You can obtain what you want only by applying your faculties to your work and your environment; and you go forward by a concentration on today's work, and by doing perfectly everything that can be done at the present time.
Never take less than the very best that can be had at the present time; but do not waste energy by desiring what cannot be had at the present time. If you always have the best that can be had, you will continue to have better and better things, because it is a fundamental principle in the universe that life shall continually advance into more life, and into the use of more and better things; this is the principle which causes evolution. But if you are satisfied with less than the best that can be had, you will cease to move forward.
Today is a Stepping-Stone to Tomorrow
Every transaction and relation of today, whether it be business, domestic, or social, must be made a stepping-stone to what you want in the future; and to accomplish this you must put into each more than enough life to fill it. There must be surplus power in everything you do. It is this surplus power which causes advancement and gets you what you want; where there is no surplus power there is no advancement and no attainment.
Suppose, for instance, you are in trade or a profession, and wish to increase your business. When you can make every customer feel that you are really trying to advance his interests as well as your own, your business will grow. It is not necessary to give premiums, or heavier weights or better values than others give to accomplish this; it is done by putting life and interest into every transaction, however small.
Putting Yourself 100% in Every Thing You Do
If you desire to change your avocation, make your present business a stepping-stone to the one you want. As long as you are in your present business, fill it with life; the surplus will tend toward what you want.
Take a live interest in every man, woman, and child you meet in either a business or social way, and sincerely desire the best for them; they will soon begin to feel that your advancement is a matter of interest to them and they will unite their thoughts for your good. This will form a battery of power in your favor and will open ways of advancement for you.
If you are an employee and desire promotion, put life into everything you do; put in more than enough life and interest to fill each piece of work. But do not be servile; never be a flunkey; and above all things avoid the intellectual prostitution which is the vice of our times in many trades and most professions. I mean by this the being a mere hired apologist for and defender of immorality, graft, dishonesty, or vice in any form.
Respect Yourself & Be Just to Everyone
Respect yourself; be absolutely just to all; put LIFE into every act and thought and fix Power-Conscious thought upon the fact that you are entitled to promotion; it will come as soon as you can more than fill your present place in every day. If it does not come from your present employer it will come from another; it is the law that whosoever more than fills his present place must be advanced. But mark well what follows.
It is not enough that you should merely put surplus life into your business relations. You will not advance far if you are a bad husband, an unjust father, or, an untrustworthy friend. Many a man who fulfills the law in business is prevented from progressing because he is unkind to his wife, or deficient in some other relation of life. To come under the operation of the evolutionary force you must more than fill EVERY present relation.
Principles of Action
Put into every relation, business, domestic, or social, more than enough life to fill that relation; have faith, which is Power-Consciousness; know what you want in the future; never be satisfied at any time with less than the best that can be had at that time, but never waste energy in desiring what is not to be had now; use all things for the advancement of life for yourself and for all with whom you are related in any way.
Follow out these principles of action and you cannot fail to get what you want; for the universe is so constructed that all things must work together for your good.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher,
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA).
©2007. All rights reversed. www.us.PenguinGroup.com
This article was adapted with permission from the book:
The Prosperity Bible: The Greatest Writings of All Time on the Secrets to Wealth and Prosperity by Napoleon Hill, Benjamin Franklin, James Allen, Wallace D. Wattles, Ernest Holmes, Florence Scovel Shinn, and many others.
For the first time in paperback, here is the all-in-one "bible" on how to fire up the creative powers of your mind to attain a life of prosperity. The Prosperity Bible is a one-of-a-kind resource that collects the greatest moneymaking secrets from authors across every field-religion, finance, philosophy, and self-help-and makes them available in a single, handy volume. Explore success advice from Napoleon Hill, P. T. Barnum, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Fillmore, Wallace D. Wattles, Florence Scovel Shinn, and Ernest Holmes - along with a bevy of legendary writers and success coaches who have one aim: explaining and promulgating the laws of winning.
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About the Author
Wallace D. Wattles was born in the United States in 1860, shortly before the Civil War. Later in life, he began his tireless study of the religious beliefs and philosophies of the world. It was through this relentless examination of such philosophers as Descartes, Hegel, and Ralph Waldo Emerson that he developed his own principles, successfully applied them to his life, and shared them with the world in his innovative 1910 book, The Science of Getting Rich. He died one year later. His ideas have lived on to inspire future generations to greatness.
