We all know that in order to accomplish a certain thing we must

concentrate. It is of the utmost value to learn how to

concentrate. To make a success of anything you must be able to

concentrate your entire thought upon the idea you are working

out. Do not become discouraged, if you are unable

to hold your thought on the subject very long at first. There are

very few that can. It seems a peculiar fact that it is easier

to concentrate on something that is not good for us, than on

something that is beneficial. This tendency is overcome when

we learn to concentrate consciously.

If you will just practice a few concentration exercises each day

you will find you will soon develop this wonderful power.

Success is assured when you are able to concentrate for you are

then able to utilize for your good all constructive thoughts and

shut out all the destructive ones. It is of the greatest value to

be able to think only that which will be beneficial. Did you ever stop to think what an important

part your thoughts, concentrated thoughts, play in your life?

This book shows their far-reaching and all-abiding effects.

These lessons you will find very practical. The exercises I have

thoroughly tested. They are arranged so that you will notice an

improvement from the very start, and this will give you

encouragement. They point out ways in which you can help

yourself. Man is a wonderful creature, but he must be

trained and developed to be useful. A great work can be accomplished

by every man if he can be awakened to do his very best. But the

greatest man would not accomplish much if he lacked concentration

and effort. Dwarfs can often do the work of giants when they

are transformed by the almost magic power of great mental concentration.

But giants will only do the work of dwarfs when they lack

this power. We accomplish more by concentration than by

fitness; the man that is apparently best suited for a place does

not always fill it best. It is the man that concentrates on its

every possibility that makes an art of both his work and his

life. All your real advancement must come from your

individual effort. This course of lessons will stimulate and

inspire you to achieve success; it will bring you into perfect harmony

with the laws of success. It will give you a firmer hold on

your duties and responsibilities.

The methods of thought concentration given in this work if put

into practice will open up interior avenues that will connect you

with the everlasting laws of Being and their exhaustless

foundation of unchangeable truth. As most people are very different it is impossible

to give instructions that will be of the same value

to all. The author has endeavored in these lessons to awaken

that within the soul which perhaps the book does not express. So

study these lessons as a means of awakening and training that

which is within yourself. Let all your acts and thoughts have

the intensity and power of concentration.

To really get the full benefit of these lessons you should read a

page, then close the book and thoughtfully recall its ideas. If

you will do this you will soon cultivate a concentrated mental

habit, which will enable you to read with ordinary rapidity and

remember all that you read.

LESSON I. CONCENTRATION FINDS THE WAY

Everyone has two natures. One wants us to advance and the other

wants to pull us back. The one that we cultivate and concentrate

on decides what we are at the end. Both natures are trying toa

gain control. The will alone decides the issue. A man by one

supreme effort of the will may change his whole career and almost

accomplish miracles. You may be that man. You can be if you Will

to be, for Will can find a way or make one. I could easily fill a book, of cases where

men plodding along in a matter-of-fact way, were all at once aroused

and as if awakening from a slumber they developed the

possibilities within them and from that time on were different

persons. You alone can decide when the turning point will come. It

is a matter of choice whether we allow our diviner self to control

us or whether we will be controlled by the brute within us.

No man has to do anything he does not want to do. He is therefore

the director of his life if he wills to be. What we are to

do, is the result of our training. We are like putty, and can be

completely controlled by our will power.

Habit is a matter of acquirement. You hear people say: "He comes

by this or that naturally, a chip off the old block," meaning

that he is only doing what his parents did. This is quite often

the case, but there is no reason for it, for a person can break a

habit just the moment he masters the "I will." A man may have

been a "good-for-nothing" all his life up to this very minute,

but from this time on he begins to amount to something. Even old

men have suddenly changed and accomplished wonders. "I lost my

opportunity," says one. That may be true, but by sheer force of

will, we can find a way to bring us another opportunity. There is

no truth in the saying that opportunity knocks at our door but

once in a lifetime. The fact is, opportunity never seeks us; we

must seek it. What usually turns out to be one man's opportunity,

was another man's loss. In this day one man's brain is matched

against another's. It is often the quickness of brain action that

determines the result. One man thinks "I will do it," but while

he procrastinates the other goes ahead and does the work. They

both have the same opportunity. The one will complain of his lost

chance. But it should teach him a lesson, and it will, if he is

seeking the path that leads to success. Many persons read good books, but say they

do not get much good out of them. They do not realize that all

any book or any lesson course can do is to awaken them to their possibilities;

to stimulate them to use their will power. You

may teach a person from now until doom's day, but that person

will only know what he learns himself. "You can lead him to the fountain,

but you can't make him drink."

One of the most beneficial practices I know of is that of looking

for the good in everyone and everything, for there is good in all

things. We encourage a person by seeing his good qualities and we

also help ourselves by looking for them. We gain their good

wishes, a most valuable asset sometimes. We get back what we give

out. The time comes when most all of us need encouragement; need

buoying up. So form the habit of encouraging others, and you will

find it a wonderful tonic for both those encouraged and yourself,

for you will get back encouraging and uplifting thoughts.

Life furnishes us the opportunity to improve. But whether we do

it or not depends upon how near we live up to what is expected of

us. The first of each month, a person should sit down and examine

the progress he has made. If he has not come up to "expectations"

he should discover the reason, and by extra exertion measure up

to what is demanded next time. Every time that we fall behind

what we planned to do, we lose just so much for that time is gone

forever. We may find a reason for doing it, but most excuses are

poor substitutes for action. Most things are possible. Ours may

be a hard task, but the harder the task, the greater the reward.

It is the difficult things that really develop us, anything that

requires only a small effort, utilizes very few of our faculties,

and yields a scanty harvest of achievement. So do not shrink from

a hard task, for to accomplish one of these will often bring us

more good than a dozen lesser triumphs. I know that every man that is willing to pay

the price can be a success. The price is not in money, but in

effort. The first essential quality for success is the desire

to do--to be something. The next thing is to learn how

to do it; the next to carry it into execution. The man that is the

best able to accomplish anything is the one with a broad

mind; the man that has acquired knowledge, that may, it is true,

be foreign to this particular case, but is, nevertheless, of

some value in all cases. So the man that wants to be successful

must be liberal; he must acquire all the knowledge that he can;

he must be well posted not only in one branch of his business

but in every part of it. Such a man achieves success.

The secret of success is to try always to improve yourself no

matter where you are or what your position. Learn all you can.

Don't see how little you can do, but how much you can do. Such a

man will always be in demand, for he establishes the reputation

of being a hustler. There is always room for him because

progressive firms never let a hustler leave their employment if

they can help it. The man that reaches the top is the gritty,

plucky, hard worker and never the timid, uncertain, slow worker.

An untried man is seldom put in a position of responsibility

and power. The man selected is one that has done something, achieved

results in some line, or taken the lead in his department.

He is placed there because of his reputation of putting vigor

and virility into his efforts, and because he has previously shown

that he has pluck and determination.

The man that is chosen at the crucial time is not usually a

genius; he does not possess any more talent than others, but he

has learned that results can only be produced by untiring

concentrated effort. That "miracles," in business do not just

"happen." He knows that the only way they will happen is by

sticking to a proposition and seeing it through. That is the only

secret of why some succeed and others fail. The successful man

gets used to seeing things accomplished and always feels sure of

success. The man that is a failure gets used to seeing failure,

expects it and attracts it to him. It is my opinion that with the right kind

of training every man could be a success. It is really a shame that

so many men and women, rich in ability and talent, are allowed

to go to waste, so to speak. Some day I hope to see a millionaire

philanthropist start a school for the training of failures.

I am sure he could not put his money to a better use. In a year's

time the science of practical psychology could do wonders for

him. He could have agencies on the lookout for men that had lost

their grip on themselves; that had through indisposition

weakened their will; that through some sorrow or misfortune had

become discouraged. At first all they need is a little help to get

them back on their feet, but usually they get a knock downwards

instead. The result is that their latent powers never develop

and both they and the world are the losers. I trust that in the

near future, someone will heed the opportunity of using some of

his millions in arousing men that have begun to falter. All

they need to be shown is that there is within them an omnipotent

source that is ready to aid them, providing they will make use

of it. Their minds only have to be turned from despair to hope to

make them regain their hold.

When a man loses his grip today, he must win his redemption by

his own will. He will get little encouragement or advice of an

inspiring nature. He must usually regain the right road alone. He

must stop dissipating his energies and turn his attention to

building a useful career. Today we must conquer our weakening

tendencies alone. Don't expect anyone to help you. Just take one

big brace, make firm resolutions, and resolve to conquer your

weaknesses and vices. Really none can do this for you. They can

encourage you; that is all. I can think of nothing, but lack of health,

that should interfere with one becoming successful. There is no

other handicap that you should not be able to overcome. To overcome

a handicap, all that it is necessary to do is to use more determination

and grit and will.

The man with grit and will, may be poor today and wealthy in a

few years; will power is a better asset than money; Will will

carry you over chasms of failure, if you but give it the chance.

The men that have risen to the highest positions have usually had

to gain their victories against big odds. Think of the hardships

many of our inventors have gone through before they became a

success. Usually they have been very much misunderstood by

relatives and friends. Very often they did not have the bare

necessities of life, yet, by sheer determination and resolute

courage, they managed to exist somehow until they perfected their

inventions, which afterwards greatly helped in bettering the

condition of others. Everyone really wants to do something, but