The Law of Financial Success
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YOU will have noticed that in the preceding chapters I have begun a serious campaign in the direction of having you "make yourself over" mentally, in order to bring you under the operation of the Law of Financial Success. You will remember that first I tried to get you to regard Money in a new light—as a natural supply akin to the nourishment of the plant, and coming under the same general law of Natural Supply and Demand.

Second—I urged upon you to build up the proper Mental Attitude, showing you how by so doing you would cultivate in yourself the faculties, qualities and powers conducive to success; the qualities likely to attract and influence people with whom you come in contact; and the mental state which would set into operation the beneficent phases of the Law of Attraction.

Third—I proceeded to get Fear and Worry out of your mental system.

Fourth—I went on to cultivate the quality of Faith in you.

Fifth—came the consideration of the Latent Powers and the roles for their unfoldment.

Sixth—came the explanation of the nature of Ambition, and the urge to cultivate and develop it.

Seventh—came the explanation of the wonderful effect and office of Desire, and the advice to cultivate Desire as a means of cultivating Will.

Eighth—I gave you instruction for the development of a powerful Will, the acquirement of which means so much to you.

Now, if you will stop a moment, you will see that the practical application of the instruction given and the precepts laid down for your guidance require a certain "making over" of yourself, on your part.

This being so the question arises: "How may I best accomplish the 'making-over' process?" And to answer this question, I shall now devote several chapters, for in the answering lies much of the essence of this instruction that I am desirous of imparting to you. And so this is the reason that we now take up the subject of "Auto-Suggestion," a subject of the greatest importance to you, and which has engaged the minds of scientific men for the past few years. Let as hasten to a consideration of the subject.

In the first place the term "Suggestion," as used by psychologists means "an impression made upon the mind of another." And an "auto-suggestion" is an impression made upon one's own mind in a manner similar to that used in impressing the mind of another. You will see this a little clearer in a moment. The whole essence of Suggestion lies in the idea of "impression." Think of the mind as a wax substance, and the Suggestion as a die making an impression on the wax, and there you have it.

If you can manage to get in a strong Suggestion on the mind of a person, you really impress your notion or idea upon his mental wax, so to speak. Suggestion it not of matter of argumentative effort, but a process of saying a thing so positively, earnestly and convincingly that the other person takes up the idea without argument. We may be impressed by a man's earnestness, his manner, his attitude, his dress, and in many other ways, but the principle is the same—if we are impressed by something about him, we have taken the Suggestion. Do you see what I mean?

Well, one may turn this Suggestive die upon the wax of his own mind and by repeated impressions may fix certain ideas, qualities, and characteristics upon it so that he will have really made himself over to that extent. It is a case of "sez I to myself, sez I"— often repeated until "I" believes what "I sez." You know how a man may get to actually believe some old lie that he has been telling for some time. A man may act out a certain assumed character, until he actually becomes like the character. There are plenty of old chaps strutting around today with these assumed characters, which not only fool the people with whom they come in contact, but also actually fool the men themselves. Now if this be true about things of this kind, how important does the principle become when applied to the creation of new characteristics and qualities in oneself that are conducive to success. You all know just about the ones you need, and now here it the way to go about getting them.

To many people Auto-Suggestion means simply the repeating of certain words to themselves, like "I am Energetic—I am Ambitions," etc. etc. Now this plan is all very well, for a constant impression of this kind will undoubtedly tend to develop the suggested qualities in one. But there is a far more scientific plan known to psychologists, and that is the one I am going to urge upon your consideration. It is that not only should one "say" things to himself, but that he should also create Mental Images of the desired thing, and should also act out the part he wishes to play, in a sort of extended preliminary rehearsal.

All this may seem odd to you unless you have studied the psychological principles underlying it, which I have not time to go into here. The thing to remember is that constant thinking of a desired quality of mind, accompanied with the indulgence in the Mental Picture of yourself as actually possessed of the quality itself, and also accompanied by an "acting out" of the part you would like to play, will in due time so impress and mold your mind that you will actually possess the quality itself. Here is a great psychological law I have expressed. Read it again, study it, and make it your own.

For instance let us suppose that you lack Ambition. Well, the first thing is to rouse the Desire to become Ambitious. Then start in the plan of "sez I to myself, sez I," and make constant affirmation of the fact that: "I am Ambitious—very Ambitious—my Ambition grows every day," and so on. Then picture yourself in your imagination as being Ambitious—see yourself as moving around in the world possessed of an insatiable Ambition which is leading you to strenuous action and wonderful accomplishments. Then begin to act out the part of the Ambitious man—study some Ambitious man until you catch his feelings and then begin to look Ambitious; talk in the tones of a man possessing Ambition; walk like an Ambitious man—in short act out the part to the smallest details. Now remember I do not mean to copy the mannerisms of the man you have taken for your model—this is not the thing at all. Simply study him until you can get his feelings—until you can recognize the Ambitious emotion and Mental Attitude animating him, and then go to work to feel the same inward feeling yourself, and to act out the feeling. If you can once get the feeling, then all you've got to do is to act it out right.

You will find that this plan of mental discipline and exercise may be used for the acquirement of any and every one of the positive qualities you may desire to acquire and possess. This is no mere theory, but is a scientific fact known to and taught by some of the leading authorities on the subject in the world. It has been the basis of the making over of thousands of people, some of whom have paid enormous fees to teachers for just this plain advice, elaborated and padded out into long series of personal lectures and lessons. I offer you something here that is well "worth while." Now it is for you to take it and use it.