WHAT I
have said in the last chapter applies as well to the professional man and the
wage-earner as to the man who is engaged in mercantile business.
No
matter whether you are a physician, a teacher, or a clergyman, if you can give
increase of life to others and make them sensible of the fact, they will be
attracted to you, and you will get rich. The physician who holds the vision of
himself as a great and successful healer, and who works toward the complete
realization of that vision with faith and purpose, as described in former
chapters, will come into such close touch with the Source of Life that he will
be phenomenally successful; patients will come to him in throngs.
No one
has a greater opportunity to carry into effect the teaching of this book than
the practitioner of medicine; it does not matter to which of the various
schools he may belong, for the principle of healing is common to all of them,
and may be reached by all alike. The Advancing Man in medicine, who holds to a
clear mental image of himself as successful, and who obeys the laws of faith,
purpose, and gratitude, will cure every curable case he undertakes, no matter
what remedies he may use.
In the
field of religion, the world cries out for the clergyman who can teach his
hearers the true science of abundant life. He who masters the details of the
science of getting rich, together with the allied sciences of being well, of
being great, and of winning love, and who teaches these details from the
pulpit, will never lack for a congregation. This is the gospel that the world
needs; it will give increase of life, and men will hear it gladly, and will
give liberal support to the man who brings it to them.
What is
now needed is a demonstration of the science of life from the pulpit. We want
preachers who can not only tell us how, but who in their own persons will show
us how. We need the preacher who will himself be rich, healthy, great, and
beloved, to teach us how to attain to these things; and when he comes he will
find a numerous and loyal following.
The same
is true of the teacher who can inspire the children with the faith and purpose
of the advancing life. He will never be "out of a job." And any
teacher who has this faith and purpose can give it to his pupils; he cannot
help giving it to them if it is part of his own life and practice.
What is
true of the teacher, preacher, and physician is true of the lawyer, dentist,
real estate man, insurance agent--of everybody.
The
combined mental and personal action I have described is infallible; it cannot
fail. Every man and woman who follows these instructions steadily,
perseveringly, and to the letter, will get rich. The law of the Increase of
Life is as mathematically certain in its operation as the law of gravitation;
getting rich is an exact science.
The
wage-earner will find this as true of his case as of any of the others
mentioned. Do not feel that you have no chance to get rich because you are
working where there is no visible opportunity for advancement, where wages are
small and the cost of living high. Form your clear mental vision of what you
want, and begin to act with faith and purpose.
Do all
the work you can do, every day, and do each piece of work in a perfectly
successful manner; put the power of success, and the purpose to get rich, into
everything that you do.
But do
not do this merely with the idea of currying favor with your employer, in the
hope that he, or those above you, will see your good work and advance you; it
is not likely that they will do so.
The man
who is merely a "good" workman, filling his place to the very best of
his ability, and satisfied with that, is valuable to his employer; and it is
not to the employer's interest to promote him; he is worth more where he is.
To
secure advancement, something more is necessary than to be too large for your
place.
The man
who is certain to advance is the one who is too big for his place, and who has
a clear concept of what he wants to be; who knows that he can become what he
wants to be and who is determined to BE what he wants to be.
Do not
try to more than fill your present place with a view to pleasing your employer;
do it with the idea of advancing yourself. Hold the faith and purpose of
increase during work hours, after work hours, and before work hours. Hold it in
such a way that every person who comes in contact with you, whether foreman,
fellow workman, or social acquaintance, will feel the power of purpose
radiating from you; so that every one will get the sense of advancement and
increase from you. Men will be attracted to you, and if there is no possibility
for advancement in your present job, you will very soon see an opportunity to
take another job.
There is
a Power which never fails to present opportunity to the Advancing Man who is
moving in obedience to law.
God
cannot help helping you, if you act in a Certain Way; He must do so in order to
help Himself.
There is
nothing in your circumstances or in the industrial situation that can keep you
down. If you cannot get rich working for the steel trust, you can get rich on a
ten-acre farm; and if you begin to move in the Certain Way, you will certainly
escape from the "clutches" of the steel trust and get on to the farm
or wherever else you wish to be.
If a few
thousands of its employees would enter upon the Certain Way, the steel trust
would soon be in a bad plight; it would have to give its workingmen more
opportunity, or go out of business. Nobody has to work for a trust; the trusts
can keep men in so called hopeless conditions only so long as there are men who
are too ignorant to know of the science of getting rich, or too intellectually
slothful to practice it.
Begin
this way of thinking and acting, and your faith and purpose will make you quick
to see any opportunity to better your condition.
Such
opportunities will speedily come, for the Supreme, working in All, and working
for you, will bring them before you.
Do not
wait for an opportunity to be all that you want to be; when an opportunity to
be more than you are now is presented and you feel impelled toward it, take it.
It will be the first step toward a greater opportunity.
There is
no such thing possible in this universe as a lack of opportunities for the man
who is living the advancing life.
It is
inherent in the constitution of the cosmos that all things shall be for him and
work together for his good; and he must certainly get rich if he acts and
thinks in the Certain Way. So let wage-earning men and women study this book
with great care, and enter with confidence upon the course of action it
prescribes; it will not fail.