to do to make it happen that you aren’t
the division of your day we each get 24
hours to manage the broad divisions of
that time are easy to see one eight
hours for sleep – eight hours for work
three eight hours of spare time you
can’t mess around much with that first
division or your help will suffer
you can occasionally steal an hour or
two from your sleep but it’s a bad habit
don’t create any bad habits the eight
hours spent at work are potentially your
most directly productive need to stay
focused on your purpose your habit of
going the extra mile if this is to be
the case the preceding 15 chapters of
this book will teach you that but in a
few lines I’ll give you some tips to
manage that time more effectively in
attaining your purpose the last eight
hours are your spare time you need to
manage them as well or you’ll find them
slipping away in routine household
chores reruns of mr. Edie and listening
to your neighbor talk about his new
lawnmower again this can be harder but I
have some guidelines to offer as you’ll
see managing your time like managing
your life requires knowing what you want
to use it for time management on the job
as our society gets more complicated
there seems to be more to do I am
indebted to the writings of Alan lakyn
and Stephenie Winston for some of the
advice that follows they’ve spent their
time learning about time prioritizing
your tasks make a list of all the things
you need to do to Bay this week and this
month divide another sheet of paper into
four equal sections label the top left
important and urgent here you will enter
jobs that you know must be done right
away in order for you to be successful
right the day and hour each task you do
next to each job label the top right
section important but not urgent but
things here that are essential to your
work but aren’t a crisis if you pay the
most attention to this section
nothing should end up in the top left
category
again make a note next to each pass
about just exactly when it has to be
done it is important to review this
section every day so that nothing slips
over into important and urgent in the
bottom left right unimportant but urgent
this category like the last one requires
you to have a keen sense of your firm
you have to be able to make a definite
decision about what matters to you most
of the things that fall into it will be
spontaneous someone will want your
advice you may get a call telling you
that you may have to act now
to buy that beautiful timeshare in the
Poconos you won’t bother to write them
down because you can either dismiss them
or move them into important and urgent
the category is on the sheet of paper
mostly to remind you that urgent does
not mean important finally write
unimportant and not urgent in the bottom
right you might not even bother to write
tasks down here since it means that you
will never devote attention to them but
again it helps to remind yourself that
there are many things which can fall
into this category when you complete a
task put a line through it create
evidence of your accomplishment as a
reminder of your efficient use of your
time handling paper two kinds of paper
it will cross your desk
valuable a sales update and superfluous
information about the office pool throw
the superfluous stuff away without even
setting it back down on your desk never
give it a second thought
handle the valuable material as little
as possible
if you can attend to it right then and
there
read updates sign authorizations write
responses on the spot put reading
material like magazine articles aside
for a regular dedicated time if you
can’t act on a paper for some reason
make a small dot in an upper corner the
next time you pick it up make another
dot you’ll soon see how often you’re
handling the same piece of paper again
and you’ll be motivated to do something
about it
budgeting your spare time routine tasks
will easily expand to fit the time
available and eat up all your spare time
unless you make a definite decision to
devote it to the things you think are
important a lot your time in the
following manner to make sure that you
are able to do all the things you need
to 1 spend one hour a day in quiet
meditation on the following subjects a
your plan for your definite major
purpose the contact with infinite
intelligence affirming your gratitude
for the blessings you have see self
analysis identifying the fears you need
to master and making plans for doing so
D ways to increase harmony in all your
relationships e the things you desire
instead of the things you don’t want to
devote two hours to going the extra mile
by rendering some sort of service to
your community to your spouse or your
family without expecting any kind of
reward for it 3 study and read for
self-improvement for an hour or spend an
hour in contact with members of your
mastermind alliance or close personal
friends this leaves three hours for
relaxation recreation exercise and other
responsibilities as you become familiar
with these activities you may be able to
combine them with other things you can
meditate or read while commuting on the
bus or train if you have to drive to
work listen to audio tapes of
self-improvement books carpool with a
member of your mastermind alliance and
use the driving time for discussion and
problem-solving if your relaxation
involves a worthwhile hobby teach it to
youngsters in local service groups
rendering extra service to your
community the possibilities are as many
as you can make them follow this
schedule six days a week and set aside
one day for nothing but mental and
physical relaxation and your religious
and philosophical activities you can
spend much of this time with your family
you all will be glad you did
budgeting your money many people have
written good and valuable books about
specific ways of managing your money
seek them out
I won’t provide you with the
nitty-gritty details but I will remind
you of the importance of budgeting your
money like time money should be spent
with a definite purpose in mind you must
create a budget for all your expenses
and you must use self-discipline and
sticking to it your first priority in
any budget should be to set aside a
fixed percentage of your income for
savings the rule is pay yourself first a
strong and growing savings cushion is an
important weapon in your fight against
the fear of poverty if adversity or ill
health strikes adequate savings will
allow you to start looking for the seed
of equivalent benefit right away you
won’t panic about the mortgage payment
and you’ll be able to recover more
quickly make sure that you have adequate
life insurance if others depend on you
the cost of a good policy is worth the
anguish you will save your dependents
your sudden departure from this life
will be more than enough sadness for
them don’t compound it with the threat
of the for house allocate some portion
of your income to charity this is an
important part of going the extra mile
let’s hope you’ll never have to depend
on some worthy group to help you out but
what right do you have do any ones aid
if you have never given any help
if you’re in debt you need to spend as
much as you can realistically afford to
pay that debt off don’t tell yourself
that you’ll need only $10 a week
spending money when you’ve been blowing
a hundred because once you spend that
eleventh dollar you’ll decide you’ve
already blown your budget it might as
well go all the way it’s a slippery
slope and don’t cut into your savings
allotment to pay your debts either make
savings a habit never back away from a
good habit once you’re out of debt
divide the money you were using to pay
it off between your savings and your
general household and entertainment
expenses we want to cultivate the habit
of increasing your savings whenever your
income rises but you should also give
yourself some immediate reward for doing
your job you will probably find that
circumstances arise that your budget did
not allow for there may be a health
emergency a new baby on the way a parent
who needs help
don’t let this throw you by developing
and sticking to your budget you’ve
increased your habit of self discipline
you’ve also learned to make your money
serve your purpose you did it before and
you can do it again habits are an
important part of budgeting your time
and money they’re important to every
principal in the science of personal
achievement they are in fact the keys to
all personal achievement the next
chapter will teach you to select and
control your habits on the basis of
cosmic law chapter 17 you are where you
are and what you are because of your
established habits the aim of this book
has been to force you to examine those
habits and teach you ways to change them
to do this you need to understand and
apply a universal principle I call
cosmic habit force cosmic habit force is
the law which makes every living
creature every particle of matter
subject to the influence of its
environment it can work for you or
against you the choice is yours
using natural forces the grandest
example of cosmic habit force is the
operator
of the heavens stars and planets move
with clock-like precision they don’t
collide they don’t suddenly veer off
course at least not without some major
change in the forces at work like a
supernova or a black hole which are
themselves just another example of
matter behaving according to establish
patterns a complex system of gravity and
inertia attraction and repulsion keeps
things moving so precisely that for
millennia human beings have been able to
predict the position of the stars and
planets the timing of eclipses and the
regularity of meteor shower sunflowers
don’t grow from turnip seeds
giraffes don’t give birth to tadpoles
clouds don’t release milk everything
does that which is its nature to do all
this is a reflection of universal order
which makes so much of the physical
operation of the world understandable
certainly we are still working to
understand more than we already do but
science is based on the faith that there
is a universal order all actions and
reactions are fixed on the basis of this
order in the science of personal
achievement you seek to take control of
this order by taking control of your
habits you recognize that your thoughts
and actions will become as much a part
of your nature as Pluto’s orbit is a
part of its nature if your habits are
positive the seeds that they plant will
be too but you had to realize that
cosmic habit force always operates your
habits are negative their results will
also be negative this is why you must
take control of your habits through
self-discipline habits become a part of
your nature by repetition you create
thought habits by repeating certain
ideas in your mind cosmic habit force
will take over those patterns of thought
make them more or less permanent
depending on your intensity of
repetition and practice and put them to
work the same thing will happen with
physical habits if you follow the same
route to and from work every day you
make that route
habet you probably aren’t even aware
that it is a habit till you need to
alter your route to go to a store or
visit a friend you aren’t paying
attention when you start your trip you
will probably find yourself missing the
turn or forgetting your task altogether
this is an example of why you need to be
aware of and in control of all your
habits if you’re dominating mental
habits or thoughts of poverty then
cosmic habit force will bring about
poverty in your life if you’re
dominating mental habits are a
prosperity and peace cosmic habit force
will bring them about there is an
endless cycle here repetition of a habit
intensifies it until it becomes an
obsession
you can become obsessed with poverty or
with achievement this is why I have
repeatedly stressed that your thoughts
are the only thing you can completely
control if you decide to do so you must
control your thoughts to control your
habits cosmic habit force doesn’t leave
you any room to complain that
opportunity never came your way you will
know that as long as you have the power
to form and express your thoughts you
have the power to change the
circumstances of your life into whatever
you want them to be if your life isn’t
already what you want it to be it is
because you have drifted into your
present circumstances by virtue of
cosmic habit force you can change that
definiteness of purpose backed by the
power of cosmic habit force and enforced
by self-discipline and personal
initiative can bring you to the
circumstances you want money-making
habits so the circumstances you want
include making more money do they here’s
how to go about using cosmic habit force
to do just that step 1 create a clear
mental image of just how much money you
want to make a lot is not a good answer
you need a concrete figure or a
percentage above your current income
step 2
imagine some of the results of having
that money
a new home sending your daughter to
medical school a comfortable retirement
doing this clarifies which of the ten
basic motives are driving you the more
motives you can associate with making
more money the stronger your push to
achieve it step 3 decide how you will
earn this extra money I’ve emphasized
again and again that you can’t get
something for nothing you must have a
plan step 4 write out your goal in your
plan include your motives for making
more money instead of a statement like I
want to retire in security write
something like I want to own my own home
free and clear of debt I want to be able
to travel and visit my family three
times a year set a date for starting and
achieving this goal sign your plan make
it a contract with yourself
underline all the things that you need
to do to make it happen that you aren’t
doing now make a separate list of these
things
step 6 start doing the things on the
list some of them will be daily tasks
such as spending less money on dining
out and putting more money into your
savings account others will be longer
range but will require daily progress
such as going the extra mile in your job
you have to bend all your efforts and
thoughts to doing these things step 7
every day read your goal aloud to
yourself until you have it memorized
repeated in your mind you get out of bed
when you start your job when you come
back from lunch when your workday is
finished and before you go to sleep yes
this is just what you should be doing
anyway in connection with your definite
major purpose you are giving cosmic
habit force a pattern to follow a length
of time you need to start conditioning
your mind to get positive results
depends almost entirely on the amount of
faith and enthusiasm you place behind
your words and actions all voluntary
positive habits are the products of
willpower directed toward the attainment
of definite goals if you say to yourself
sometime in my life I want $100,000 you
are saying I am uncertain about my goals
here cosmic habit force cannot come into
play because there is no definite
pattern for it to follow if you say
instead six months from now I want
$100,000 and I will do X Y & Z to get it
cosmic habit force has a pattern to
follow but it will follow that pattern
only when your thoughts and actions lead
it there if you don’t do X Y & Z you
won’t develop cosmic habit for flexible
habits be sure to make your plan
sufficiently flexible so that you can
change it when you are so inspired key
word here is inspired as you put your
plan into action and develop applied
faith infinite intelligence may hand you
better planned and the one you have made
preach such inspiration respectfully or
it will help you strengthen your plan
where it is weak don’t express contempt
for your hunches you repeatedly say to
yourself I had the most foolish idea
today soon you will be having only
foolish ideas instead write down your
hunches as soon as they occur to you
examine them carefully and be sure you
are not rejecting them simply because
they involve something that hasn’t been
done before or because they don’t
conform to your current habits the
purpose of cosmic habit force is to make
your habits serve you not the other way
around
don’t let your habits become so
ingrained that whatever useful purpose
they once served they now limit your
opportunity tolerance faith and
enthusiasm American Express enjoyed huge
success with its charge card in the
1980s became a symbol of prestige and
millions of new members signed on more
businesses than ever accepted the card
because they wanted to attract
cardmembers dollars then the economy
changed what American Express habits
didn’t as it became necessary to stretch
every penny and to watch every
percentage of margin card holders began
switching from baha’i fee American
Express card to no fee cards from Visa
and MasterCard that offered almost the
same benefits merchants became angry
because American Express claimed a
higher percentage of each charge than
other cars worse it was slow to credit
merchants accounts the number of card
holders began to fall dramatically in
Boston a group of restaurants even
organized a boycott of American Express
to protest its policies toward merchants
profits disappeared and lost his
mounting cosmic habit force was at work
American Express kept doing business the
way it always had until a crisis hit it
right between the eyes the habits that
had made it the premier charge card were
not the habits that would keep it the
premier charge car its habits rule them
not the other way around
whatever your habits cosmic habit force
will carry them out it isn’t enough
merely to develop good habits and leave
it at that you must remain alert to the
effect of your habits and be willing on
a moment’s notice to change them when
new ones will serve you better beware of
these habits the good news is ironically
if you have any of these habits they
will eventually cause some sort of
defeat that will inspire you to
eliminate of course you can spare
yourself that trouble if you’re willing
to examine yourself identify your
negative habits and resolve to replace
them with positive ones poverty
imaginary illness laziness envy greed
vanity cynicism drifting without aim or
purpose irritability revenge jealousy
dishonesty arrogance stat ISM embrace
these habits you can replace any of the
above with one of the following and
profit by doing it definiteness of
purpose this is the primary good habit
makes you more alert or imaginative more
enthusiastic and it increases your
willpower Hey let your mind dwell on
positive ideas and on clearing away all
negative influences and fears
this takes self-discipline personal
initiative you may have to force
yourself at first to do things without
being told to do them but persistence
will make it easier enthusiasm
remember that control enthusiasm is your
goal we want to be able to summon it at
will or shut it off when it isn’t
appropriate or might actually be
dangerous self-discipline this is a
circular process the more you exercise
it the more you have it going the
extra-mile
start right now by doing something for
which you don’t expect to be paid
directly go the extra mile every day by
sheer effort if necessary
and soon the effort will be replaced by
habit controlling your willpower in the
chapter on self-discipline you learned
about your ego the source of your
willpower developing positive habits
which can be taken over by cosmic habit
force depends heavily on strong
willpower here’s a review of the steps
to strengthen your will step 1
actively allow yourself with other
people who can help you attain your
major purpose a mastermind alliance
creates multiple patterns for cosmic
habit force to work on step 2
develop your plan drawing on all the
members of your alliance for knowledge
ability and the power of their faith
step 3 distance yourself from anyone and
any circumstance that make you feel
inferior a positive ego does not grow in
a negative environment
remember that cosmic habit force causes
every living thing to partake of the
dominating influence of its environment
step 4 close the door on the unpleasant
experiences of the past a strong will
doesn’t dwell on the past a vital ego
thrives on hopes and desires of an
as-yet unattained objective if you keep
your mind in a state of hope and desire
cosmic habit force goes to work changing
your hopes and desires into their
material equivalent step 5 surround
yourself with every possible means of
impressing your mind with the nature of
your definite purpose hang Matos on your
walls but a pictures of people doing
what you want to do you want to make it
easier to create a mental image of
yourself realizing your objective before
you create this image the sooner it will
be taken over by a cosmic habit force
and impressed on your subconscious
step 6 watch out that you don’t over
inflate your ego one small prick with a
pin and the escaping hot air will be
like a runaway a rocket
carrying you far away from where you
want to be the three essentials of
cosmic habit force three qualities
underlie the process of voluntary
establishment of a habit plasticity this
is the capability to change it also
implies that once a change has been made
your new form will hold until a
subsequent change is made
you won’t revert to your old status
consider the difference between modeling
clay which is malleable but holds the
shape that is given and Mercury which
can take any shape for a moment but will
never keep it you can be changed by
environmental influences or by your own
decisions frequency of impression
repetition is the mother of habit one of
the factors affecting the speed with
which the habit can be adopted is how
often it is consciously repeated your
ability to do this may vary with
circumstances your job may require
enough concentration on the task at hand
that you have to pay attention only to
it and develop your habits in your spare
time personal initiative also comes into
play if you’re lazy you won’t knock
yourself out developing a habit this can
definitely slow down the process of
acquiring it intensity of impression you
can go through the motions of an
activity or you can concentrate on doing
it concentration builds to have it
quickly you impress the habit on your
subconscious mind and it becomes a part
of everything you do here’s an example
of these three essentials at work a
woman working the swing shift at an
electronics assembly plant was allowed
to 10-minute breaks one at 6:00 p.m. and
one at 10:30
most of her co-workers used these breaks
for cigarettes he didn’t want to
cultivate a bad habit that would affect
her health and make her a less pleasing
personality so she decided instead to
have a snack her garden was in full
bloom so she would have a carrot an
apple or something else she had grown
herself being human she
already had plasticity it’s part of
everyone’s nature every day throughout
the summer and fall precisely at 6:00
and at 10:30 she would have her snack
this gave a definite frequency of
impression the element of intensity
varied according to her relative hunger
sometimes she ate with relish because
her meal at home had been small
sometimes she skipped a meal before
coming to work and the intensity of her
hunger was even greater but whenever the
break came she ate no matter how hungry
she was as the months passed she
realized that regardless of what she had
eaten she got hungry before her breaks
she watched the clock waiting for a
chance to heat sometimes it seemed the
time would never come and when her
garden was no longer producing good
fresh food he switched to anything else
she had at home a candy bar a doughnut
cookies this is a clear example of the
voluntary establishment of a habit it
wasn’t really a good habit he began to
put on weight and found she was
distracted from her work for half an
hour before her breaks so she decided to
break her habit and stopped bringing
food this wasn’t the answer because
there was food in the vending machines
at the plant and she just started buying
that not only was she still eating but
she was now spending more money to do it
at this point she really had to seize
possession of her mind
inspire it with a strong motive and take
definite action he set a definite minor
purpose to break her habit he did this
by reading substituting the desire for
knowledge and inspiration for the desire
for food her break came she reached for
a book instead of a candy bar the same
frequency of impression was there of
course the only thing different was the
intensity at first the feeling of hunger
persisted but after a few days he
acquired an appetite for reading which
overwhelmed the old physical desire he
established a new habit to supplant the
old any worthless superfluous or harmful
habit can be broken
and replaced with a more desirable one
if you want it to be so one develop
definiteness of purpose to establish a
mastermind alliance 3 assemble an
attractive personality or use applied
faith 5 go the extra mile 6 create
personal initiative 7 build a positive
mental attitude 8 control your
enthusiasm 9 and force self-discipline
10 think accurately 11 control your
attention 12 inspire teamwork 13 learn
from adversity and defeat 14 cultivate
creative vision 15 maintain sound health
16 budget your time and money 17 used
cosmic habit force a detailed evaluation
following our concise summaries of the
steps to making each principle a part of
your life read them through and then at
the end of each section stop the tape
write down specific actions you plan to
take to implement the principles then
restart the tape for the next section
the summaries themselves will give you
concrete recommendations about what to
do under the definiteness of purpose you
might write down that you will define
your major goal write out a plan for
achieving it and read that plan aloud to
yourself every day all of which are
mentioned in the summary but if you also
include a date by which you will have
your plan written down you will be
making a commitment to yourself that
will provide you with extra motivation
do not simply pare it back the summary
suggestions consider carefully the
changes you need to make and be as
detailed as possible in writing them out
in a few weeks or months you can look at
these notes recognize the progress
you’ve made
and renew your commitment to success one
develop definiteness of purpose with PMA
the starting point of all worthwhile
achievement you should have one high
desirable outstanding goal and keep it
ever before you you can have many non
conflicting goals which help you to
reach your major definite goals it is
advisable to have immediate intermediate
and distant objective when you set a
definite major goal you are apt to
recognize that which will help you
achieve it determine or fixing your mind
exactly what you desire be definite
evaluate and determine exactly what you
will give in return set a definite date
for exactly when you intend to possess
your desire identify your desire with a
definite plan for carrying out and
achieving your objective put your plan
into action at once clearly define your
plan for achievement write out precisely
and concisely exactly what you want
exactly when you want to achieve it and
exactly what you intend to give in
return each and every day morning and
evening read your written statement
aloud as you read it see feel and
believe yourself already in possession
of your objective engage in personal
inspection with regularity to determine
whether you’re on the right track and
headed in the right direction so that
you don’t deviate from the path that
leads to the achievement of your
objective guarantee success engaged
daily and study thinking and planning
time with PMA regarding yourself and
your family how you can achieve your
definite goals whatever your mind can
conceive and believe you can achieve
when you have PMA and apply it now stop
the tape and write your commitment to
use this principle in your life then
restart the tape to establish a
mastermind alliance with PMA
a mastermind Alliance is two or more
minds working together in the spirit of
perfect harmony toward the attainment of
a specific objective this principle
makes it possible for you through
association with others to acquire and
utilize the knowledge and experience
needed for the attainment of any desired
goal in life your mastermind alliance
can be created by surrounding yourself
or aligning yourself with the advice
counsel and personal cooperation of
several people who are willing to lend
you their wholehearted aid for the
internment of your objective in the
spirit of perfect harmony you can create
a mastermind alliance with your spouse
your manager a friend a co-worker once a
mastermind Alliance is formed the group
as a whole must become and remain active
the group must move in a definite plan
at a definite time toward a definite
common objective indecision inactivity
or delay will destroy the usefulness of
the Alliance there must be a complete
meeting of the minds without
reservations on the part of any member
you can have several mastermind
alliances each with different objectives
that is an alliance with your spouse to
reach your family objectives an alliance
with your banker or investment councilor
or attorney for your financial
objectives and alliance with your
minister or clergy for your spiritual
objectives and so on now stop the tape
and write your commitment to use this
principle in your life then restart the
tape 3 assemble an attractive
personality with PMA your personality is
your greatest asset or greatest
liability or it embraces everything that
you control mind body and soul a
person’s personality is the person it
shapes the nature of your thoughts your
deed your relationships with others and
it establishes the boundaries of the
space you occupy in the world it is
essential that you develop a pleasing
personality pleasing to yourself and to
others it is imperative
that you develop the habit of being
sensitive to your own reactions to
individuals circumstances and events and
to the reactions of individuals and
groups to what you say think or do
positive factors of a pleasing
personality a positive mental attitude
tolerance alertness common courtesy a
fondness for people flexibility pack
fulness personal magnetism a pleasant
tone of voice control of facial
expressions sportsmanship sincerity a
sense of humor humility of the heart
smiling enthusiasm control of temper and
emotions patience proper dress do unto
others as you would have others do unto
you now stop the tape write your
commitment to use this principle in your
life and then restart the tape number
four use applied faith with PMA faith is
the state of mind through which your
aims desires plans and purposes may be
translated into their physical or
financial equivalent applied faith means
action specifically the habit of
applying your faith under any and all
circumstances it is faith in your God
your self your fellow man and the
unlimited opportunities available to you
faith without action is dead faith is
the art of believing by doing it comes
as a result of persistent action fear
and doubt our faith and reverse gear
faith in its positive application is the
key which will give one direct
communications with infinite
intelligence applied faith is belief in
an objective or purpose backed by
unqualified activity if you want results
try a prayer when you pray express your
gratitude and Thanksgiving for the
blessings you already have received then
ask the good Lord for his help
affirm the objectives of your desires
through
prayer each night and morning inspire
your imagination to see yourself already
in possession of them and act precisely
as if you are already in physical
possession of the possession of anything
first takes place mentally by being
imagined in the mind’s eye prayer is
your greatest power I’ll stop the tape
write your commitment to use this
principle in your life and restart the
tape five go the extra mile with PMA
render more and better service for which
you are paid and do it with a positive
mental attitude form the habit of going
the extra mile because of the pleasure
you get out of it and because of what it
does to you and for you deep down inside
it is inevitable that every seed of
useful service you so will multiply
itself and come back to you in
overwhelming abundance following this
principle will make you indispensable to
other people the principle manifests
itself in two important laws the law of
compensation and the law of increasing
returns these unvarying laws always
reward intelligent effort rendered in
the attitude of faith and rendered
instinctively without regard to the
limits of immediate compensation q1 + q2
+ ma equals C the quality of the service
rendered + the quantity of the service
rendered + the mental attitude in which
it is rendered equals your compensation
in the world and the amount of space you
will occupy in the hearts of your fellow
man make going the extra mile with PMA a
habit I’ll stop the tape write your
commitment to use this principle in your
life and restart the tape 6
create personal initiative with PMA
personal initiative is the inner power
that starts all action it is the power
that inspires the completion of that
which one begins it is the dynamo that
starts the Faculty of the imagination
into action it is in fact self
motivation motivation is that which
induces action or determines choice it
is that which provides a motive a motive
is that inner urge only within the
individual which incites you to action
such as an idea an emotion a desire or
an impulse it is a hope or other force
which starts in an attempt to produce
specific results when you know
principles that can motivate you you
will then know principles that can
motivate others motivate yourself with
PMA hope is the magic ingredient in
motivation but the secret of
accomplishment is getting into action
use and develop the self-starter do it
now now stop the tape and write your
commitment to use this principle in your
number seven build a positive mental
attitude
PMA stands for positive mental attitude
a positive mental attitude is the right
honest constructive thought action or
reaction to any person situation or set
of circumstances that does not violate
the laws of God or the right of one’s
fellow man
PMA allows you to build on hope overcome
the negative attitudes of despair and
discouragement it gives you the mental
power the feeling the confidence to do
anything you make up your mind of it
PMA is commonly referred to as the I can
I will
attitude applicable to all challenging
circumstances in your life you create
and maintain a positive mental attitude
through your own willpower based on
motives of your own adaptation to
develop PMA strive to understand and
apply the golden rule be considerate and
sensitive to the reactions of others be
sensitive to your own reactions by
controlling your emotional responses be
a good finder believe that any goal can
be achieved and develop what are
understood to be right habits of thought
and action a positive mental attitude is
the catalyst necessary for achieving
worthwhile success achievement is
attained through some combination of P
na and definiteness of purpose with one
or more of the other 15 success
principles maintain the right attitude a
positive mental attitude stop the tape
and write your commitment to use this
principle in your life then restart the
tape eight control your enthusiasm with
PMA a person without enthusiasm is like
a watch without a mainspring father John
O’Brien research professor of theology
at the University of Notre Dame says the
first ingredient which I believe is
absolutely necessary for a successful
efficient and competent individual is
enthusiasm he adds enthusiasm
comes from the Greek words that let you
look into the root of this word into its
basic fundamental and original meaning
the first is theists which means God the
other two words are Entei so that in the
early usage of this term of the ancient
Greeks it literally meant God within you
further no battle of any importance can
be won without enthusiasm to become
enthusiastic about achieving a desirable
goal keep your mind on that gold day
after day the more worthy and desirable
your objectives the more dedicated and
enthusiastic you will become understand
and act on William James statement the
emotions are not always immediately
subject to reason but they are always
immediately subject to action enthusiasm
thrives on a positive mind and a
positive action this is the key to
controlling your enthusiasm always give
it a worthy goal to focus on once you
have channeled it toward that goal it
will carry you forward real enthusiasm
comes from within
however enthusiasm is like getting water
from a well first you have to prime the
pump
but soon the water flows and flows and
flows you can be enthusiastic about
everything and anything you know or do
enthusiasm is a p.m. a characteristic it
can be generated naturally from one’s
thoughts feelings and emotions but more
important it can be generated at will to
be enthusiastic act enthusiastically
stop the tape now and write your
commitment to use this principle in your
life then restart the tape 9 enforced
self-discipline with PMA self-discipline
enables you to develop control over
yourself self-discipline begins with
mastery of your thoughts what you really
are what you really do your failures and
your successes are the results of habits
we are creatures of habit but because we
are Minds with body
we can change our habits self-discipline
is perhaps the most important function
in aiding an individual in the
development and maintenance of habits of
thought which enable that person to fix
his or her entire attention upon any
desired purpose and to hold it there
until that purpose has been attained if
you do not control your thoughts you do
not control your deeds think first and
act afterward self-discipline is the
principle by which you may voluntarily
shape the patterns of your thoughts to
harmonize with your goals and purposes
direct your thoughts control your
emotions ordain your destiny with PMA
stop the tape now and write your
commitment to use this principle in your
life then restart the tape 10 think
accurately with PMA accurate thinking is
based on two major fundamentals 1
inductive reasoning based on the
assumption of unknown facts or
hypotheses 2 deductive reasoning based
on known facts or what are believed to
be fact in school we are taught
deductive and inductive reasoning and
the fallacy that results in starting
with the wrong premise in the one
instance and making the wrong inference
in the other accurate thinking and
common sense are in part the result of
experiences you can learn from your own
experiences as well as those of others
when you learn how to recognize relate
assimilate and apply principles in order
to achieve your goal 1 separate facts
from fiction or hearsay evidence two
separate facts in two classes
important and unimportant be careful of
others opinions they could be dangerous
and destructive make sure your opinions
are not someone else’s prejudices the
accurate thinker learns to use his or
her own judgment and to be cautious no
matter who may endeavour to influence
him or her truth will be true regardless
of a closed mind
ignorance or refusal to believe stop the
tape right your commitment to use this
principle in your life then restart the
tape eleven control your attention with
p.m. a controlled attention is organized
mind power it is the highest form of
self discipline controlled attention is
the act of coordinating all the
faculties of the mind and directing
their combined power to a given end or
definite objective it is an act that can
be obtained only by the strictest sort
of self-discipline
it is obvious therefore that when you
voluntarily fix your attention upon a
definite major purpose of a positive
nature and force your mind through your
daily habits of thought to dwell on the
subject you condition your subconscious
mind to act on that purpose controlled
attention when it is focused upon the
object of your definite major purpose is
a medium by which you make positive
application of the principle of
suggestion the mind never remains
inactive not even during sleep it works
continuously by reactions to the
influences which reach it therefore the
object of controlled attention is that
of keeping your mind busy with thought
material which may be helpful in
attaining the object of your desire
controlled attention is self mastery of
the highest order or it is an accepted
fact that the person who controls his or
her own mind they control everything
else keep your mind on the things you
want and off the things you don’t want
I’ll stop the tape write your commitment
to use this principle in your life and restart the tape