(Note: The following text is an excerpt from Theron Q. Dumont's The Power of Concentration, a classic on concentration, willpower, mental control and success originally published in 1918. The entire work consists of 20 "lessons," of which this is the first.
LESSON
Everyone has two natures. One wants us to advance and the
other wants to pull us back. The one that we cultivate and concentrate on
decides what we are at the end. Both natures are trying to gain control. The
will alone decides the issue. A man by one supreme effort of the will may
change his whole career and almost accomplish miracles. You may be that man.
You can be if you Will to be, for Will can find a way or make one.
I could easily fill a book, of cases where men plodding
along in a matter-of-fact way, were all at once aroused and as if awakening
from a slumber they developed the possibilities within them and from that time
on were different persons. You alone can decide when the turning point will
come. It is a matter of choice whether we allow our diviner self to control us
or whether we will be controlled by the brute within us. No man has to do anything
he does not want to do. He is therefore the director of his life if he wills to
be. What we are to do, is the result of our training. We are like putty, and
can be completely controlled by our will power.
Habit is a matter of acquirement. You hear people say: “He comes by this or that naturally, a chip off the old block,” meaning that he is only doing what his parents did. This is quite often the case, but there is no reason for it, for a person can break a habit just the moment he masters the “I will.”
A man may have been a “good-for-nothing” all his life up to this very minute, but from this time on he begins to amount to something. Even old men have suddenly changed and accomplished wonders. “I lost my opportunity,” says one. That may be true, but by sheer force of will, we can find a way to bring us another opportunity. There is no truth in the saying that opportunity knocks at our door but once in a lifetime. The fact is, opportunity never seeks us; we must seek it. What usually turns out to be one man’s opportunity, was another man’s loss. In this day one man’s brain is matched against another’s. It is often the quickness of brain action that determines the result. One man thinks “I will do it,” but while he procrastinates the other goes ahead and does the work. They both have the same opportunity. The one will complain of his lost chance. But it should teach him a lesson, and it will, if he is seeking the path that leads to success.
Many persons read good books, but say they do not get much
good out of them. They do not realize that all any book or any lesson course
can do is to awaken them to their possibilities; to stimulate them to use their
will power. You may teach a person from now until doom’s day, but that person
will only know what he learns himself. “You can lead him to the fountain, but
you can’t make him drink.”
One of the most beneficial practices I know of is that of
looking for the good in everyone and everything, for there is good in all things.
We encourage a person by seeing his good qualities and we also help ourselves
by looking for them. We gain their good wishes, a most valuable asset
sometimes. We get back what we give out. The time comes when most all of us
need encouragement; need buoying up. So form the habit of encouraging others,
and you will find it a wonderful tonic for both those encouraged and yourself, for
you will get back encouraging and uplifting thoughts.
Life furnishes us the opportunity to improve. But whether
we do it or not depends upon how near we live up to what is expected of us. The
first of each month, a person should sit down and examine the progress he has
made. If he has not come up to “expectations” he should discover the reason,
and by extra exertion measure up to what is demanded next time. Every time that
we fall behind what we planned to do, we lose just so much for that time is
gone forever. We may find a reason for doing it, but most excuses are poor
substitutes for action. Most things are possible. Ours may be a hard task, but
the harder the task, the greater the reward. It is the difficult things that really develop us, anything that requires
only a small effort, utilizes very few of our faculties, and yields a scanty
harvest of achievement. So do not shrink from a hard task, for to accomplish
one of these will often bring us more good than a dozen lesser triumphs.
I know that every man that is willing to pay the price can
be a success. The price is not in money, but in effort. The first essential
quality for success is the desire to do—to be something. The next thing is to
learn how to do it; the next to carry it into execution. The man that is the
best able to accomplish anything is the one with a broad mind; the man that has
acquired knowledge, that may, it is true, be foreign to this particular case,
but is, nevertheless, of some value in all cases. So the man that wants to be
successful must be liberal; he must acquire all the knowledge that he can; he
must be well posted not only in one branch of his business but in every part of
it. Such a man achieves success.
The secret of success is to try always to improve yourself
no matter where you are or what your position. Learn all you can. Don’t see how little you can do, but how much
you can do. Such a man will always be in demand, for he establishes the
reputation of being a hustler. There is always room for him because progressive
firms never let a hustler leave their employment if they can help it.
The man that reaches the top is the gritty, plucky, hard
worker and never the timid, uncertain, slow worker. An untried man is seldom
put in a position of responsibility and power. The man selected is one that has
done something, achieved results in some line, or taken the lead in his
department. He is placed there because of his reputation of putting vigor and
virility into his efforts, and because he has previously shown that he has
pluck and determination.
The man that is chosen at the crucial time is not usually
a genius; he does not possess any more talent than others, but he has learned
that results can only be produced by untiring concentrated effort. That “miracles,”
in business do not just “happen.” He knows that the only way they will happen
is by sticking to a proposition and seeing it through. That is the only secret
of why some succeed and others fail. The successful man gets used to seeing
things accomplished and always feels sure of success. The man that is a failure
gets used to seeing failure, expects it and attracts it to him.
It is my opinion that with the right kind of training
every man could be a success. It is really a shame that so many men and women,
rich in ability and talent, are allowed to go to waste, so to speak. Some day I
hope to see a millionaire philanthropist start a school for the training of
failures. I am sure he could not put his money to a better use. In a year’s
time the science of practical psychology could do wonders for him. He could
have agencies on the lookout for men that had lost their grip on themselves;
that had through indisposition weakened their will; that through some sorrow or
misfortune had become discouraged. At first all they need is a little help to
get them back on their feet, but usually they get a knock downwards instead.
The result is that their latent powers never develop and both they and the world
are the losers. I trust that in the near future, someone will heed the
opportunity of using some of his millions in arousing men that have begun to
falter. All they need to be shown is that there is within them an omnipotent
source that is ready to aid them, providing they will make use of it. Their
minds only have to be turned from despair to hope to make them regain their hold.
When a man loses his grip today, he must win his
redemption by his own will. He will get little encouragement or advice of an inspiring
nature. He must usually regain the right road alone. He must stop dissipating
his energies and turn his attention to building a useful career. Today we must
conquer our weakening tendencies alone. Don’t expect anyone to help you. Just
take one big brace, make firm resolutions, and resolve to conquer your weaknesses
and vices. Really none can do this for you. They can encourage you; that is
all.
I can think of nothing, but lack of health, that should
interfere with one becoming successful. There is no other handicap that you should
not be able to overcome. To overcome a handicap, all that it is necessary to do
is to use more determination and grit and will.
The man with grit and will, may be poor today and wealthy
in a few years; will power is a better asset than money; Will will carry you
over chasms of failure, if you but give it the chance.
The men that have risen to the highest positions have
usually had to gain their victories against big odds. Think of the hardships many
of our inventors have gone through before they became a success. Usually they
have been very much misunderstood by relatives and friends. Very often they did
not have the bare necessities of life, yet, by sheer determination and resolute
courage, they managed to exist somehow until they perfected their inventions,
which afterwards greatly helped in bettering the condition of others.
Everyone really wants to do something, but there are few
that will put forward the needed effort to make the necessary sacrifice to
secure it. There is only one way to accomplish anything and that is to go ahead
and do it. A man may accomplish almost anything today, if he just sets his
heart on doing it and lets nothing interfere with his progress. Obstacles are
quickly overcome by the man that sets out to accomplish his heart’s desire. The
“bigger” the man, the smaller the obstacle appears. The “smaller” the man the greater the obstacle
appears. Always look at the advantage you gain by overcoming obstacles, and it will
give you the needed courage for their conquest.
Do not expect that you will always have easy sailing.
Parts of your journey are likely to be rough. Don’t let the rough places put
you out of commission. Keep on with the journey. Just the way you weather the
storm shows what material you are made of. Never sit down and complain of the
rough places, but think how nice the pleasant stretches were. View with delight
the smooth plains that are in front of you.
Do not let a setback stop you. Think of it as a mere
incident that has to be overcome before you can reach your goal.
*******
Theron Q. Dumont's book is long out of print, but one can find the complete text online at the World Spirituality website.
Copyright © D. J. McAdam· All Rights Reserved