The Resilient Mind - The Magic Of Believing by Claude Bristol

Episode Date: April 7, 2021

Born 1891, Claude M. Bristol served as a soldier in WW1 in France and Germany. He worked on the army newspaper, Stars and Stripes until 1919. His best-known book is The Magic of Believing, published in 1948, which has sold well over a million copies and is widely regarded as a prosperity classic.Take action and strengthen your mind with The Resilient Mind Journal. Get your free digital copy today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download Now⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1948, Claude Bristol wrote a best-selling book, The Magic of Believing. This very popular book continues to sell in paperback form today. Claude Bristol died in 1951. However, we feel that in order to maintain the compelling nature of the book, we would like to give you this in a form as close to the author's original style as possible. Just as you hear the voice of a writer as you read a book, with the help of an actor, William Cain, We hope to bring you the voice of Claude Bristol.

And just as you can stop reading a book most conveniently at the end of a chapter, we'll create natural places for you to stop. Time to think about what you've heard. Time to take it in. Listen to the magic of believing by Claude Bristol. It could change the course of your life. Chapter 1. How to Tap the Power of Belief.

Is there a force, a force, a feeling? factor, a power, a science, call it what you will, a something which a few people understand and use to overcome their difficulties and achieve outstanding success. I firmly believe that there is. It is my purpose here to attempt to explain it so that you may use it if you desire. I realize I have run across something that is workable, but I don't consider it as anything mystical except in the sense that it is unknown to the majority of people and is little understood by the average person I am aware that there are forces powerful forces at work in this country that would dominate us substituting a

kind of regimentation for the competitive system which has made America great among nations I believe that we must continue to retain the wealth of spirit of our forefathers. If we don't, we shall find ourselves dominated in everything we do by a mighty few. We'll become serfs in fact, if not in name. I hope this work will help develop individual thinking and doing. Some may call me a crackpot or a screwball. I'm well aware of that. Let me say that I am past the half-century mark and have had many years of hard practical business experience, as well as a goodly number of years as a newspaper man, I started as a police reporter. Police reporters are trained to get the facts

and take nothing for granted. Apparently I was born with a huge bump of curiosity. I've always had an insatiable yearning to seek explanations and answers. This yearning has taken me to many strange places, brought to light many peculiar cases, and has caused me to read every book I could get my hands on, dealing with religions, cults, and both physical and mental sciences. I have read literally thousands of books on modern psychology, metaphysics, ancient magic, voodooism, yogism, theology, Christian science, unity, truth, new thought, and many other dealings. It's what I call mind stuff. Many of these books were nonsensical, others, strange, and many very profound.

Gradually, I discovered that there is a golden thread that runs through all the teachings and makes them work for those who sincerely accept and apply them. That thread can be named in a single word, belief. It is the same element or factor belief, which causes people to be cured through mental healing. enables others to climb the ladder of success and gets phenomenal results for all who accept it. Why belief as a miracle worker is something that cannot be satisfactorily explained, but have no doubt about it. There's genuine magic in believing.

The magic of believing became a phrase around which my thoughts steadily revolved. I've tried to put down these thoughts as simply and as clearly as I could, so that everyone can understand. My hope is that anyone who listens will be helped in reaching their goal in life. I would like to start by relating a few experiences of my own life with the hope that by hearing them you will gain a better understanding of the entire science.

Early in 1918, I landed in France as a casual soldier unattached to a regular company. As a result, it was several. weeks before my service record necessary for my pay caught up with me. During that time, I was without money to buy gum, candy, cigarettes, and the like. Every time I saw a man light a cigarette or chew a stick of gum, the thought came to me that I was without money to spend on myself. Certainly I was eating, and the army clothed me and provided me with a place on the ground to sleep, but I grew bitter because I had no spending money and no way of getting any.

One night, on route to the forward area, on a crowded troop train, sleep was out of the question. I made up my mind then that when I returned to civilian life, I would have a lot of money. The whole pattern of my life was altered at that moment. I didn't realize it then that at that moment I was laying the groundwork for a new direction in my life. groundwork that would unleash forces that would bring accomplishment.

As a matter of fact, the idea that I could, with my thinking and believing, develop a fortune, never entered my mind. Money is not the only desire you may have. It doesn't matter to what end this science is used. It will be effective in achieving the object of your desires. And in this connection, let me tell another experience. Some years ago I decided on a trip to the Orient and sailed on a ship called the Empress of Japan. Something was working for me on that trip.

I had no claim to anything but ordinary service. However, I sat at the executive officer's table and was frequently his personal guest in his quarters as well as on inspection trips through the ship. Well, naturally, the treatment I received made a great impression on me, and in Honolulu, I often had the thought, it would be nice to receive comparable treatment on my journey home on another ship. One afternoon I got the sudden impulse to leave for the mainland.

It was about closing time when I arrived at the ticket agency. I was told that a ship was leaving the next day at noon, and I could get the only remaining cabin ticket. I bought it, and the next day, just a few minutes before noon, I started up the gangplank. In an offhand manner, I said to myself, They treated you as a king on the Empress of Japan. The least you can do here is sit at the captain's table.

Sure, you'll sit at the captain's table. The ship got underway, and as we steamed out of the harbor, word was received from the dining room steward for passengers to appear in the dining room for assignments to tables. About half the assignments had been made when I came before him. He asked me for my ticket, which I placed on the table. he glanced at it and then to me saying, Oh yes, table A, seat number five.

It was the captain's table, and I was seated directly across from him. Many things happened aboard that ship which pertained to the subject, the most prominent being a party supposed to be in honor of my birthday, just an idea of the captains because my birthday was months off. In laying before you this very workable science, I am aware that the subject has been handled before for many angles. I am also cognizant that many people shy away from anything that smacks of religion, the occult, or the metaphysical. Accordingly, I am presenting it in the language of a businessman who believes that sincere thinking and plain speaking will get any message across to the people. In using this science, which is given to you with the confident knowledge that no matter how you use it, it will get results, I wish to warn you.

Never use it for harmful or evil purposes. Since the beginning of man, there have been two great subtle forces in the world, good and evil. Both are terrifically powerful in their respective scopes and cycles. The basic principle operating both is much. mind power, mast mind power. Therefore, take great care that you do not misuse the science of mind stuff. I cannot emphasize this too strongly, for if you employ it, for harmful or evil purposes, it will boomerang and destroy you just as it has others down through the centuries.

These are not idle words, but solemn words of warning. Chapter 2 The Power of Thought Glance around you If you are in a furnished room Your eyes tell you that you are looking at a number of inanimate objects That's true so far as visual perception is concerned But in reality

You are actually looking at thoughts or ideas Which have come into materialization Through the creative work of some human being It was a thought first That created the furniture Fashioned the window glass and gave form to the draperies and coverings. The automobile, the skyscraper, the great plains that sweep the stratosphere,

the sewing machine, the tiny pin, a thousand and one things, yes, millions of objects. Where did they come from originally? Only one source. From that strange force, thought. As we look further, we realize that these achievements, and in fact all our possessions, came as a result. of creative thinking. Thought is the original source of all wealth,

all success, all material gain, all great discoveries, inventions, and of all achievements. With that in mind, it becomes easy to understand that a man's thoughts make or break him, and Shakespeare's words become more intelligible. There is nothing either good or bad,

but thinking makes it so. Many people feel that success comes with hard work. However, I would like to point out that hard work alone will not bring success. The world is filled with people who have worked hard but have little to show for it. Something more than hard work is necessary. It is creative thinking and firm belief in your ability to execute your ideas. The successful people in history have succeeded. through their thinking. Their hands were merely helpers to their brains.

Another important point is that one essential to success is that your desire be an all-obsessing one. Your thoughts and aims be coordinated and your energy be concentrated and applied without let-up. It may be riches or fame or position or knowledge that you want, for each person has his own idea of what success means to him. to him. But whatever you consider it to be, you can have it provided you are willing to make the objective the burning desire of your life. A big order, you say, no, not at all. By using the dynamic force of believing, you can set all your inner forces in motion. They, in turn, will help you reach your goal. Now that you have a clearer idea of the part that thought and desire play in your

daily lives, the first thing to determine is precisely what you want. Starting in with the general idea that you merely want to be a success, as most people do, is too indefinite. You must have a mental pattern clearly drawn in your mind. Ask yourself, where am I headed? What is my goal? Have I visualized just what I really want? If success is to be measured in terms of wealth, can you fix the amount in figures. If in terms of achievement, can you specify it definitely? I ask these questions, for in their answers are the factors which will determine your whole life from now on. Strange as it may appear, not one out of a hundred people can answer these questions. Most people have a general idea that they would like to be a success, but beyond that,

everything is vague. They go along from day to day figuring that if they have a job today, they will have it tomorrow, that somehow they will be looked after in their old age. They are like a cork on the water floating aimlessly, drawn this way and that by various currents, being washed up on the shore or becoming waterlogged and eventually sinking. Therefore, it is vital that you know what you want out of life. You must know where you are headed and you must keep a fixed goal in your view. Only then will you get what you are after. so you begin with desire if you ever hope to achieve anything or gain more than you have now however as we shall see there is more to it than mere desire

it has been said that thought attracts that upon which it is directed thought attracts that upon which it is directed it was job who said for the thing which i greatly feared is come upon me Our fearful thoughts are just as creative or just as magnetic and attracting troubles to us as are the constructive and positive ones and attracting positive results. So no matter what the character of the thought, it does create after its kind. When this sinks in to a man's consciousness, he gets some inkling of the awe-inspiring power which is his to use. I cling to the theory that while thoughts do create an exercise control far beyond any limits yet known to man, they create only according to their pitch, intensity, emotional quality, depth of feeling, or vibratory plane. In other words, comparable to the wavelength and wattage of a radio station, thoughts have a creative or controlling force in the exact ratio of their constancy,

intensity, and power. Let me try to clarify that. While many explanations have been offered, no one knows whether thought is a form of electrical energy or something else yet to be defined. But I have been an experimenter in that branch of electricity known as high frequency, pioneered by the great genius Nikola Tesla.

And whenever I think of thought and its radiations and vibrations, I instinctively link them up with electricity and its phenomena. In this manner, they become more understandable to me. All persons living in high altitudes have felt and sometimes observed the electric spark resulting from walking across the room, then touching some metallic substance. That, of course, is a form of static electricity generated by friction.

It gives you an idea of how one kind of electricity can be developed through the body. Sigmund Freud, the famous Austrian psychoanalyst, brought the world's attention to the hypothesis that there was a powerful force within us, an unilluminated part of the mind, separate from the conscious mind, constantly at work molding our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Others have called this division of our mental existence the soul. Some call it the super-ego, the inner power, the super-consciousness, the unconscious, the subconscious, the subconscious and various other names. It isn't an organ or so-called physical matter

such as we know the brain to be. Nevertheless, it is there, and from the beginning of recorded time, man has known that it exists. The ancients often referred to it as the spirit. Paracelsus called it the will. Others have called it the mind and adjunct to the brain. Some have referred to it as conscience,

the creator of the still, small voice within. Still others called it intelligence and have asserted that it is a part of the supreme intelligence to which we are all linked. No matter what we call it, I prefer the word subconscious, it is recognized as the essence of life, and the limits of its powers are unknown. It never sleeps. It comes to our support in times of great trouble. It warns us of impending danger. Often it aids us in what seems impossible. It guides us in many ways, and when properly employed, perform so-called miracles. Perhaps the most effective method of bringing the subconscious into practical action is through the process of making mental pictures, using the imagination,

perfecting an image of the thing or situation as you would have it exist in physical form. This is usually referred to as visualization. However, before this visualization can work, you must really believe. I refer now to deep-seated belief, a firm and positive conviction that goes through every fiber of your being when you believe at heart and soul, as the saying goes. Now call it a phase of emotion, a spiritual force, a type of electrical vibration, anything you please, but that's the force that brings outstanding results. It sets the law of attraction into operation and enables sustained thought to correlate with its object.

This belief changes the tempo of the mind or thought frequency, and like a huge magnet, draws the subconscious forces into play, changing your whole aura and affecting everything about you, and often people and objects at great distances. It brings into your individual sphere of life results that are sometimes startling. often results you never dreamed possible. Chapter 3. What the subconscious is. Gustav Geller, the distinguished French psychologist and author of From the Unconscious to the Conscious, once wrote, There is no artist, man of science, or writer of any distinction, however little disposed to self-analysis,

who is not aware by personal experience of the unequaled importance of the subconscious. He also said that the best results in life were obtained by a close harmony and cooperation between the conscious and subconscious mind. As the subconscious plays a very important part in the magic of believing, it will bring you to a quicker understanding of this science if you have a clear and detailed picture of what the subconscious mind is, where it is located and how it functions. Now, it is the conscious mind that is the source of thought. Also, it's the mind that gives us the sense of awareness in our normal waking life,

the knowledge that we are ourselves here and now, the recognition and understanding of our environments, the power to rule over our mental faculties, to recall the events of our past life, and to understand our emotions and their significance. More concretely, it enables, enables us to have a rational understanding of the objects and persons about us, of our successes or shortcomings, of the validity of an argument, or the beauty of a work of art.

Many times the solution of our problems result from the use of the conscious mind. But now and then, when the solution is not forthcoming, we become exhausted with continued trying. We begin to lose confidence in ourselves and we often resign ourselves to the idea that we have failed, that nothing can be done about it. Here is where the subconscious mind comes in. It helps us to renew our belief in ourselves. It assists us to overcome our difficulty and to put us on the road to achievement and success. Just as the conscious mind is a source of thought, so the subconscious is the source of power. Also, it is one of the greatest realities in human life.

It is rooted in instinct and is aware of the most elemental desires of the individual, yet it is always pressing upward into conscious existence. The powers of the subconscious are many, the chief of which are intuition, emotion, certainty, inspiration, suggestion, deduction, deduction, imagination, organization, and of course, memory and dynamic energy. It is a distinct entity. It possesses powers and functions with unique mental organization all its own.

Now, the subconscious mind has three primary functions. First, with its intuitive understanding of the bodily needs, it maintains and preserves the well-being and indeed the very life of the body, unaided by the conscious mind. Second, in times of great emergency, it springs into immediate action, again independent of the conscious mind.

It takes supreme command, acting with incredible certitude, rapidity, accuracy, and understanding in the saving of the life of the individual. Third, it is operative in the psychic world in which the psychic powers of the subconscious are manifested in such phenomena as telepathy, clairvoyance and psychokinesis, but also it can be summoned to help the conscious mind in times of great personal necessity,

when the conscious calls upon the subconscious to use its powers and resources to solve a vital problem or bring to pass that which is sought or desired by the individual. It is the third function that we are most concerned with here. To draw upon the resources and powers of the subconscious and awaken it into action, you must first be sure that you are asking for something that is rightfully yours to have and is within your ability to handle. The subconscious manifests itself only according to the capabilities of the person. Then you must have patience and absolute faith.

Theodore Simon Jouffre, the French philosopher, said the subconscious mind will not take the trouble to work for those who do not believe in it. Next, in conveying your need to the subconscious, it must be in the spirit, that the work has already been done. So while it is necessary for you to feel and think yourself successful, it is important for you to go one step further and actually see yourself as already successful, either in the performance of some selected task

or as actually occupying the position to which you are aspiring. For the next and final step, you must wait patiently while the subconscious is assimilating the elements of your problem and then goes about its own way to work it out for you. In due course with the flowing of ideas and plans of the subconscious into your waiting conscious mind, the solution of your problem will be revealed to you.

The correct course of action will be indicated. You must follow those indications immediately and unquestioningly. There must be no hesitation on your part, no mental reservation, no deliberation, no deliberation. You must receive the message from the subconscious freely, and after understanding it, you must act on it at once. Only by doing that will you make your subconscious serve you and continue to respond whenever you call upon it. However, your problem may be one that cannot be solved in such a manner. Instead of receiving the solution in the form of a blueprint, as it were, you may instead feel some mysterious force,

urging you at intervals to do certain things that seem to have no special significance. or logical connection. Nevertheless, you must continue to believe in the power and the wisdom of the subconscious and obediently perform the seemingly irrelevant things. One day, you will find yourself in the position you sought through the aid of the subconscious and doing the work you envision for yourself.

Then, when you look back, you will see how the things you were called upon to do all formed a logical line of events, the last one of which was your final arriving, The reward of your sincerest hopes and desires, your own triumphant, personal success. Chapter 4. Suggestion is power. After studying the various mystical religions and different teachings and systems of mind stuff, one is impressed with the fact that they all have the same basic modus operandi,

and that is through repetition, the repeating of certain mantras, words, formulas, or just plain mumbo-jumbo is common with witch doctors, voodoo high priest, hexers, and many other followers of strange cults. They use them to evoke the spirits or work black magic. One finds the same principle at work in chants, incantations, litanies, daily lessons, also the frequent praying of the Buddhist and Muslims alike, the affirmation of the the theosophists and the followers of unity, the absolute, truth, new thought, divine science, in fact,

It is basic to all religions, although here it is white magic instead of black magic. This brings us to the law of suggestion, through which all forces operating within its limits are capable of producing phenomenal results. That is, it is the power of suggestion and auto-suggestion, your own to yourself, or heterosuggestion coming to you from outside sources, that starts the machinery into operation or causes the subconscious mind to begin its creative work. And right here is where the affirmations and repetitions play their part. It's the repetition of the same chant, the same incantation, the same affirmations that lead to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. that this is the same identical force and the same mechanics that Hitler used in building up the German people to attack the world.

A reading of Mein Kemp will verify that. Dr. René Fulvel, a famous French psychologist, explained it by saying that Hitler had a remarkable understanding of the law of suggestion and its different forms of application. It was with uncanny skill and masterly showmanship that he mobilized every instrument of property. propaganda in his mighty campaign of suggestion. Hitler openly stated that the psychology of suggestion was a terrible weapon in the hands of anyone who knew how to use it. Let's see how he worked it to make the Germans believe what he wanted them to, and once that belief took hold how they started their campaign of terror. Slogans, huge signs, posters, masked flags appeared throughout Germany. Hitler's picture was everywhere.

One Reich, one folk, one leader became the chant. It was heard everywhere. Today we own Germany, tomorrow, the entire world. The marching song of the German youths came from thousands of throats daily. Such slogans as, Germany has waited long enough. Stand up, you are the aristocrats of the Third Reich. Germany is behind Hitler to a man and hundreds others. Bombarded the people 24 hours a day.

sides of buildings, the radio, and the press. Every time they moved, turned around, or spoke to one another, they got the idea that they were a superior race, and under the hypnotic influence of this belief, strengthened by repeated suggestion, they started out to prove it. Unfortunately for them, there were other nations who also had strong national beliefs

that eventually became the means of bringing defeat to the Germans. Let's go into the field of sports where everyone who has ever witnessed a football or baseball game has actually seen this power of suggestion at work. The late Newt Rockney, famous coach at Notre Dame, knew the value of suggestion and used it repeatedly. But he always suited his method of applying it to the temperament of the individual team. A story is told that on one Sunday afternoon, Notre Dame was playing a particularly grueling game and at the end of the first half was trailing badly. The players were in their dressing room, nervously awaiting the arrival of Rockney. Finally, the door opened and Rockney's head came in slowly. His eyes swept inquiringly over the squad.

Oh, excuse me, I made a mistake. I thought these were the quarters of the Notre Dame team. The door closed and Rockney was gone. Puzzled and then stung with fury, the team went out. for the second half and won the game in the depression years and there may be years like them in the future we saw this same suggestive force working overtime day after day we heard the expression times are hard business is poor the banks are failing prosperity hasn't a chance and wild stories about business failures on every hand

until they became the national chant millions believe that prosperous days would never return. Hundreds, just thousands of strong-willed men went down under the constant hammering, the continuous tap-tapping of the same fear-vibratory thoughts. Money, always sensitive, runs to cover when fear suggestions begin to circulate, and business failures and unemployment follow quickly. We heard thousands of stories of bank failures, huge concerns going to the wall, and people believe them readily and acted accordingly.

There will never be another business depression if people generally realize that it is with their own fear thoughts that they literally create hard times. They think hard times and hard times follow. Dr. Walter Dill Scott, eminent psychologist and longtime president of Northwestern University, told the whole story when he said, success or failure in business is caused more by mental attitude rather than by mental capacities. Let's consider charms, talismans, amulets, good luck pieces, four-leaf clovers, old horseshoes, a rabbit's foot, and countless other trinkets which thousands of people believe in. By themselves they are inanimate, harmless objects without power. But people breathe life into them by thinking they do have power,

even though the power isn't in them per se. The power comes only with the believing, which alone makes them effective. Two outstanding illustrations of this are found in the stories of Alexander the Great and Napoleon. In Alexander's day, an oracle proclaimed that whoever unloosened the Gordian knot would become ruler of all Asia.

Alexander, you may remember, with one stroke of his sword, cut the knot, and rose to tremendous heights and power. napoleon was given a star sapphire when he was a child with the prophecy that it would bring him luck and some day make him emperor of france could it have been anything but the supreme belief in the prophecy that carried these two great men to a place in the hall of fame they became great men because of their supernormal beliefs here's a simple experiment that will demonstrate to you the strange power of attraction through visualization Making the mental picture actually work. Find a few small stones or pebbles which you can easily throw. Locate a tree or a post of six to ten inches in diameter. Stand 25 to 30 feet away from it.

Start throwing pebbles at the tree, trying to hit it. If you're an average person, most of the stones will go wide of their mark. Now stop and tell yourself that you can hit the objective. Get a mental picture of the tree, figuratively stepping forward to meet the stone. Imagine the rock actually colliding with the tree in the spot where you want it to strike. You'll soon find yourself making a perfect score. Don't say it's impossible. Try it, and you'll prove that it can be done if you will only believe it.

Chapter 5 The Art of Mental Pictures To become the person that you would like to be, you create a mental picture of your newly conceived self, and if you continue to hold it, the day will come when you are in reality that person. Shakespeare said, assume the virtue if you have it not. Now let's take this great truth and follow some of its implications. In assuming the virtue, you are assuming via your imagination. But here we must make a distinction between daydreaming and a true mental picture or proper use of the imagination.

Perhaps there is some genie who will drop $100,000 into your lap or overnight provide you with a mansion luxuriously furnished. I have never had the pleasure of meeting one, but daydreaming or mere undirected wishful thinking doesn't have the power to release the latent forces within you that will bring you the $100,000 or the mansion. When you employ your imagination properly, you see yourself doing a thing and you go ahead and do it. It's the doing the thing you have pictured to yourself that brings it into actual existence. In this connection, think about the use of the magnifying glass. When properly focused, it will gather the light from the sun and concentrate it, so that the heat will burn a hole in the object on which the rays are focused. It must be held steady before the heat power is developed.

and so it is with the holding of the image or the mental picture. However, it is very difficult for the average person to concentrate for any length of time, to say nothing of holding onto a mental picture for any great period. You are constantly being swayed by what you read and hear, and as a result, the coordinating part of this creative force turns to gathering together all these scattered elements in a focused mass, instead of devoting itself to making a clear and dynamic picture of your design. Often I have thought of this matter of desire and suggestion in connection with the planting of vegetable or flower seeds.

Once the soil is prepared and the tiny seeds are placed in it, it only takes a short time until they begin to root and sprouts begin to appear. The moment they start upward through the soil in search of light, sunshine and moisture, obstacles mean nothing to them. They will push aside small stones or bits of wood, and if they can't do that, they'll extend themselves, and grow around them, so it can be with you and the suggestions you give to your subconscious mind. The results will be pure or complex depending upon the original seed and the attention which you give it. In other words, plant the right kind of seed and habitually feed it with strong affirmative thought always directed toward the same end. It will grow into a mighty force, finding ways and means of overcoming all obstacles. I have been in the private offices of a great many industrial leaders,

businessmen, great bankers, and others. Long before this magic of belief was understood by me, I was impressed with the pictures, photographs, slogans, bits of statuary, and so forth, which were to be found in the inner sanctums of great firms. Undoubtedly, many of you have seen or heard of such displays, but has it ever occurred to you what their purpose was? There can only be one answer, and that is, they say, serve as a constant reminder, getting the picture over to the occupant of the room that he too

can succeed as those did before him. In common with other great men, Thomas A. Edison obviously knew the value of the repeated suggestion and made use of it. Among the articles found in his desk was a piece of paper that said, When down in the mouth, remember Jonah, he came out all right. Edison must have thought well of that expression and perhaps reflected much upon it. So, let's get down to the mechanics. Find yourself three or four cards. Ordinary business cards will do. In your office, your home, your room, or any other place where you can have privacy,

sit down and ask yourself what you desire above everything else. When the answer comes and you are certain that it is your uppermost desire, Then at the top of one card, write a word picture of it. One or two words may be sufficient, a job, a better job, more money, a home of your own. Then on each card, duplicate the word picture from the original. Carry one in your billfold or handbag. Place another alongside your bed or fasten it to your bedstead. Place another on your shaving mirror or dressing table, and still another on your desk.

The whole idea, as you may have guessed, is to enable you to see mentally the picture at all hours of the day. Just before going to sleep at night, and upon waking in the morning, are two very important moments of the 24 hours in which to concentrate upon your thoughts with added force. But don't stop just with those two periods. The more often you can visualize the desire by this method, or one of your own devising, for that matter, the speedier the materialization. At the start, you may have no idea of how the results are to come. Don't worry.

Just leave it to the subconscious mind which has its own ways of making contacts and of opening doors and avenues that you may never even have thought of. You will receive assistance from the most unexpected sources. You may be suddenly struck with the idea of seeing a person that you have not heard from in a long time or calling upon a man you've never seen before. You may get the idea of writing a letter or making a telephone call. Whatever the idea is, follow it. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that you should tell no one just what the words on the cards mean.

Don't give anyone an inkling of what you desire. The truth is that when you talk about what you're going to do, you scatter your forces. You lose the close connection you have with the subconscious, and you frequently find that unless you do as directed, you will have to start all over again in your program of achievement. Go and tell no man still holds true. Suppose you want a better job or promotion. Not only use the cards, but keep telling yourself constantly and continuously

that you are going to get that job. You have already visualized it if you have accepted this science, but the repetition will be the means of driving the suggestion deeply and firmly into the subconscious mind. This may be compared to driving a nail into a board. The first tap puts the nail in place, but it is only by a number of heavy strokes that the nail is driven home. It has been my observation that those who consciously use this science,

as well as those who may be using it unconsciously, are people of tremendous energies, virtually human dynamos. They are people who not only use their imagination and hold strong beliefs and convictions, but they are great doers in action. And that brings me to this most important statement. Faith without action is dead. Chapter 6.

The Mirror Technique. There is another device which I call the mirror technique. Before explaining it, I want to tell you how I happen to discover what a truly wonderful thing it is and how it can be used to bring quicker and more effective results. Many years ago I was the dinner guest of a very wealthy man who owned many patents covering logging and sawmill machinery. He had invited a number of newspaper publishers, bankers, and industrial leaders to his suite in a prominent hotel in order to explain a new method he had devised for mill operations.

Dinner was late in being served, and as there had been plenty of liquor offered, the host found himself in an embarrassing state of intoxication. Just before dinner was served, I noticed him staggering into his bedroom and pulling himself up abruptly before his dresser. Thinking I might help him, I followed him to the door of his room. As I stood there, I saw him grab the edge of the dresser top with both hands and stare into the mirror, all the time mumbling as a drunken man sometimes does. Then his words began to make sense.

and I moved back a little to watch the performance. I heard him say, John, you old, they tried to get you drunk, but you're going to fool them. You're sober, cold sober. This is your party, and you've got to be sober. As he kept repeating these words while continuing to stare at the reflection of his eyes in the mirror, I noticed that a transfiguration was taking place.

His body was becoming more erect. The muscles of his face were tightening and his drunken look was disappearing. The whole performance was over in about five minutes, but in all my experience as a newspaper man and more especially as a police reporter, I had never seen such a rapid change. Not warning him to know that I'd been watching him,

I made for the bathroom. When I got back to the dining room, I found the host at the head of the table, and while his face was still a little flushed, to all appearances, he was sober. At the end of the dinner, he presented a very dramatic and convincing picture of his new plans. It wasn't until long afterwards when I got a better understanding of the power of the subconscious mind that I understood the science involved in transforming the obviously drunken man into a cold, sober host. Many great orators, preachers, actors, and statesmen have used this mirror technique for years.

Winston Churchill, according to Drew Pearson, never made a speech of importance unless he made it before a mirror first. Woodrow Wilson also employed the same technique. It's what I call a supercharging method of stepping up the subconscious forces. This mirror technique gives a clue to the power and magnetism of Billy Sunday, the great evangelist. According to Eric Severide in his book Not So Wild a Dream, Billy Sunday would bound about his hotel room, now peering intently out the window with one foot on the sill, now grasping the dressing table firmly in both hands while lecturing his reflection in the mirror. Now to outline the technique.

Stand in front of a mirror. It need not be a full-length mirror, but it should be big enough so that you may at least see your body from the waist up. and those of you who have been in the army know what it means to come to attention. Stand fully erect, bring your heels together, pull in your stomach, keep your chest out and your head up. Now breathe three or four times until you feel a sense of power, strength, and determination. Next, look into the very depths of your eyes. Tell yourself that you're going to get what you want. Name it out loud so that you can see your lips move and you can hear the way.

words. Make a ritual of it. Practice doing it at least twice a day, mornings and evenings, and you'll be surprised at the results. Within a few days, you'll have developed a sense of confidence that you never realized that you could build within yourself. This power will give you that penetrating gaze that causes others to think you are looking into their very souls. Sooner or later, there will come an intensity that will reveal the intensity of your thought. Emerson wrote that every man carries in his eyes the exact indication of his rank. Remember that your own gradation or position in life is marked by what you carry in your eyes. So develop eyes that say confidence.

The mirror will help you. A word of warning here. I take it for granted that none of you assume that the techniques I'm showing you here is an open sesame to riches and fame overnight. Certainly, it wouldn't be wise to rush into undertakings far beyond your capabilities or your development. But by using this science, you could learn the various steps which will take you to the top. But you must have a plan of action before any program is undertaken. You've got to know what you want and be specific about it.

As long as you hold on to the mental picture of your idea and begin to develop it with action, nothing can stop you from succeeding. For the subconscious mind never fails to obey any order given to it clearly and emphatically. Chapter 7. How to Project Your Thoughts. In this section, I want to talk about several points that I think pertain to mind stuff. Call it a pot-per-re. We seldom realize how much our emotional vibrations affect others and how much we're affected by theirs. An extremely nervous person in a position of authority can put nearly every person associated with them into a nervous state.

It's always important to remember that a negative person can raise havoc in an organization or a home. The same amount of damage can be done by a strong negative personality as good can be done by a positive one. When the two are pitted together against one another, the negative frequently becomes the more powerful. To get a better understanding of the effect of these suggestive vibrations, you need only to read your varying feelings when entering different offices or homes. The atmosphere, which is the creation of the people living there, can be instantly detected as being upsetting, disturbing, tranquil, harmonious. The vibrations set up by others affect us much more than we realize. We take on the characteristics of those with whom we are more or less constantly associated. If you want to remain a positive type, avoid associating too much with anyone who has a negative or pessimistic personality.

This brings me to another point. A person who desires riches must go where the riches are, alone on a desert. that I have a man would probably have a tough time eking out a living to say nothing of trying to amass a fortune. So it is in everyday pursuits. Therefore, if you want money, you have to associate yourself with people who have it or who know how to make it. This may sound rather gross, but the truth is that if it's money you're after, you must go where it is and where it is being spent. Also, you must become personally acquainted with those who have the authority to spend it. If you're a salesman selling advertising, and you know the head of the firm is the man with the final say,

it's a waste of time trying to convince minor clerks and junior executives. The same holds true if you're trying to sell other commodities, or what is more important, trying to sell yourself. And finally, the right mental attitude. Being properly attired, keeping your eyes straight ahead and fixed on your goal, throwing around you the proper aura which is done by an act of your imagination or an extension of your personal magnetism will work wonders. Theos Bernard, in his penhouse of the gods, learned this when he was cornered and stoned by a crowd of natives in Tibet. In his book, he says his first reaction was to fight, but the thought was immediately dismissed when he recalled that he had been taught to assume and maintain his aura. Thus he straightened his shoulders, lifted high his head, directed his eyes straight ahead, and moved forward with a firm and rapid stride.

Not only did the crowd give way, but others came forward and made a path for him. When man fully comprehends the great power of his mind and earnestly puts it to work, he will have dominion over this earth and everything on it. You yourself have this inner spark, but it must be fast. until the fire is of white-hot intensity, and it must be constantly stoked, which you do by adding fuel. Ideas. Ideas. More ideas and action. Chapter 8. Belief makes things happen. I have tried to make plain how this power through belief can be developed, and to take you up the ladder as far as you wish to go.

It is necessary, though, to point out that it is easy to lose one's belief or faith. Thousands have risen to great heights of success only to stumble, roll, or fall to undreamed-of depths. Others seeking health have appeared to be more or less miraculously cured, only to find that in later years or even months there is a recurrence of their ailments. There are many weakening factors and influences, all suggest that, in nature, which we, in unguarded moments, allow to slip into our subconscious minds. Once these influences begin their destructive work, they can undo all the good accomplished by our constructive forces. So step out in front, head toward the sun, keep facing it,

and the dark shadows will not cross your path. I know that it is difficult for the average person who knows nothing of the sun. to accept the idea that all is within. But surely the most materialistic person must realize that as far as he himself is concerned, nothing exists on the outside plane unless he has knowledge of it or unless it becomes fixed in his consciousness.

It is the image created in his mind that gives reality to the world outside of him. Happiness sought by many and found by few, therefore is a matter entirely within ourselves. Our environment and the everyday happenings of life have absolutely no effect on our happiness except as we permit mental images of the outside to enter our consciousness.

Happiness is wholly independent of position, wealth, or material possessions. It is a state of mind which we ourselves have the power to control, and that control lies with our thinking Emerson said, what is the hardest task in the world to think? Obviously, this is so when one considers that most of us are victims of mass thinking and feed upon suggestions from others.

We all know that the law of cause and effect is inviolable. Yet how many of us ever pause to consider its workings? The entire course of a man's life has many times been changed by a single thought which coming to him in a flash became a mighty power that altered the whole current of human events. History is replete with the stories of strong-minded, resolutely-willed individuals who steadfastly holding to their inner convictions have been able to inspire their fellow man and in the face of tremendous and determined opposition have literally created out of nothing, great businesses, huge empires, and new worlds.

They had no monopoly of thought-pocket. power, you and every man and woman have it. All you have to do is use it. You will then become the person you envisage in your imagination. Know yourself. Know your power. Faithfully use the cards and the mirror techniques, and you will get results far beyond your fondest expectations. Just believe that there is a genuine creative magic in believing and magic they will will be, for belief will supply the power which will enable you to succeed in everything you undertake, back your belief with a resolute will, and you will become unconquerable. A master of men among men, yourself. You have been listening to The Magic of Believing by Claude Bristol.

It was produced by Malou Zoner. This has been a presentation of Simon & Schuster Audio. No.