions but these
are something you can control through
self-discipline when your emotions are
positive and directed toward a definite
purpose your subconscious will be
powerfully and similarly effective
however it will respond just as quickly
to negative emotions it can’t
distinguish between the two
this is why your self-discipline must be
applied your emotions so that your
subconscious works for you not against
you
telepathy
telepathy is the broadcasting of your
mental attitudes and thoughts to others
I’m not talking about such mundane uses
as telling the babysitter when to put
the kids to bed while you’re out to the
movies I’m referring to the mental
communication that develops between you
and others committed through similar
purpose your mastermind alliance is the
best example of this power as your
alliance grows each member will learn to
anticipate the ideas of others and to
connect immediately with their intense
enthusiasm and inspiration you can’t
control this process but your
self-discipline will aid you in
cultivating the positive qualities which
bring it into play the senses sight
sound taste smell and touch all may
deceive you they are capable only of
perceiving the obvious much of what goes
on in this world is not obvious and the
senses are easily fooled while you can
do an extent train your senses to serve
you better
you must always evaluate the messages
you receive from them by applying your
reason all four of these things must be
a part of your mental processes your
self discipline will not give you direct
authority of them but it can it must
make you more aware of their operations
at all times the power of the will the
greatest manifestation of
self-discipline is in the strength of
your will as I have pointed out your
will is the Supreme Court of your mind
it may have a theoretical authority to
order all your mental processes but that
authority depends upon constant
consistent and ethical exercise the
power of a will trained by
self-discipline is an irresistible force
the only limit on that power is the one
that you impose on it by restricting or
ignoring your self-discipline history
and folklore are full of stories of
people whose wills alone triumphed over
death and other incredible adversities
who remembers the people whose weak
wills kept them mired in mediocrity
chapter ten think accurately the raw
power of thought the focused power of
accurate thought the thinking process
techniques for evaluation the sources of
your thought habits two big mistakes
controlled habits think of your mind as
a piece of land through diligent planned
work can be cultivated into a beautiful
and productive garden or it can lie
fallow overrun by weeds sprouting from
seed carried by passing birds in the
wind harvesting the bounty of your mind
depends on careful effort and
preparation by you the gardener this
organization and its successful
implementations are the result of
accurate thinking all plans purposes and
achievements are created by thought your
thoughts you have already learned are
the only thing over which you have
complete control and use the wisely or
unwisely but however you do it your
thoughts have power the raw power of
thought an unknown paperhanger used
thought powerfully he sat moodily in a
prison cell contemplating the fact that
life offered some people power and
riches while he was confined for a time
his very act of thought changed his life
the next the world heard of this man he
had written a book in which he frankly
revealed the purposes of his mind and
put the world on notice of his specific
goal in life some people read the book
and smiled tolerantly others didn’t even
bother since they thought it was the
work of a lunatic a little more than a
decade later this madman had half of
Europe under his heel and the other half
frightened out of its wits and fighting
for dear life his actions were setting
the world on fire but people in America
went complacently about their business
believing that the fire would burn
itself out
Adolf Hitler found the opportunity to
use his power so destructively because
so many other people failed to use their
as constructively although his thinking
was not accurate in the sense that you
will come to understand it still had the
power to cause death and suffering for
countless millions of innocent people
his thoughts were abominations but they
had force applied accurate thinking is
crucial to your desire for success
you should also recognize that
exercising it is a moral duty you owe to
the focused power of accurate thought
every story you have read in this book
about a successful person proves the
benefits individual and social of
accurate thought harness to a worthy
definite purpose the rigor of Jonas
Salk’s thinking discovered the vaccine
which prevents polio George C Marshalls
careful planning revitalized Europe
economically after the effects of
Hitler’s inhuman atrocity George Bush’s
methodical assembly of the Desert Storm
Alliance and the detailed planning of
generals like Norman Schwarzkopf Poland
Powell put a stop to Saddam Hussein’s
hitler-like ambitions the quiet
diligence that mother Clara Hale put
into building Harlem’s Hale house
now provides love and care the children
ravaged by their parents addiction to
drugs and infection with AIDS
none of these great things could ever
have happened without accurate thinking
you can never achieve anything great
without learning to think accurately the
thinking process accurate thinking is
based on two types of reasoning one
induction this is the act of reasoning
from a part to a whole from the
particular to the general from the
individual to the universal it is based
on experience and experimentation and
draws conclusions from them to deduction
in this act of reasoning specific
conclusions are based on general logical
assumptions the two types of reasoning
are very different what they can work
together for instance suppose that every
time you throw a rock at a window the
window breaks while the rock remains
unchanged results of your repeated
efforts cause you to reason inductively
that the glass is fragile and that the
rock is not from this inductive
reasoning you can then proceed to
deductive reasoning which would suggest
to you among other things that another
non fragile object a baseball for
example would also break the glass
or that the rock might also penetrate
other fragile things like paper of
course your reasoning in this case would
be limited since you have not accounted
for many variables a fragile object
would also break the window
certainly a bottle could and some
fragile objects like cloth might simply
collapse about a thrown rock instead of
breaking I am sure you can think of many
other contingencies which would apply in
this case this example it shows how easy
it is to make false conclusions and why
accurate thinking is important why your
reasoning must be rigorous you must
examine the results of your reasoning
consistently and look for flaws should
apply this process just as stringently
to the thinking of other people to be an
accurate thinker you must make two
important steps one separate facts from
opinions fictions unproved hypotheses
and hearsay to separate facts into two
categories important and unimportant
everyone accept accurate thinkers has an
overabundance of opinions and these are
usually worthless many of them can be
dangerous and destructive especially
when they occur in conjunction with
personal initiative hitler is an obvious
example we cannot accept an opinion
offer to you unless it is based on facts
or sound hypotheses about the facts you
should not offer any opinions except on
the same grounds accurate thinkers never
act on freely offered opinions without
giving them the closest scrutiny they
permit no one to do their thinking for
them they obtain facts information and
counsel from others but they retain the
right to accept or reject it in whole or
in part newspapers gossip and rumor are
unreliable sources from which to procure
facts as the events they cover are so
changeable these particular media are
often not subject to verification
remember the famous headline Dewey
defeats Truman if you had believed it
you would probably still be wondering
why General MacArthur lost the job
wishes are often fathers too
popularly accepted facts since people
naturally assume facts to be things that
Arman eyes with their wishes but these
kinds of facts are so freely offered
that you should remember that real facts
generally have a price tag attached the
price of the painstaking labor needed to
examine them for accuracy for a few days
not so long ago our nation was in the
grip of the rumor that hypodermic
needles were appearing in Pepsi cans
everywhere there were reports of
incidents from more than 20 states on
the basis of this fact the price of
Pepsi stock dropped dramatically and
many investors sold PepsiCo shares from
much less than they have paid for them
even though the company’s executives
assured the country that this kind of
tampering was highly unlikely accurate
thinkers recognized the improbability of
such a widespread tampering scheme and
bought Pepsi stock then the FDA and the
FBI declared every single report to be a
hoax who benefited the panicky sellers
who had bought high and then prematurely
sold a very solid company or the
accurate thinkers who bought the stock
at a discount price techniques for
evaluation as an accurate thinker you
must scrutinize every bit of information
you encounter you have to realize that
some things contain facts while being
colored modified or exaggerated either
intentionally or carelessly any
political campaign will demonstrate this
point in glorious detail you should
apply some tests to information you
encounter if you read a book for example
you should ask questions like these one
is the writer a recognized authority on
the subject covered – did the writer
have a motive in writing the book other
than imparting accurate information but
is that motive 3 does the writer have a
profit interest in the subject covered 4
is the writer a person of sound judgment
or a fanatic 5 are there easily
accessible sources to check and verify
the writers statements and 6 – the
writers statements Harmon
with common sense and experience before
you accept anyone’s statement as facts
you must try to find the motive behind
both statements the motive can be
completely honorable but you must still
be careful about accepting the
statements of overzealous people who
have a habit of letting their emotions
run wild honor alone does not equal
accuracy you must rely upon your own
judgment and be cautious no matter who
is trying to influence you if a
statement does not seem reasonable or
contradicts your experience set it aside
for further examination when you ask
others for facts or judgments try not to
disclose the answer you expect or your
motives and asking or people often alter
their advice to fit what they assume is
their listeners desire this process made
the innocent or duplicitous but you
should avoid it instead of asking that
you think it would be possible to send a
man to Saturn or how can I send a man to
Saturn ask what do you know about the
possibility of sending a man to Saturn
or even better what do you know about
space travel this example may seem a
little absurd but if you substitute moon
for Saturn in the above sentences you’ll
see evidence of the power of accurate
thinking the sources of your thought
habits your initial thought habits come
from two sources both of them hereditary
one physical heredity the nature and
character of the generations that
preceded you have some influence on your
thought habits you may be born with a
predominantly rigid or free-floating
thinking process which many scientists
now categorize as left or right brain
the first emphasizes details the other
broad schemes accurate thinking can
modify strengthen and direct both
qualities since everyone possesses each
even though one is stronger than the
other second social heredity your
environmental influences education and
experience are all social stimuli
thinking is most influenced by these
things and that is dangerous because it
means that much of
your thinking is inspired by others
however you can take action to control
and select these influences such as
reading of this book
most people embrace a religion Alai
themselves politically even select the
car they drive not because they have
given thought to the subject but because
of the influences of those nearest them
friends relatives and acquaintances as
an accurate thinker you will accept no
political religious or other type of
thought regardless of its source unless
and until you have carefully analyzed
then you will accept or reject it of
your own free will and its value to you
will be much greater
Robert Taylor one time Governor of
Tennessee once asked a young man why he
was a confirmed Democrat because the
young man exclaimed I live in Tennessee
and my father and grandfather are
Democrats that’s why well said the
governor wouldn’t you be in a bad fix if
your father and grandfather had been
horse thieves
I don’t care what your party is but you
must select it as you select everything
on the basis of accurate thought out on
the habits of others two big mistakes
two opposite qualities are very
prevalent in human nature but each is a
major roadblock to accurate thinking
credulous Ness the habit of believing on
the basis of little or no evidence is a
major human fault for it is fatal to
accuracy in thinking this Fault in both
his own people and those of the world
certainly let Hitler build his influence
to such horrendous levels the mind of an
accurate thinker is an eternal question
mark you must challenge everyone and
everything that influences it this does
not imply a lack of faith in fact it is
the greatest expression of respect for
the creator since you recognize that
your thoughts are the only thing over
which you have been given complete
control and you embrace this blessing a
small minority of accurate thinkers has
they are the pioneers in whatever they
do they create business and industry
advanced science and education and
inspire invention and religion Emerson
said it best beware when the great guard
lets loose the thinker on this planet
and all things are at risk it is when a
conflagration has broken out in a great
city and no man knows what is safe or
where it will end there is not a piece
of science but its flank may be turned
tomorrow there is not literary
reputation not the so called eternal
names of Fame that may not be revised
and condemned bury hopes of land the
thoughts of his heart the religion of
nation the manners and morals of mankind
are all at the mercy of a new
generalization generalization is always
a new influx of the divinity into the
mind hence the thrill that attends when
you are an accurate thinker you are the
master not the slave of your emotion
live among other people without giving
them the power to control your thinking
you must always be on guard against the
human tendency initially to reject an
idea because it is unsound but by close
association with it in the form of
family friends and co-workers to endure
it than to embrace it as your own
forgetting its original source and your
first evaluation of your mind will
absorb any idea that is repeatedly
subjected to whether good or bad right
or wrong as an accurate thinker you can
make this trait work for you in the
sense that whatever you think today
becomes what you are tomorrow this is
the essence of the power of a definite
major purpose and positive mental
attitude the other common weaknesses in
most people’s thinking is a tendency to
disbelieve anything they do not
understand when the Wright brothers
announced that they had built a machine
that would fly and asked newspaper
reporters to come to Kitty Hawk and see
for themselves no one would come
when guglielmo marconi revealed that he
could send a message through the air
without wires some of his relatives had
him sent to a psychiatrist for
examination they were convinced that he
had lost his ability to reason contempt
prior to accept that will limit your
opportunity applied faith enthusiasm and
creativity do not confuse a suspension
of belief in something unproved with a
certainty that anything new is
impossible accurate thinking is designed
to help you understand new ideas or
unusual facts not to keep you from
examining them controlled habits I have
repeatedly emphasized that your thoughts
are the only thing over which you can
exert complete control because your mind
is so subject to the dominating
influences in your environment you must
take control over those influences by
developing beneficial mental habits this
process is called controlled habits the
process of controlling your habits is
miraculous it translates the power of
thought into action but if you are
habits or poor or bad it can bring
misery and failure your success depends
on the strength and quality of your
controlled habits think of your mind as
photographic film film registers any
object reflected on it it does not
select the object at the cords and it
has no control over the focus of the
image or the length of the exposure it
receives you the photographer’s select
the image adjust the lens manipulate the
light and shutter speed the quality of
the picture that is taken depends on
your skill in controlling all these
elements for your mental film the
subject of your composition is your
definite major purpose you frame it as
you choose illuminated with the fire of
your burning obsession and expose your
mind to it for the time that you
determine
few professional photographers take one
shot of an important image they do over
the shot adjusting all the elements of
the process slightly so that a perfect
image is finally recorded similarly
instead of a single photo session you
will work on your mental image on a
daily basis repeatedly exposing your
brain to the image of your definite
major purpose this repeated
photographing of your definite major
purpose then becomes a habit a
controlled habit since you have
consciously decided upon the nature of
your actions the repeated reflection of
the light of your burning obsession
which Springs from your emotions will
also register this image upon your
subconscious which will work without
your knowledge to bring the image to
fruition by inspiring you through your
imagination with ideas and plans for
attaining your purpose the
manifestations of these ideas will not
simply appear your subconscious cannot
deposit a new car in your driveway or
$10,000 in your bank account accurate
thinking requires persistent action in
applying these ideas and all the
principles of success this is why I have
placed such strong emphasis on daily
personal initiative and everything you
do or you must also develop the
controlled habit of action at first
action may require every bit of
conscious mental control you can
exercise but every time you act you
strengthen that controlled habit so that
the process becomes more ingrained your
enthusiasm and your applied faith will
also drive you both these qualities will
increase as you make action a controlled
habit work will no longer be a drudgery
it will become as pleasurable as eating
when you are hungry strange things that
will give you hope and courage will
begin happening people will begin to
cooperate with you in a friendlier
spirit and without your asking them to
do so unexpected opportunities for
attaining your definite major purpose
will spring up around you as the result
of your action
your imagination will become keener and
more alert he will work longer with less
fatigue you will see the world in terms
of hope and faith because the controlled
habit of action has alerted you to their
possibility with these changes will come
improvements in every aspect of your life