The Law of Financial Success
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IN beginning this chapter, I am reminded of the words of Lovell: "There are infinite powers lying dormant in man, here, now—powers which, could he but catch a glimpse of, would endow his life on this planet with greater splendor, and impart to it a redoubled interest"

The man who regards himself as a creature built on a certain mental plan, and incapable of any material change beyond an improvement of the faculties already being expressed, sees but a small portion of the truth regarding himself and his possibilities. Very few men express or manifest more than a small part of their latent power. They live long lives and go down to their graves without suspecting that within their mental kingdom there had reposed dormant faculties, and latent powers which, if expressed, would have enabled them to have lived far wider, broader, fuller lives.

Nearly every man who has attained success along any of the varied lines of human endeavor will tell you that at some period of his life he was called upon to assume certain responsibilities—undertake some unaccustomed task—play some unfamiliar part on life's stage—and then much to his surprise found that he had within him the power, capability, and qualifications for a successful accomplishment of the strange task. The crucial point was when he was brought face to face with the new undertaking. If, as is the case with the majority of man, be lacked nerve enough to say "I Can and I Will," the story was ended. But if he had that Something within him which enabled him to assert his determination to face the thing manfully and at least to go down with his flags flying rather than to run away, he would find much to his surprise that there was within him a power which responded to the needs of the hour and which enabled him to master the undertaking.

These experiences are not exceptional or unusual— they are part of the common experience of nearly all successful men. And successful men get to realize that they have within them, hidden in some of the many recesses of the mind, latent powers, unsuspected talents, and dormant faculties which are awaiting calmly the hour of their call to action. The human mind is far from being the simple everyday thing that man regards it. There are hidden chambers, and unexplored regions. Science is just beginning to learn some of these heretofore unsuspected truths about the mind, and the result is dazzling the observer whose eyes are suddenly seeing the brilliant truths. There seem to be within every man possibilities of which he has never even dreamed. There seem to be capabilities, the extent of which has never entered into even his wildest imagination. Some sudden call, some new responsibility, some new turn of fortune's tide, and the man is called upon to demand of his mentality all that it is holding in store for him—and he is seldom disappointed, providing he has the nerve and courage to make the demand. Aye, but there's the rub—few have that courage and nerve. Have YOU?

I know personally a man whose life up to the age of thirty-eight had been spent in active business and professional life. The thought of writing for the public had never occurred to him. All of a sudden, by one of those strange upheavals that come into the lives of men, all was carried away from him. His health was shattered, his accumulations were swept away, he was apparently lifted up and placed in a new, strange and seemingly unpromising environment. He had his family to support—he had practically nothing left with which to do it. His health was broken, and it was impossible for him to re-engage in his accustomed occupation. While building up his health, he helped a new friend to get the mechanical part of a monthly magazine in shape. At the last moment his friend discovered that they were short several pages of matter, and the printers were impatiently asking for their full supply. The friend was too busily occupied to write the additional matter, and so in desperation, he turned to my friend and said, "Did you ever write anything for publication?" "No," was the answer." Well, somebody has got to write something, and mighty quick, too. Have you nerve enough to try it?" "Yes," was the reply. "I'm like the boy digging for woodchuck, who was asked whether he expected to catch it, and who replied, "You bet I do—we've got the preacher for dinner, and no meat in the house—I've just got to catch that woodchuck." And so like the boy, I've just got to, and I Can and I Will" And he did.

He sat down to write to fill that space, although he had never written a line for publication before. He made a mighty effort of his Will, urged on by an imperative Desire, and almost in a daze he found his hand at work writing, easily and rapidly. Before long the article was turned out—and it was good. This success led to others, and that man has been writing books, editing magazines, and doing other work of that kind for the past seven years, and he has been successful all along the line. Within six months after the incident noted above, he had completed a book that has since ran through over twenty editions. And since then he has written and had published over a dozen other books on various subjects, none of which has failed to reach his public and all of which have ran through a number of editions. Inside of two years after the above incident, he was editing a magazine, built up by his writings, and which attained a circulation of over one hundred thousand per month.

And yet this man had never written a line up to that time. An apparent chance opportunity caused him to face the question, "Can You?" And instead of saying, "Oh, no, I've never done that kind of work—it is impossible," he answered like the boy after the woodchuck: "I've just got to—I Can and I Will" He met the crucial test—had nerve enough to tackle the seemingly impossible proposition, and then found within himself unsuspected power, strength and ability—and won out.

Is this merely a lesson in facing difficulties, and cultivating nerve and self-confidence? Not entirely—it teaches these things and also teaches the still greater truth that every man has within himself wonderful powers, lying dormant and unsuspected, which are merely awaiting the word of the master Will, impelled by a burning, eager, ardent desire, to spring at once into being, full armed and equipped for the fray. And these powers and capabilities come under the LAW—they are a part of that great Something behind, underneath, and within us all. The recognition of the existence of such powers is the first step toward their development and unfoldment.

You think that you have not ability for Financial Success, simply because you do not realize the existence of these latent powers within you. If you were brought suddenly face to face with the necessity of awakening these powers into action, and could muster up enough courage to say "I Can and I Will," you would find the ready response from within, and the steady flow of knowledge, wisdom, power and ability with which to accomplish the task set before you for completion.

And so my parting words for this chapter are: Do not hesitate to accept any new responsibility, whether the same is forced upon you, or whether you reach out for it yourself. Say to yourself over and over again, "I can and I will accomplish this task. It never would have been put before me unless I were able." And you will be surprised and delighted at the new and wonderful powers that will spring forth from your subconscious self to aid you in your undertaking.

These are not mere idle words, designed to make pleasant reading. They are the words of truths that have become apparent to every successful man or woman. Talk with the successful people of the world, and they will tell you that they have had this experience over and over again—new opportunities and new necessities brought to them new faculties, and new powers, heretofore undreamed of. The demand always brings the supply, if we will but open ourselves to the inflow from the great Source of Supply—the Universal Power House.