SUCCESS, in any particular business, depends for one thing upon your
possessing in a well-developed state the faculties required in that
business.
Without good musical faculty no one can succeed as a teacher of music;
without well-developed mechanical faculties no one can achieve great
success in any of the mechanical trades; without tact and the commercial
faculties no one can succeed in mercantile pursuits. But to possess in a
well-developed state the faculties required in your particular vocation
does not insure getting rich. There are musicians who have remarkable
talent, and who yet remain poor; there are blacksmiths, carpenters, and
so on who have excellent mechanical ability, but who do not get rich;
and there are merchants with good faculties for dealing with men who
nevertheless fail.
The different faculties are tools; it is essential to have good tools,
but it is also essential that the tools should be used in the Right Way.
One man can take a sharp saw, a square, a good plane, and so on, and
build a handsome article of furniture; another man can take the same
tools and set to work to duplicate the article, but his production will
be a botch. He does not know how to use good tools in a successful way.
The various faculties of your mind are the tools with which you must do
the work which is to make you rich; it will be easier for you to succeed
if you get into a business for which you are well equipped with mental
tools.
Generally speaking, you will do best in that business which will use
your strongest faculties; the one for which you are naturally "best
fitted." But there are limitations to this statement, also. No man
should regard his vocation as being irrevocably fixed by the tendencies
with which he was born.
You can get rich in ANY business, for if you have not the right talent
for you can develop that talent; it merely means that you will have to
make your tools as you go along, instead of confining yourself to the
use of those with which you were born. It will be EASIER for you to
succeed in a vocation for which you already have the talents in a
well-developed state; but you CAN succeed in any vocation, for you can
develop any rudimentary talent, and there is no talent of which you have
not at least the rudiment.
You will get rich most easily in point of effort, if you do that for
which you are best fitted; but you will get rich most satisfactorily if
you do that which you WANT to do.
Doing what you want to do is life; and there is no real satisfaction in
living if we are compelled to be forever doing something which we do not
like to do, and can never do what we want to do. And it is certain that
you can do what you want to do; the desire to do it is proof that you
have within you the power which can do it.
Desire is a manifestation of power.
The desire to play music is the power which can play music seeking
expression and development; the desire to invent mechanical devices is
the mechanical talent seeking expression and development.
Where there is no power, either developed or undeveloped, to do a thing,
there is never any desire to do that thing; and where there is strong
desire to do a thing, it is certain proof that the power to do it is
strong, and only requires to be developed and applied in the Right Way.
All things else being equal, it is best to select the business for which
you have the best developed talent; but if you have a strong desire to
engage in any particular line of work, you should select that work as
the ultimate end at which you aim.
You can do what you want to do, and it is your right and privilege to
follow the business or avocation which will be most congenial and
pleasant.
You are not obliged to do what you do not like to do, and should not do
it except as a means to bring you to the doing of the thing you want to
do.
If there are past mistakes whose consequences have placed you in an
undesirable business or environment, you may be obliged for some time to
do what you do not like to do; but you can make the doing of it pleasant
by knowing that it is making it possible for you to come to the doing of
what you want to do.
If you feel that you are not in the right vocation, do not act too
hastily in trying to get into another one. The best way, generally, to
change business or environment is by growth.
Do not be afraid to make a sudden and radical change if the opportunity
is presented, and you feel after careful consideration that it is the
right opportunity; but never take sudden or radical action when you are
in doubt as to the wisdom of doing so.
There is never any hurry on the creative plane; and there is no lack of
opportunity.
When you get out of the competitive mind you will understand that you
never need to act hastily. No one else is going to beat you to the thing
you want to do; there is enough for all. If one space is taken, another
and a better one will be opened for you a little farther on; there is
plenty of time. When you are in doubt, wait. Fall back on the
contemplation of your vision, and increase your faith and purpose; and
by all means, in times of doubt and indecision, cultivate gratitude.
A day or two spent in contemplating the vision of what you want, and in
earnest thanksgiving that you are getting it, will bring your mind into
such close relationship with the Supreme that you will make no mistake
when you do act.
There is a mind which knows all there is to know; and you can come into
close unity with this mind by faith and the purpose to advance in life,
if you have deep gratitude.
Mistakes come from acting hastily, or from acting in fear or doubt, or
in forgetfulness of the Right Motive, which is more life to all, and
less to none.
As you go on in the Certain Way, opportunities will come to you in
increasing number; and you will need to be very steady in your faith and
purpose, and to keep in close touch with the All Mind by reverent
gratitude.
Do all that you can do in a perfect manner every day, but do it without
haste, worry, or fear. Go as fast as you can, but never hurry.
Remember that in the moment you begin to hurry you cease to be a creator
and become a competitor; you drop back upon the old plane again.
Whenever you find yourself hurrying, call a halt; fix your attention on
the mental image of the thing you want, and begin to give thanks that
you are getting it. The exercise of GRATITUDE will never fail to
strengthen your faith and renew your purpose.
< Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14 >
This work is in the public
domain in the United States because it was published before January 1,
1923.
