in forming and acting on his desires; his mental energy is intermittent. Here the human power-house is quite adequate physically—not quite adequate mentally. The probable cause is two-fold: partly an inherited weakness, but more an induced habit of putting off—a failure to concentrate. Thus interest-power needs to be intensely strong to overcome a physical or mental hindrance or a combination of the two.
VI. HOW HUMAN ENERGY IS ORIGINATED.
10. We will now turn our attention to the manner in which interest is evolved. Ask a business man why he wants to own the largest shop in his town or district and he will probably say “Simply because I want to,” which means that he has a strong desire to make money in that particular way, and to enjoy commercial distinction. Ask a professional man—an accountant—why he wishes to be the leading accountant in the city and to corral all the big audits: he will give a reply similar to that of the business man. So will the politician, albeit his aim will perhaps be flavoured with a spice of altruism in the form of public service—the desire to ameliorate the conditions of life. But all men who are working energetically and intelligently have two outstanding qualities: (1) they know what they want, and (2) they work hard to attain it. The first is by far the more important, and to put the matter to the test, we would ask you to take a sheet of paper and write down your aim or aims in life, giving yourself five minutes in which to complete the task.
Aim v. Wish.
Can you do it?
“Yes,” you reply, “I want success.”
No doubt, but that is not an aim; it is a wish. An aim is a definite thing, a clear cut idea with hard outlines—not a general notion. You want success. But what kind of success? Money? Fame? Learning? Unless you know exactly what you want, you are hardly likely to have the energy to work for it: you can only work in a general way if your impelling idea is merely general. What you need is a particular aim: a concrete purpose like this: “I want to succeed in obtaining the post of Managing Director of the firm where I am at present an ordinary member of the staff.” We know it is a modern fashion to smile at a youth who takes himself and his career so seriously; but the smile changes faces eventually. “The ordinary member of the staff” may or may not reach the Managing Directorship, but his ambition is not different, psychologically, from that of the poet who seeks after “the light that never was on sea or land”; or of the litterateur who wills to embody his ideas in phrases that shew his mastery of words and style. The office man, the poet, and the prose writer are all ambitious; only the end is different. Of course, some critics would avow that poetry and high prose are nobler pursuits than mere worldly position; but to discuss the comparative values of occupations is no part of our work in these lessons. So long as an ambition is worthy, it does not matter much what other people think about it.
VII. ENERGY DEVELOPS MENTAL ABILITY.
11. You must then avoid nebulous notions as to your future. Get a clear and distinct idea of what you want: then work for its attainment in the best way possible. Such a life is conducted on scientific lines. Note what happens: your mental faculties begin to develop and your character changes accordingly. This is one reason why we have had so much to say about the need of interest-power. Once obtain it, and your memory, for instance, begins to improve because concentration is easier, and it is easier because you are interested in your work; you have an end in view towards which you strive daily, and the striving brings into play the whole of the mental powers necessary to the desired achievement, thus acting as a splendid gymnastic system of training. We have found that large numbers of students with poor concentration and recollection begin to benefit at once: so soon as life for them has a destiny and an aim, their faculties are awakened into an activity that is surprising to themselves and to others. Here, indeed, you have the key to the development of your intellectual gifts—those of which you are conscious, and those of which you may be ignorant. As you make an effort to reach your goal, you bring into action your imagination and your power of judgment; responsibility creates self-confidence and step by step you realise the best that is in you.
There is a vast difference between the quality of mind which says: “There’s my work—and I simply love to do it”; and that which says: “There’s my work—I’ve got to do it—no shirking—I simply must—that’s all.”
The latter is almost pure will—a “teeth set” kind of resolution that is certainly commendable; but the former is an energy of higher grade altogether; it is will reinforced by strong desire; it carries its own fuel and oils its own wheels.
VIII. ENERGY FORMULATES CHARACTER.
12. Further: if a definite aim assists in the unfolding of mental ability, it also renders a real service in the formation of character. For instance, it promotes those feelings and ideas that are the best antidote to excessive and injurious shyness or reserve; it tends to destroy self-consciousness, as seen in hesitating speech, blushing and inertia. As many people are afflicted in this way, we propose to indicate the mental conditions that give rise to the trouble, and to offer an effective remedy. The shy man, the man of deep reserve, of slow speech, hesitating manner, and inactive habits, is frequently possessed of excellent qualities. He is as a rule aware of this fact, and his irritation in not being able to make full use of such qualities is sometimes intense. What is the source of the difficulty? It lies in the fault of turning the mind’s attention inwards. He is morbidly affected by what other people think of him, and shows extreme sensitiveness to an adverse opinion—or even the possibility of one. When he enters a room full of people he does not think of them but of himself: he believes they are all looking at him and probably criticising him. This has an inevitable result in awkwardness of movement, blunders in speech, and other social crudities—he being all the while conscious of his failures. It is the same in business. To have to appear at a Board Meeting and answer questions is an agony instead of being a fine opportunity; to see a less endowed man forging ahead arouses anger instead of compelling action.
Avoid Introspection.
13. The remedy is to give attention to other people and other things instead of focusing it on his own feelings and thoughts. This transfer of attention from the inward to the outward is best accomplished by having a definite aim in life. It is almost impossible to pursue ardently a business policy without losing practically all this absurd self-consciousness, even though it be inherited from one’s progenitors. A passionate desire to achieve something that is worth while soon diverts the attention from the self to the not-self; and instead of a man standing outside a Board Room with a beating heart and trembling knees, we have a man who is rather looking forward to the occasion as a chance of furthering his life’s work and bringing the goal a little nearer.
In addressing a public meeting, the self-conscious person is at his very worst; sometimes, indeed, he finds it impossible to utter a single word. With all eyes on him, his realisation of self becomes a positive torture. And yet we have known self-conscious people who have delivered thrilling speeches, the reason being that they were supremely anxious to advocate the claims of a particular mission that was very close to their hearts; and this desire completely overcame the habit of thinking of self; they forgot everything in the passion of the moment, and self was lost in the glow and fervour of speaking for a great cause.
It is the same principle as that we have been referring to all along. Mental gifts come to the fore, and mental hindrances are thrust into the rear, directly we have discovered the secret of human energy, and that secret is to have definite aims, purposes, objects, ideals, ambitions—call them what you will.
IX. CAUSES OF LACK OF ENERGY.
