WHETHER you change your vocation or not,
your actions for the present must be those pertaining to the business in which
you are now engaged.
You can get into the business you want
by making constructive use of the business you are already established in; by
doing your daily work in a Certain Way.
And in so far as your business consists
in dealing with other men, whether personally or by letter, the key-thought of
all your efforts must be to convey to their minds the impression of increase.
Increase is what all men and all women
are seeking; it is the urge of the Formless Intelligence within them, seeking
fuller expression.
The desire for increase is inherent in
all nature; it is the fundamental impulse of the universe. All human activities
are based on the desire for increase; people are seeking more food, more
clothes, better shelter, more luxury, more beauty, more knowledge, more
pleasure-- increase in something, more life.
Every living thing is under this
necessity for continuous advancement; where increase of life ceases,
dissolution and death set in at once.
Man instinctively knows this, and hence
he is forever seeking more. This law of perpetual increase is set forth by
Jesus in the parable of the talents; only those who gain more retain any; from
him who hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
The normal desire for increased wealth
is not an evil or a reprehensible thing; it is simply the desire for more
abundant life; it is aspiration.
And because it is the deepest instinct
of their natures, all men and women are attracted to him who can give them more
of the means of life.
In following the Certain Way as
described in the foregoing pages, you are getting continuous increase for
yourself, and you are giving it to all with whom you deal.
You are a creative center, from which
increase is given off to all.
Be sure of this, and convey assurance of
the fact to every man, woman, and child with whom you come in contact. No
matter how small the transaction, even if it be only the selling of a stick of
candy to a little child, put into it the thought of increase, and make sure
that the customer is impressed with the thought.
Convey the impression of advancement
with everything you do, so that all people shall receive the impression that
you are an Advancing Man, and that you advance all who deal with you. Even to
the people whom you meet in a social way, without any thought of business, and
to whom you do not try to sell anything, give the thought of increase.
You can convey this impression by holding
the unshakable faith that you, yourself, are in the Way of Increase; and by
letting this faith inspire, fill, and permeate every action.
Do everything that you do in the firm
conviction that you are an advancing personality, and that you are giving advancement
to everybody.
Feel that you are getting rich, and that
in so doing you are making others rich, and conferring benefits on all.
Do not boast or brag of your success, or
talk about it unnecessarily; true faith is never boastful.
Wherever you find a boastful person, you
find one who is secretly doubtful and afraid. Simply feel the faith, and let it
work out in every transaction; let every act and tone and look express the
quiet assurance that you are getting rich; that you are already rich. Words will
not be necessary to communicate this feeling to others; they will feel the
sense of increase when in your presence, and will be attracted to you again.
You must so impress others that they
will feel that in associating with you they will get increase for themselves.
See that you give them a use value greater than the cash value you are taking
from them.
Take an honest pride in doing this, and
let everybody know it; and you will have no lack of customers. People will go
where they are given increase; and the Supreme, which desires increase in all,
and which knows all, will move toward you men and women who have never heard of
you. Your business will increase rapidly, and you will be surprised at the
unexpected benefits which will come to you. You will be able from day to day to
make larger combinations, secure greater advantages, and to go on into a more
congenial vocation if you desire to do so.
But doing thing all this, you must never
lose sight of your vision of what you want, or your faith and purpose to get
what you want.
Let me here give you another word of
caution in regard to motives.
Beware of the insidious temptation to
seek for power over other men.
Nothing is so pleasant to the unformed
or partially developed mind as the exercise of power or dominion over others.
The desire to rule for selfish gratification has been the curse of the world.
For countless ages kings and lords have drenched the earth with blood in their
battles to extend their dominions; this not to seek more life for all, but to
get more power for themselves.
To-day, the main motive in the business
and industrial world is the same; men Marshal their armies of dollars, and lay
waste the lives and hearts of millions in the same mad scramble for power over
others. Commercial kings, like political kings, are inspired by the lust for
power.
Jesus saw in this desire for mastery the
moving impulse of that evil world He sought to overthrow. Read the twenty-third
chapter of Matthew, and see how He pictures the lust of the Pharisees to be
called "Master," to sit in the high places, to domineer over others,
and to lay burdens on the backs of the less fortunate; and note how He compares
this lust for dominion with the brotherly seeking for the Common Good to which
He calls His disciples.
Look out for the temptation to seek for
authority, to become a "master," to be considered as one who is above
the common herd, to impress others by lavish display, and so on.
The mind that seeks for mastery over
others is the competitive mind; and the competitive mind is not the creative
one. In order to master your environment and your destiny, it is not at all
necessary that you should rule over your fellow men and indeed, when you fall
into the world's struggle for the high places, you begin to be conquered by
fate and environment, and your getting rich becomes a matter of chance and
speculation.
Beware of the competitive mind!! No
better statement of the principle of creative action can be formulated than the
favorite declaration of the late "Golden Rule" Jones of Toledo:
"What I want for myself, I want for everybody."
Let’s see ‘The Advancing Man’ in the next post.
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