Personal power
"Man is his own star, and the soul that can Render an honest and a perfect man, Commands all light, all influence, all fate."
John Fletcher.
When we look back over the pages of history and scan the records of the world's most success- ful men, we find that there is not so much wonder when a man rises from penury to supreme heights as when a man with wealth and influence does so.
All the experience of the world goes to show that the lower down a man is on the ladder of fortune, the more likely is he to rise. The reason is that the rich man has so many distractions, and, more than this, does not have the same hard experiences which develop character and brain.
As soon as a man makes up his mind that he will do something with his life, he changes over from a state of drift to one of action. It is easy to drift, but it is better to struggle, for the current of life drags men on to the rocks and into shallows unless they map their course along the right chan- nels where the deep waters are that will bear them to their harbor. Imagine a five-million-dollar battleship, with steam in her boilers, being allowed to drift upon the ocean.
What would happen? She would collide with something sooner or later, and be seriously damaged, if not totally wrecked. Some one, how- ever, takes control of her. The hnge engines are started, and put forth their strength ; the course is set by the guiding intelligence, and the vessel jour- neys through calm or tempest wherever the ruling brain directs.
Every man and woman born into the world is like that. We are all capable of setting our course, y^e are all built to overcome the difficulties we may encounter in following it, and we are free to drift or progress as we choose. If we want to move onward we must first see that our propelling power is in order, then we must set our course, and finally we must stick to that course unswervingly and with unceasing vigilance, for the moment we relax we drift.
In that analogy is the whole secret of success in life ; and the power that is in us, awaiting the com- mand of our brain, will prove either useless or an obedient worker of mighty energy, just accord- ing to the manner in which we neglect or develop it.
The force that drives a man to any goal he has before him is personal power. It is the Divine part of the man that gives him dominion over the earth, and over himself. It is something more than in- telligence, because it makes a man use his intelli- gence in the right way.
It is something more than character, for it creates character. It is something more than personality, because a man's personality is but an expression of his mind. It is more than all these things, because it gives a man the eye to see beauty, the mind to appreciate life in its ful- ness, and the strength to grasp what he needs from the hands of Fortune.
If you are discontented, if you are despondent, even if you are despairing, there is still the dormant power within you waiting and able to turn discontent to serenity, despondency to happiness, and despair to hope.
The limbs of the body, if unused from year's end to year's end, would wither — simply for want of use. It is the same with a man's personal power, except that it never withers so much that he can- not quicken it into vitality again. It will shrivel and shrink, but as soon as he calls upon it, it will start growing again, and he can develop it into a mighty force that will make his life whatever he wishes it to be. Your personal power is yours alone.
You only can develop it; you alone can use it. More than this, it is fashioned by the Creator to serve your particular needs. Unless you have the inventive genius it will not make an Edison or a Marconi of you, and as soon as you recognize that truth you will realize the fallacy of those writers on success.
Some contents:
PART I
Power in the Making
i 1. The Gift of Power.
.2. Qualities that make fob Success
. 3. Every Man his own Mind-maker
.2. Qualities that make fob Success
. 3. Every Man his own Mind-maker
4. Simple Ideas for Mental Training
5. The Power of Sympathy
6. The Tyranny of Doubt
7. Study
8. Culture and Charm
9. The Fear of Failure
10. Keys to Happiness.
PART II
Power in Use
11. The Knowledge of Power
12. Mental Stocktaking
13. Planning for Success
14. Using your Four Eyes
15. The Uses of Oratory and Conversation
16. Generosity as a Mental Force.
the book details :
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