Charles F. Haanel - The Master Key System

Physical Science has resolved matter into molecules, molecules into atoms, atoms into energy, and it has remained for Sir Ambrose Fleming, in an address before the Royal Institution, to resolve this energy into mind. He says: "In its ultimate essence, energy may be incomprehensible by us except as an exhibition of the direct operation of that which we call Mind or Will."

Let us see what are the most powerful forces in Nature. In the mineral world everything is solid and fixed. In the animal and vegetable kingdom it is in a state of flux, forever changing, always being created and recreated. In the atmosphere we find heat, light and energy. Each realm becomes finer and more spiritual as we pass from the visible to the invisible, from the coarse to the fine, from the low potentiality to high potentiality. When we reach the invisible we find energy in its purest and most volatile state.

And as the most powerful forces of Nature are the invisible forces, so we find that the most powerful forces of man are his invisible forces, his spiritual force, and the only way in which the spiritual force can manifest is through the process of thinking. Thinking is the only activity which the spirit possesses, and thought is the only product of thinking.

Addition and subtraction are therefore spiritual transactions; reasoning is a spiritual process; ideas are spiritual conceptions; questions are spiritual searchlights and logic, argument and philosophy is spiritual machinery.

Every thought brings into action certain physical tissue, parts of the brain, nerve or muscle. This produces an actual physical change in the construction of the tissue. Therefore it is only necessary to have a certain number of thoughts on a given subject in order to bring about a complete change in the physical organization of a man.

This is the process by which failure is changed to success. Thoughts of courage, power, inspiration, harmony, are substituted for thoughts of failure, despair, lack, limitation and discord, and as these thoughts take root, the physical tissue is changed and the individual sees life in a new light, old things have actually passed away, all things have become new, he is born again, this time born of the spirit, life has a new meaning for him, he is reconstructed and is filled with joy, confidence, hope, energy. He sees opportunities for success to which he was heretofore blind. He recognizes possibilities which before had no meaning for him. The thoughts of success with which he has been impregnated are radiated to those around him, and they in turn help him onward and upward; he attracts to him new and successful associates, and this in turn changes his environment; so that by this simple exercise of thought, a man changes not only himself, but his environment, circumstances and conditions.

You will see, you must see, that we are at the dawn of a new day; that the possibilities are so wonderful, so fascinating, so limitless as to be almost bewildering. A century ago any man with an aeroplane or even a Gatling gun could have annihilated a whole army equipped with the implements of warfare then in use. So it is at present. Any man with a knowledge of the possibilities contained in the Master Key has an inconceivable advantage over the multitude.

Table of Contents

It is a psychological fact that ninety per cent. of our mental power is never or seldom used. Therefore, most men have the power to achieve ten times as much as they ever accomplish.

This chart will tell you exactly where you stand, what you are accomplishing and what you can accomplish if you make the necessary effort.

Copy the following table out and fill it in as instructed below:

The first test is your Mental product. What is it worth? Are you getting full value for it? What you get for your mental product depends entirely upon your ability to sell it to the best advantage. The chances are that many men with no more ability than yourself are being paid ten, twenty or fifty times more than you are, for a product no better than yours. If so, there is a reason, and this chart will explain it.

Estimate the value of what you have to sell, your knowledge, your experience, your loyalty, your energy, and if you are marketing it at its full rate value give yourself 100 per cent.; if you are only getting one-half of what it is worth give yourself fifty per cent., but be fair; do not underestimate the value of what you have to offer; remember that loss leads to greater loss and most loss comes from self-depreciation. Cause and effect do not operate somewhere, sometimes, but everywhere, always. This is an invariable law, so that whatever we receive, good or bad, is the result of a definite cause and reaches us either as a penalty or a reward.

And remember this, your ability to sell your mental product as the rate of 5 per cent. annually, on $100,000, does not depend upon ability or knowledge either; you may be selling your product for $400 a year, and it may be more valuable than that of many who are being paid at the rate of $5,000 a year. The reason is plain. Knowledge does not apply itself; you are allowing it to remain in static form; you must convert it into dynamic form by applying creative power and concentration. The lack of concentrated, intelligent, charted effort may be costing you $4,000 a year.

Next, take Health. If you eat well, sleep well, take a reasonable amount of recreation, and can attend to your business, profession or household duties without any consideration for or thought of the state of your health, give yourself 100 per cent.; but if your body needs constant attention, if you have to be continually worried about what to eat or what not to eat, if you cannot sleep, or if you have aches or pains of any description, deduct from the 100 per cent.; if you think your health is 90 per cent. of what it should be, give yourself 90 per cent., or if you are only 50 per cent. efficient, put it down—be absolutely fair.

Remember that your physical body is maintained through a process of continuous destruction and reconstruction. Life is simply an exchange of the old for the new, and health is only the equilibrium which nature maintains during the process of creating new tissue and eliminating the old or waste tissue.

Birth and death are constantly taking place in our body, new cells are constantly being formed by the process of converting food, water and air into living tissue. Every action of the brain, every movement of a muscle means the destruction and consequent death of some of these cells and the accumulation of these dead, unused and waste cells is what causes pain, suffering and disease. The symptoms depend upon what organs are being taxed in their effort to eliminate the waste matter.

An understanding of these laws and a consequent knowledge as to how to preserve an equilibrium between the new cells which are being created and the old cells which are being eliminated is the secret of perfect health.

Next in importance comes Time Efficiency because time is all that we have, and what we accomplish depends entirely upon what use we make of our time. If you work eight hours, sleep eight hours, and use eight hours for recreation, study and self-improvement and all the time is fully utilized, give yourself 100 per cent.

But if any part of the eight hours which should be sold at a profit is spent in idleness, or gossip, or any form of mental dissipation; if any part of this time is wasted, or worse than wasted by allowing your thought to rest on critical, discordant or inharmonious subjects of any kind, cut down your percentage accordingly. If you fall asleep the minute your head touches the pillow, all right, but if you spend from fifteen minutes to an hour trying to get to sleep, cut your percentage down again: if your sleep is disturbed by dreams or fear or worry of any kind, cut your percentage down again.