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The person that can concentrate can gain full control over his
body and mind and be the master of his inclinations; not their
slave. When you can control yourself you can control others. You
can develop a Will that will make you a giant compared with the
man that lacks Will Power. Try out your Will Power in different
ways until you have it under such control that just as soon as
you decide to do a thing you go ahead and do it. Never be
satisfied with the "I did fairly well" spirit, but put forward
your best efforts. Be satisfied with nothing else. When you have
gained this you are the man you were intended to be.
Exercise 7
Concentration Increases the Sense of Smell. When you take a walk,
or drive in the country, or pass a flower garden, concentrate on
the odor of flowers and plants. See how many different kinds you
can detect. Then choose one particular kind and try to sense only
this. You will find that this strongly intensifies the sense of
smell. This differentiation requires, however, a peculiarly
attentive attitude. When sense of smell is being developed, you
should not only shut out from the mind every thought but that of
odor, but you should also shut out cognizance of every odor save
that upon which your mind, for the time, is concentrated.
You call find plenty of opportunity for exercises for developing
the sense of smell. When you are out in the air, be on the alert
for the different odors. You will find the air laden with all
kinds, but let your concentration upon the one selected be such
that a scent of its fragrance in after years will vividly recall
the circumstances of this exercise.
The object of these exercises is to develop concentrated
attention, and you will find that you can, through their
practice, control your mind and direct your thoughts just the
same as you can your arm.
Exercise 8
Concentration on the Within. Lie down and thoroughly relax your
muscles. Concentrate on the beating of your heart. Do not pay any
attention to anything else. Think how this great organ is pumping
the blood to every part of the body; try to actually picture the
blood leaving the great reservoir and going in one stream right
down to the toes. Picture another going down the arms to the tips
of the fingers. After a little practice you can actually feel the
blood passing through your system.
If, at any time, you feel weak in any part of the body, will that
an extra supply of blood shall go there. For instance, if your
eyes feel tired, picture the blood coming from the heart, passing
up through the head and out to the eyes. You can wonderfully
increase your strength by this exercise. Men have been able to
gain such control over the heart that they have actually stopped
it from beating for five minutes. This, however, is not without
danger, and is not to be practiced by the novice.
I have found the following a very helpful exercise to take just
before going to bed and on rising in the morning: Say to
yourself, "Every cell in my body thrills with life; every part of
my body is strong and healthy." I have known a number of people
to greatly improve their health in this way. You become what you
picture yourself to be. If your mind thinks of sickness in
connection with self you will be sick. If you imagine yourself in
strong, vigorous health, the image will be realized. You will be
healthy.
Exercise 9
Concentrating on Sleep. What is known as the water method is,
although very simple, very effective in inducing sleep.
Put a full glass of clear water on a table in your sleeping room.
Sit in a chair beside the table and gaze into the glass of water
and think how calm it is. Then picture yourself , getting into
just as calm a state. In a short time you will find the nerves
becoming quiet and you will be able to go to sleep. Sometimes it
is good to picture yourself becoming drowsy to induce sleep, and,
again, the most persistent insomnia has been overcome by one
thinking of himself as some inanimate object--for instance, a
hollow log in the depths of the cool, quiet forest.
Those who are troubled with insomnia will find these sleep
exercises that quiet the nerves very effective. Just keep the
idea in your mind that there is no difficulty in going to sleep;
banish all fear of insomnia. Practice these exercises and you
will sleep.
By this time you should have awakened to the possibilities of
concentration and have become aware of the important part it
plays in your life.
Exercise 10
Concentration Will Save Energy and Appearance. Watch yourself and
see if you are not in the habit of moving your hands, thumping
something with your fingers or twirling your mustache. Some have
the habit of keeping their feet going, as, for instance, tapping
them on the floor. Practice standing before a mirror and see if
you are in the habit of frowning or causing wrinkles to appear in
the forehead. Watch others and see how they needlessly twist
their faces in talking. Any movement of the face that causes the
skin to wrinkle will eventually cause a permanent wrinkle. As the
face is like a piece of silk, you can make a fold in it a number
of times and it will straighten out of itself, but, if you
continue to make a fold in it, it will in time be impossible to
remove it.
By Concentration You Can Stop the Worry Habit. If you are in the
habit of worrying over the merest trifles, just concentrate on
this a few minutes and see bow needless it is; if you are also in
the habit of becoming irritable or nervous at the least little
thing, check yourself instantly when you feel yourself becoming
so; start to breathe deeply; say, "I will not be so weak; I am
master of myself," and you will quickly overcome your condition.
Exercise 11
By Concentration You Can Control Your Temper. If you are one of
those that flare up at the slightest "provocation" and never try
to control yourself, just think this over a minute. Does it do
you any good? Do you gain anything by it? Doesn't it put you out
of poise for some time? Don't you know that this grows on you and
will eventually make you despised by all that have any dealings
with you? Everyone makes mistakes and, instead of becoming angry
at their perpetrators, just say to them, "Be more careful next
time." This thought will be impressed on them and they will be
more careful. But, if you continually complain about their making
a mistake, the thought of a mistake is impressed on them and they
will be more likely to make mistakes in the future. All lack of
self-control can be conquered if you will but learn to
concentrate.
Many of you that read this may think you are not guilty of either
of these faults, but if you will carefully watch yourself you
will probably find that you are, and, if so, you will be greatly
helped by repeating this affirmation each morning:
"I am going to try today not to make a useless gesture or to
worry over trifles, or become nervous or irritable. I intend to
be calm, and, no difference what may be the circumstances, I will
control myself. Henceforth I resolve to be free from all signs
that show lack of self-control."
At night quickly review your actions during the day and see how
fully you realized your aim. At first you will, of course, have
to plead guilty of violation a few times, but keep on, and you
will soon find that you can live up to your ideal. After you have
once gained self-control, however, don't relinquish it. For some
time it will still be necessary to repeat the affirmation in the
morning and square your conduct with it in the evening. Keep up
the good work until, at last, the habit of self-control is so
firmly fixed that you could not break it even though you tried.
I have had many persons tell me that this affirmation and daily
review made a wonderful difference in their lives. You, too, will
notice the difference if you live up to these instructions.
Exercise 12.
Practice Talking Before a Glass. Make two marks on your mirror on
a level with your eyes, and think of them as two human eyes
looking into yours. Your eyes will probably blink a little at
first. Do not move your head, but stand erect. Concentrate all
your thoughts on keeping your head perfectly still. Do not let
another thought come into your mind. Then, still keeping the
head, eyes and body still, think that you look like a reliable
man or woman should; like a person that anyone would have
confidence in. Do not let your appearance be such as to justify
the remark, "I don't like his appearance. I don't believe he can
be trusted."
While standing before the mirror practice deep breathing. See
that there is plenty of fresh air in the room, and that you are
literally feasting on it. You will find that, as it permeates
every cell, your timidity will disappear. It has been replaced by
a sense of peace and power.
The one that stands up like a man and has control over the
muscles of his face and eyes always commands attention. In his
conversation, he can better impress those with whom he comes in
contact. He acquires a feeling of calmness and strength that
causes opposition to melt away before it.
Three minutes a day is long enough for the practice of this
exercise.
Look at the clock before you commence the exercise, and if you
find you can prolong the exercise for more than five minutes do
so. The next day sit in a chair and, without looking at the
picture, concentrate on it and see if you cannot think of
additional details concerning it. The chances are you will be
able to think of many more. It might be well for you to write
down all you thought of the first day, and then add to the list
each new discovery. You will find that this is a very excellent
exercise in concentration.
Exercise 13
The Control of Sensations. Think how you would feel if you were
cool; then how you would feel if you were cold; again, how you
would feel if it were freezing. In this state you would be
shivering all over. Now think of just the opposite conditions;
construct such a vivid image of heat that you are able to
experience the sensation of heat even in the coldest atmosphere.
It is possible to train your imagination until you do this, and
it can then be turned to practical account in making undesirable
conditions bearable.
You can think of many very good exercises like this. For
instance, if you feel yourself getting hungry or thirsty and for
any reason you do not wish to eat, do not think of how hungry or
thirsty you are, but just visualize yourself as finishing a
hearty meal. Again, when you experience pain, do not increase it
by thinking about it, but do something to divert your attention,
and the pain will seem to decrease. If you will start practicing
along this line systematically you will soon gain a wonderful
control over the things that affect your physical comfort.
Exercise 14
The Eastern Way of Concentrating. Sit in a chair with a high back
in upright position. Press one finger against the right nostril.
Now take a long, deep breath, drawing the breath in gently as you
count ten; then expel the breath through the right nostril as you
count ten. Repeat this exercise with the opposite nostril. This
exercise should be done at least twenty times at each sitting.
Exercise 15
Controlling Desires. Desire, which is one of the hardest forces
to control, will furnish you with excellent exercises in
concentration. It seems natural to want to tell others what you
know; but, by learning to control these desires, you can
wonderfully strengthen your powers of concentration. Remember,
you have all you can do to attend to your own business. Do not
waste your time in thinking of others or in gossiping about them.
If, from your own observation, you learn something about another
person that is detrimental, keep it to yourself. Your opinion may
afterwards turn out to be wrong anyway, but whether right or
wrong, you have strengthened your will by controlling your desire
to communicate your views.
If you hear good news resist the desire to tell it to the first
person you meet and you will be benefited thereby. It will
require the concentration of all your powers of resistance to
prohibit the desire to tell. After you feel that you have
complete control over your desires you can then tell your news.
But you must be able to suppress the desire to communicate the
news until you are fully ready to tell it. Persons that do not
possess this power of control over desires are apt to tell things
that they should not, thereby often involving both themselves and
others in needless trouble.
If you are in the habit of getting excited when you hear
unpleasant news, just control yourself and receive it without any
exclamation of surprise. Say to yourself, "Nothing is going to
cause me to lose my self-control. You will find from experience
that this self-control will be worth much to you in business. You
will be looked upon as a cool-headed business man, and this in
time becomes a valuable business asset. Of course, circumstances
alter cases. At times it is necessary to become enthused. But be
ever on the lookout for opportunities for the practice of
self-control. "He that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that
ruleth a city."
Exercise 16
When You Read. No one can think without first concentrating his
thoughts on the subject in hand. Every man and woman should train
himself to think clearly. An excellent exercise is to read some
short story and then write just an abridged statement. Read an
article in a newspaper, and see in how few words you can express
it. Reading an article to get only the essentials requires the
closest concentration. If you are unable to write out what you
read, you will know you are weak in concentration. Instead of
writing it out you can express it orally if you wish. Go to your
room and deliver it as if you were talking to some one. You will
find exercises like this of the greatest value in developing
concentration and learning to think.
After you have practiced a number of these simple exercises read
a book for twenty minutes and then write down what you have read.
The chances are that at first you will not remember very many
details, but with a little practice you will be able to write a
very good account of what you have read. The closer the
concentration the more accurate the account will be.
It is a good idea when time is limited to read only a short
sentence and then try to write it down word for word. When you
are able to do this, read two or more sentences and treat
similarly. The practice will produce very good results if you
keep it up until the habit is fixed.
If you will just utilize your spare time in practicing exercises
like those suggested you can gain wonderful powers of
concentration. You will find that in order to remember every word
in a sentence you must keep out every thought but that which you
wish to remember, and this power of inhibition alone will more
than compensate for the trouble of the exercise. Of course,
success in all of the above depends largely upon cultivating,
through the closest concentration, the power to image or picture
what you read; upon the power, as one writer expresses it, of
letting the mountains of which we hear loom before us and the
rivers of which we read roll at our feet.
Exercise 17
Concentration Overcomes Bad Habits. If you have a habit that you
want to get rid of, shut your eyes and imagine that your real
self is standing before you. Now try the power of affirmation;
say to yourself, "You are not a weakling; you can stop this habit
if you want to. This habit is bad and you want to break it." Just
imagine that you are some one else giving this advice. This is
very valuable practice. You, in time, see yourself as others see
you. The habit loses its power over you and you are free.
If you will just form the mental image of controlling yourself as
another person might, you will take a delight in breaking bad
habits. I have known a number of men to break themselves of
drinking in this way.
Exercise 18
Watch Concentration. Sit in a chair and place a clock with a
second hand on the table. Follow the second hand with your eyes
as it goes around. Keep this up for five minutes, thinking of
nothing else but the second hand, This is a very good exercise
when you only have a few minutes to spare, if you are able to
keep every other thought in the stream of consciousness
subordinate to it. As there is little that is particularly
interesting about the second hand, it is hard to do this, but in
the extra effort of will power required to make it successful
lies its value. Always try to keep as still as possible during
these exercises.
In this way you can gain control over nerves and this quieting
effect is very good for them.
Exercise 19
Faith Concentration. A belief in the power to concentrate is of
course very important. I purposely did not put this exercise in
the beginning where it naturally belongs because I wanted you to
know that you could learn to concentrate. If you have practiced
the above exercises you have now developed this concentration
power to a considerable extent and therefore you have faith in
the power of concentration, but you can still become a much
stronger believer in it.
We will say that you have some desire or wish you want fulfilled,
or that you need some special advice. You first clearly picture
what is wanted and then you concentrate on getting it. Have
absolute faith that your desires will be realized. Believe that
it will according to your belief be fulfilled. Never, at this
time, attempt to analyze the belief. You don't care anything
about the whys and wherefores. You want to gain the thing you
desire, and if you concentrate on it in the right way you will
get it.
A Caution. Never think you will not succeed, but picture what is
wanted as already yours, and yours it surely will be.
Self-Distrust. Do you ever feel distrust in yourself? If You do,
just ask yourself, which self do I mistrust? Then say: my higher
self cannot be affected. Then think of the wonderful powers of
the higher self. There is a way to overcome all difficulties, and
it is a delight for the human soul to do so. Instead of wasting
precious thought-force by dreading or fearing a disagreeable
interview or event, instead devote the time and concentrated
thought in how to make the best of the interview or event and you
will find that it will not be as unpleasant as you thought it
would be. Most of our troubles are but imaginary, and it is the
mental habit of so dreading them that really acts as a magnet in
attracting those that really do come. Your evil circumstances are
created or attracted by your own negative, fears and wrong
thoughts, and are a means of teaching you to triumph over all
evils, by discovering that which is inherent within yourself.
You will find it helpful in overcoming self-distrust, to stop and
think, why you are, concentrating your forces, and by so doing
you become more closely attached to the higher self, which never
distrusts.
LESSON XV. CONCENTRATE SO YOU WILL NOT FORGET
A man forgets because he does not concentrate his mind on his
purpose, especially at the moment he conceives it. We remember
only that which makes a deep impression, hence we must first
deepen our impressions by associating in our minds certain ideas
that are related to them.
We will say a wife gives her husband a letter to mail. He does
not think about it, but automatically puts it in his pocket and
forgets all about it. When the letter was given to him had he
said to himself, "I will mail this letter. The box is at the next
corner and when I pass it I must drop this letter," it would have
enabled him to recall the letter the instant he reached the mail
box.
The same rule holds good in regard to more important things. For
example, if you are instructed to drop in and see Mr. Smith while
out to luncheon today, you will not forget it, if, at the moment
the instruction is given, you say to yourself something similar
to the following:
"When I get to the corner of Blank street, on my way to luncheon,
I shall turn to the right and call on Mr. Smith." In this way the
impression is made, the connection established and the sight of
the associated object recalls the errand.
The important thing to do is to deepen the impression at the very
moment it enters your mind. This is made possible, not only by
concentrating the mind upon the idea itself, but by surrounding
it with all possible association of ideas, so that each one will
reinforce the others.
The mind is governed by laws of association, such as the law that
ideas which enter the mind at the same time emerge at the same
time, one assisting in recalling the others.
The reason why people cannot remember what they want to is that
they have not concentrated their minds sufficiently on their
purpose at the moment when it was formed.
You can train yourself to remember in this way by the
concentration of the attention on your purpose, in accordance
with the laws of association.
When once you form this habit, the attention is easily centered
and the memory easily trained. Then your memory, instead of
failing you at crucial moments, becomes a valuable asset in your
every-day work.
Exercise in Memory Concentration. Select some picture; put it on
a table and then look at it for two minutes. Concentrate your
attention on this picture, observe every detail; then shut your
eyes and see how much you can recall about it. Think of what the
picture represents; whether it is a good subject; whether it
looks natural. Think of objects in foreground, middle ground,
background; of details of color and form. Now open your eyes and
hold yourself rigidly to the correction of each and every
mistake. Close eyes again and notice how much more accurate your
picture is. Practice until your mental image corresponds in every
particular to the original.
Nature is a Wonderful Instructor. But there are very few who
realize that when we get in touch with nature we discover
ourselves. That by listening to her voice, with that curious,
inner sense of ours, we learn the oneness of life and wake up to
our own latent powers.
Few realize that the simple act of listening and concentrating is
our best interior power, for it brings us into close contact with
the highest, just as our other senses bring us into touch with
the coarser side of human nature. The closer we live to nature
the more developed is this sense. "So called" civilization has
over developed our other senses at the expense of this one.
Children unconsciously realize the value of concentration--for
instance: When a Child has a difficult problem to solve, and gets
to some knotty point which he finds himself mentally unable to
do--though he tries his hardest--he will pause and keep quite
still, leaning on his elbow, apparently listening; then you will
see, if you are watching, sudden illumination come and he goes on
happily and accomplishes his task. A child instinctively but
unconsciously knows when he needs help, he must be quiet and
concentrate.
All great people concentrate and owe their success to it. The
doctor thinks over the symptoms of his patient, waits, listens
for the inspiration, though quite unconscious, perhaps, of doing
so. The one who diagnoses in this way seldom makes mistakes. An
author thinks his plot, holds it in his mind, and then waits, and
illumination comes. If you want to be able to solve difficult
problems you must learn to do the same.
LESSON XVI. HOW CONCENTRATION CAN FULFILL YOUR DESIRE
"It is a spiritual law that the desire to do necessarily implies
the ability to do."
You have all read of "Aladdin's Lamp," which accomplished such
wonderful things. This, of course, is only a fairy story, but it
illustrates the fact that man has within him the power, if he is
able to use it, to gratify his every wish.
If you are unable to satisfy your deepest longings it is time you
learned how to use your God-given powers. You will soon be
conscious that you have latent powers within capable when once
developed of revealing to you priceless knowledge and unlimited
possibilities of success.
Man should have plenty of everything and not merely substance to
live on as so many have. All natural desires can be realized. It
would be wrong for the Infinite to create wants that could not be
supplied. Man's very soul is in his power to think, and it,
therefore, is the essence of all created things. Every instinct
of man leads to thought, and in every thought there is great
possibility because true thought development, when allied to
those mysterious powers which perhaps transcend it, has been the
cause of all the world's true progress.
In the silence we become conscious of "that something" which
transcends thought and which uses thought as a medium for
expression. Many have glimpses of "that something," but few ever
reach the state where the mind is steady enough to fathom these
depths. Silent, concentrated thought is more potent than spoken
words, for speech distracts from the focusing power of the mind
by drawing more and more attention to the without.
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