Mastermind Discussion Group for The Science of Getting Rich

I just got off of a fantastic mastermind call hosted by Chuck Bartok of Beginners Marketing Class that was focused on Chapter 12 of The Science of Getting Rich - Efficient Action.

Each week, Chuck and Company discuss a portion of what we call “The Trilogy” - The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and The Master Key System by Charles Haanel.

I’d have to say that the biggest thing that I got out of this particular call was the idea of writing down what we plan on doing each day… and then doing it!  As Mr. Wattles says:

If there is something that may be done today, and you do not do it, you have failed in so far as that thing is concerned; and the consequences may be more disastrous than you imagine.

Chuck also made a great point that we are successful as long as we do those things that we intend to.  The results aren’t as important as the action we take.  Of course, we do have a desired outcome, but that is not what makes us successful.  Once we take the intended action, the results are out of our hands.

Have you made a list of what you are going to do today?

And if so, are you taking action on that list?

One of the things I’d suggest that you add to your list is taking a listen to some of the past Focus Society of Overachievers calls.  If you like what you hear, join us next Tuesday at 12pm Eastern Time for the live call where we’ll continue with Chapter 12 of The Science of Getting Rich.

Hope to hear you there!

Study This Book…

From Chapter 16, Some Cautions and Concluding Observations:

Study this book. Make it your constant companion until you have mastered all the ideas contained in it. While you are getting firmly established in this faith, you will do well to give up most recreations and pleasure; and to stay away from places where ideas conflicting with these are advanced in lectures or sermons. Do not read pessimistic or conflicting literature, or get into arguments upon the matter. Do very little reading, outside of the writers mentioned in the Preface. Spend most of your leisure time in contemplating your vision, and in cultivating gratitude, and in reading this book. It contains all you need to know of the science of getting rich; and you will find all the essentials summed up in the following chapter.

One of the problems many people (including me!) have is with focus. We go from this book to that book, from this teacher to that teacher, from this philosophy to that philosophy, and never really learn to apply anything to our lives.

The purpose of this blog is completely selfish. It’s meant to force me to have some sort of accountability in my own study of The Science of Getting Rich.

I love to read. I love to read books on spirituality, personal development, inspiration, motivation… I always have.

I just started reading another book, as a matter of fact - Energy Harmonics by Aaron Potts (as well as participating in an e-coaching program surrounding it at Personal Development Partners). It’s teachings are very in line with The Science of Getting Rich.

But no matter what else I read, The Science of Getting Rich will remain my “constant companion” until I get rich.

All The Work You Can Do Each Day

From Chapter 15, The Advancing Man:

“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.”

Wattles’ keeps popping this little formula up throughout the book - all that you can do, every day, in a successful manner, with the purpose to get rich in everything you do.

Not a bad little affirmation to use as you go throughout your day.

Since I’m still a wage earner, a lot of Chapter 15 applies to me… especially the parts about “more than filling your place.” That’s something that I’ve been asking myself as I go about working my day job - “how can I more than fill my place here?” I can’t say that I’ve seen any direct relationship between that and getting rich just yet, but I do know that it feels right while I’m doing it.

And it’s not to “curry favor with my employer” - it’s to grow as a human being.

Which is one of the reasons that I want to get rich in the first place - to have my capacity to help my fellow human beings grow.

It’s GOOD to Want to Be Rich

Sorry for yelling in the title there.

Over the past few days, the demons of my past have been poking up.

They’ve been telling me that my desire to be rich is wrong, sinful, temporary.

I may have to deal with these for a while.

But it’s good to know that they are wrong.

“The normal desire for increased wealth is not an evil or a reprehensible thing; it is simply the desire for more abundant life; it is aspiration.” [ Chapter 14 - The Impression of Increase ]

I’m going to let those dead thoughts bury their own dead… and continue live in the Certain Way.

When You Aren’t Where You Want To Be

From Chapter 13, Getting into the Right Business:

You are not obliged to do what you do not like to do, and should not do it except as a means to bring you to the doing of the thing you want to do.

If there are past mistakes whose consequences have placed you in an undesirable business or environment, you may be obliged for some time to do what you do not like to do; but you can make the doing of it pleasant by knowing that it is making it possible for you to come to the doing of what you want to do.

If you feel that you are not in the right vocation, do not act too hastily in trying to get into another one. The best way, generally, to change business or environment is by growth.

It’s important to remember that we aren’t necessarily going to start studying this stuff and all that we want is going to fall from the sky within a day, a week, or a month. If you are in a business or job that you don’t like, just up and quitting may not be the right thing to do.

Since it’s more about how we do things than what we actually do, you can continue in any job or business, and just switch the way you do things to the Certain Way - holding your vision; keeping up your faith, purpose, and gratitude; more than filling your place; and making each action a successful one. And believe me, when you do things in the Certain Way, they do become enjoyable.

Would you rather be miserable or happy? Many people think that their misery is caused by their situation in life. But it isn’t… the situation isn’t miserable… the person is!

And living in the Certain Way is a great way to attack the misery at it’s source - in our own thoughts.

Do, Every Day, All That Can Be Done That Day

From Chapter 12, Efficient Action:

Do, every day, ALL that can be done that day.

There is, however, a limitation or qualification of the above that you must take into account.

You are not to overwork, nor to rush blindly into your business in the effort to do the greatest possible number of things in the shortest possible time.

You are not to try to do tomorrow’s work today, nor to do a week’s work in a day.

This reminded me of a story about J.P. Morgan (from The Personal MBA):

One day, a man approached JP Morgan, held up an envelope, and said, “Sir, in my hand I hold a guaranteed formula for success, which I will gladly sell to you for $25,000.”

“Sir,” JP Morgan replied, “I do not know what is in the envelope. However, if you show me and I like it, I give you my word as a gentleman that I will pay you what you ask.”

The man agreed to the terms and handed over the envelope. JP Morgan opened it, and extracted a single sheet of paper. He gave it one look and handed the piece of paper back to the gent, pulled out his checkbook, and paid the man the agreed-upon $25,000.

The paper read:

1. Every morning, write a list of the things that need to be done that day.
2. Do them.

But, as Wattles’ says, don’t put more on that list than you can accomplish that day.

Do what you can, where you are, today. If you try to do too much in one day, you’ll overwhelm yourself, and constantly be thinking about what needs to be done next - not what you are doing now.

Do what you can, where you are, today. When one task is complete, check it off of your list, and move on to the next.

One task at a time (what my friend Rick Cockrum calls Monotasking), doing it to the best of your ability, keeping in mind your Clear Mental Image, with a purpose to reach it and the faith that you will reach it, is acting in the Certain Way.

Personal Action

From Chapter 11, Acting in the Certain Way:

“Thought is the creative power, or the impelling force which causes the creative power to act; thinking in a Certain Way will bring riches to you, but you must not rely upon thought alone, paying no attention to personal action. That is the rock upon which many otherwise scientific metaphysical thinkers meet shipwreck–the failure to connect thought with personal action.”

We are not only spiritual and mental beings, but physical beings as well. Without taking action in the physical world, we won’t enjoy any of the benefits of it… like the benefit of getting rich!

Wattles’ again stresses this point later in the same chapter:

“This is the crucial point in the science of getting rich; right here, where thought and personal action must be combined. There are very many people who, consciously or unconsciously, set the creative forces in action by the strength and persistence of their desires, but who remain poor because they do not provide for the reception of the thing they want when it comes.

“By thought, the thing you want is brought to you; by action you receive it. “

If he says something is a crucial point, then it’s probably a point we should pay attention to.

Thought and Personal Action Must Be Combined

Thought without action keeps us daydreaming, and never reaping the benefit of anything in the physical world.

Action without thought gets us hit by a bus - probably figuratively, but possibly literally.

Combining the two makes us rich.

 

Burying the Dead

“Do not tell of your past troubles of a financial nature, if you have had them, do not think of them at all. Do not tell of the poverty of your parents, or the hardships of your early life; to do any of these things is to mentally class yourself with the poor for the time being, and it will certainly check the movement of things in your direction.

“Let the dead bury their dead,” as Jesus said.

“Put poverty and all things that pertain to poverty completely behind you.”

Chapter 10, Further Use of the Will

The past is gone.

Don’t dwell on it.

No matter what happened before, whether to us or because of us, it’s over.

Rehashing our past financial failures, troubles, and worries will do nothing but perpetuate them in the future.

We are too busy getting rich to worry about our past.

Contemplate your Clear Mental Image, the vision of what you want.

As long as you’re doing that, the past has no place in your mind.

Using Your Willpower

“To get rich, you need only to use your will power upon yourself.

“When you know what to think and do, then you must use your will to compel yourself to think and do the right things. That is the legitimate use of the will in getting what you want - to use it in holding yourself to the right course. Use your will to keep yourself thinking and acting in the Certain Way.” — Chapter 9, How to Use the Will

This is one point where many people, me included, often go wrong when it comes to getting rich in the creative way.

We do not try to force our will on anyone. If there’s any force, we only use it on ourselves.

Willpower does get a bad rap in many metaphysical circles… but here we learn its proper use.

When your vision moves away from your Clear Mental Image, you use your willpower to bring it back.

When your thoughts move from gratitude to despair, you use your willpower to move them back.

And when you start beating yourself up because you “just can’t seem to use your willpower”, you use your willpower to recognize that even beating on yourself for “doing it wrong” is, I’m guessing, not a part of your Clear Mental Image… so you use your willpower to move your thoughts back to your Clear Mental Image.

It’s not easy, and it takes practice. I’m learning and relearning how to do this every single day of my life.

One of the things that helps me when I start working myself over for not keeping my clear mental image in front of me is to remember that I’d never beat on a 1 year old who is learning to walk.

We don’t teach them to walk by hitting them when they fall down.

They want to walk, so we congratulate them when they do it, and encourage them when they fall.

If you aren’t rich yet, then consider yourself a babe while learning this.

Just keep on honestly doing the best that you can do, and you are on the road to getting rich.

Vision, Purpose, and Faith

“Something more is necessary, however, than merely to see the picture clearly. If that is all you do, you are only a dreamer, and will have little or no power for accomplishment.

“Behind your clear vision must be the purpose to realize it; to bring it out in tangible expression.

“And behind this purpose must be an invincible and unwavering FAITH that the thing is already yours; that it is ‘at hand’ and you have only to take possession of it.” — Chapter 8 - Thinking in the Certain Way

In the comments section for the Dec. 17th, 2007 post on “The First Step in Getting Rich”, Mike and I had a short discussion about just what it meant to impress thought on formless substance. I just wanted to repeat something that he said:

“In fact, ‘impressing thought’ requires a lot more focus than most of us can master.”

Impressing thought has more behind it than thinking. The clear picture is essential, but as Wattles’ says above, that thought must be backed up by purpose and faith.

Let’s go back to our dictionary to see exactly what he means by this.

Purpose - That which a person sets before himself as an object to be reached or accomplished; the end or aim to which the view is directed in any plan, measure, or exertion; view; aim; design; intention; plan.

So not only do we get a clear mental image of what we want - we make the decision that we will get it. We set it before us as a goal. We plan, we intend, we exert.

Faith - Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony.

We create our CMI (Clear Mental Image), set a goal to reach it, then believe that it is already ours.

Believe that it is already ours???

This is where we can often get tripped up. We can have a really hard time saying “I’m earning a million dollars a year” when our real income is 30K.

I don’t think that there is anything wrong with acknowledging what we have created so far in the material world. But it’s what we dwell on that matters.

If you take ownership of that million dollars in your mind, then you are thinking in the Certain Way. Picture what your life will be like with that million dollars (I’m using a million dollars as an example here… it’s can be whatever amount is right for you); feel what it’s like to get large checks in the mail, imagine being able to give money to worthy causes at the drop of a hat. When Christmas or birthdays or weddings happen, really see in your mind what it is like to be able to shower those we love with gifts.

I’ve spent the past couple of days really contemplating my own CMI. It’s coming together, and it’s a beautiful thing.

I’d encourage you to do the same.