often see college graduates fail because their minds have become negative and incapable of producing, creating. A few months of training the mental faculties and building up the weak, deficient ones by scientific right thinking would be worth more to them than a whole college course without it.
A positive thought develops constructiveness, and this is the most important of all mental qualities. If your mind is inclined to be negative, if you lack initiative, you can soon increase your constructiveness wonderfully by forming a habit of holding the positive, creative mental attitude towards everything.
This is true even when you are enjoying recreation. It is always weakening to hold the negative thought. It is infinitely better, in fact, to hold the mind absolutely passive, for there is a great difference between the passive mind, the mind at rest, and the negative mind.
The mental loom weaves whatever pattern we give it. It reproduces the ideal, whether of discord or harmony, error or truth, courage or cowardice. The characteristics of the model are very quickly transferred to the subject.
You will find a tremendous help in constantly affirming that you are the person you wish to be; not that you hope to be, but that you actually are now. You will be surprised to see how quickly the part which you assume will be realized in your life, will be out pictured in your character.
What magnificent characters we could build up by holding persistently in the mind that pattern which we wish woven into the life web, forming the health pattern, the pattern of wholeness, completeness, the pattern of the perfect man, the man God intended, the ideal man without spot or blemish!
What we need do is to keep the dominant qualities always in the ascendancy, to discourage and kill the opposites, the enemies of all constructiveness.
The moment the building-up process—the chemical force in the soil, in the atmosphere, in the sunshine, in the rain—ceases to operate upon the plant, upon the fruit, upon the tree, the injurious elements set in, and decay and destruction are certain. So, the moment the building-up and creative principles in man cease to dominate, the moment he loses confidence in them, the tearing down and destructive elements begin their work.
The right mental attitude has a powerful influence in protecting the mind from the influence of bad suggestions. For instance, if you constantly deny the power of the evil which you are compelled to hear and see in a vicious environment this denial will have a great counteractive influence upon it.
On the other hand, if your attitude of mind is that of responsiveness, receptiveness to the evil, if you encourage it, welcome it, enjoy it, it will have a very strong influence over you.
There is everything in keeping the mind saturated with one’s aim until it becomes a life habit, in setting the life currents and all of the forces within us towards the goal of our ambition. This will after a while create a sort of tide which will tend to float things our way.
We must look out for the cross currents which bring discord—the thought currents of hatred, jealousy, envy, or unkind feelings towards others, the thought currents of revenge, of malice—for all these are enemies which sap our energies and handicap our progress.
Anything which produces discord cripples our effort. We must have harmony, peace of mind, freedom of thought, to get efficiency. In other words, all the thought currents must be creative instead of destructive. Currents of courage, confidence and determination—these are the electrical mental forces which bring success.
A great many people who are comparative failures would succeed if they could only keep the failure thought currents out of their mind. It is a great art to learn to clear the mind of rubbish, of fear, anxiety, and all of the things that hinder, and to fill it with vigorous, hopeful, uplifting thoughts. This is what puts the mind into the producing, creative attitude.
We radiate our mental attitude, our hopes or our fears; and our reputation and others’ estimate of us have a great deal to do with our success. If others do not believe in us, if they think we are weak and timid because our mental radiation is negative, weak, and timid, we shall not be put forward for positions of importance or responsibility.
There is everything in radiating a confident, courageous, fearless impression; in carrying the confident air which accompanies the conquering habit.
People will think that if we are in the habit of conquering we are much more likely to win in the future than those who are in the habit of losing or who radiate an impression of weakness or inferiority.
In other words, it is nearly as important to make others believe in us as to believe in ourselves; and to do this we must carry a confident, victorious air.
There is a great difference between a man who lives like a victor, who goes about the world as a conqueror, and one who carries a submissive, vanquished air, who always acts as though he had been defeated in the great life race.
Compare the influence of a man like Theodore Roosevelt, who radiates force from every pore and gives an impression of great vigor and superb power, with that of a timid, retiring, self-effacing, apologizing man, who radiates weakness and shows inefficiency and the lack of a bold, vigorous nature. The world likes a man who has the bearing of a conqueror, who gives the impression that he is in the habit of winning and always expects to succeed.
It is the affirmation of force that carries the conviction, that gives the impression of power. If your attitude does not suggest power, you will never gain the reputation of being a positive force in the world.
Some people wonder that they amount to so little, that they cut so little figure and carry so little weight in their community. It is because they do not think and act like conquerors. They do not hold the constructive, victorious attitude; they give the impression of weaklings. No person can be magnetic until he learns the secret of radiating force. The positive character is magnetic; the negative repellent. Victors are always victorious mentally first.
There are people who give us the impression that they never expect to win out; all they desire is a chance to make a fairly comfortable living. They never expect anything but hard work. They start out with the idea that life at best is going to be a grind, when it should be a perpetual delight, a glory. The life properly lived is a continual growth, and the very knowledge of constant enlargement, the knowledge that we are pushing farther out on our mental horizon, should give a sense of satisfaction that nothing else can bestow. There is nothing that will take the place of a sense of victoriousness, a consciousness of perpetual winning.
One thing that should be instilled into a child’s very being is that he was born for victory, born to conquer; that he is victory organized, and not failure—organized, as many people seem to think they are. Nobody is organized for failure.
If children were trained always to hold the victorious attitude, to have great respect for themselves and unlimited faith in their possibilities, failure would be a very rare thing. The time will come when children will be taught to radiate force, to express vigor and hold the victorious attitude, and when this will be considered a most important part of their education and upbringing.
The mental life must be right before the physical can be harmonious. You must bear a healthy relation to your fellow men; you must stand right with your brothers before you can stand right with yourself or be truly healthy or happy.
If we would have the victorious attitude, we must eliminate all thoughts of jealousy, hatred, and revenge that may rankle in us, and cultivate that peace of mind and serenity of soul which is characteristic of the really great.
The whole philosophy of efficiency and happiness consists in the vigorous, consistent affirmation of
