Thorstein Veblen - Achieving Prosperity - Ultimate Collection

I can give you but a general idea of the workings of this great law, but if you will pay attention to what I have to say on the subject, you will grasp the principle, and will be able to work out your own salvation. The first point to remember is that we are all creatures of habit, bodily and mentally. Our characteristics are largely the result of habits of thought. We may have inherited impulses which made it easier to form certain habits, and more difficult to form certain habits of thought, and more difficult to form others, and we consequently move along the lines of the least resistance; but the character is, after all, the result of certain acquired habits. We follow well worn mental paths, in preference to making new paths through the woods, even though we know that the new path would be the better, by far, and that is would be as easy to travel over as the present one, when it was finally formed. We know all this. It is an old story. Then why do we not start in to make the new path? Simply because "it is too much trouble." We lack the will power, determination and persistency to do it. I admit that it is no easy task, but think of the reward.

These things are "ancient history" to you, of course, but I have something else to say to you on the subject that is not so "antiquated." I propose to make you a present of a labor saving "path maker," which is guaranteed to clear away the underbrush and rubbish in but a fraction of the time, and with much less labor, that the old plodding clearing away process.

This new plan is very simple, but very effective, and will enable you to "make yourself over" without the ripping apart process dependent upon the other method. I will tell you about it in as few words as possible. I have already explained to you that your mind possess two planes of effort, two functions, the Active and the Passive. The Active function does the volitional, original thinking, whilst the Passive function does only what it is told to do by the Active function (or by others). The Passive function is the easygoing partner of the firm, to whom I introduced you in a previous lesson. It is this part of the mind upon which hypnotists operate, after lulling to sleep the Active function, the critical partner. The Passive function, although in a sense the inferior, really rules us, unless we know how to manage it. It is the habit-function, the beaten-track function, of whose existence we are all conscious. It is easily influenced, but nevertheless is "set" in its ways. Tell it a thing over and over - something, which you wish it to believe - and it will end up accepting the new thought and being as "set" in the new notion as it was in the former one. This is the secret of breaking up the habits of thought; action; disposition; and character. The suggestion upon which the Passive function acts may come from your own Active mind, or from the mind of another. This is the explanation of the beginning of a habit, good or bad. To break up old thought habits, and to replace them with new habits of thinking, one or more of several plans may be used. One may accomplish the results by sheer force of will; another by hypnotic suggestion from an experienced qualified operator; to your Passive mind, a fourth by that which I will term Thought Absorption. Breaking up thought-habits by sheer force of will is a most difficult task, as most of us know, for we have all tired it. It is a plan by which only the strongest succeed whilst the weaker are defeated and relinquish the effort, experiencing additional discouragement and despair. We accomplish this result by the "strengthening of the will," or more correctly by the strengthening of the Active Function of the mind by the will, enabling it to step in and simply command the Passive function to drop the old thought-habit and adopt the new in its place. It is a magnificent feat, but very difficult of performance. The same result can be obtained by an easier plan. The very habit of making the Passive mind more amendable to the commands of the Active function can be acquired by the easier plan of which I will speak in this lesson.

The second plan, the changing of the thought-habit by Hypnotic Suggestion, has been followed by many, with excellent results, provided, always, that the operator was a proper person, thoroughly understanding his profession, and being fully acquainted with the latest methods of eradicating undesirable thought-habits. In this connection, I would say that one should be very careful in whose hands they place themselves for treatment of this sort. One should not trust their case to a person just because that person could give hypnotic suggestion; one would not employ a man as cashier of a bank just because the applicant could keep books, and count money rapidly.

The third plan, which of producing the result by autosuggestion is good, especially when accompanied by Thought Absorption. In autosuggestion you simply keep on repeating to the Passive mind the statement that the new habits exists (ignoring the old on), and the Passive mind, although inclined to be a little rebellious at first, will eventually accept what you say as thought. It will adopt the new thought-habit as its own thought just as do some people under like circumstances. Autosuggestion is practically self-hypnosis of the passive mind by the Active mind. It is a case of "every man his own hypnotist."

The third plan, taught Absorption, consists in the placing of yourself in a perfectly passive condition, at frequent intervals and fixing the mind intently upon the idea or mental statement, that the new habits exist; picturing yourself, by an effort of the imagination, as being a man possessed to the desired qualities. You should "carry the thought" with you continually, picturing yourself as possessing the desired habit, in every leisure moment, day and night, an din other ways acting out the belief. This is purely an action of the Passive mind, assisted by the imagination. It seems very simple, but the results, which have been attained by it, seem little short of marvelous. It is by far the easiest, and one of the most effective methods of making over your character. The imagined thing becomes a reality in a comparatively short time, and action follow close upon he heels of thought.

In my opinion the combination of autosuggestion and Thought Absorption afford the ideal treatment in Character Building. If persisted in, it will accomplish the most marked results in a comparatively shore space of time, the effect being felt from the very first. Do not pass over this lightly; because it seems so simple. It is a secret worth thousands of dollars to you, and one, which you would not part with for any money, once you have experienced its benefits.

I will now give you a brief explanation of the several methods above referred to. Let us take the Fear (worry) thought-habit, as an illustration. It affords an excellent illustration of the bad habits of the rest of the bad thought, for it does more to unfit one for the duties of life than all the rest of the bad thoughts combined, and also brings with it the vile brood of miserable weakening thought-habits of which it is the parent. The man who has torn out by the roots the vile Fear thought (worry thought) has progressed a long distance on the road to Freedom. Fear thought never helped anyone, and never will; but it has wrecked the careers of thousands of men and women, paralyzing their energies, preventing their progress, enfeebling their minds, and diseasing their bodies. We have all felt it, and those of us who have banished it would not return to its thralldom under any consideration. Life is an entirely different thing to the man who has rooted out this noxious weed. He becomes an entirely different order of being. Most of the things we fear never occur; and the few that do occur can be rooted by a bold front, aided by the strength, which the absence of Fear and Worry imparts. The energy and vital force wasted on Worry is more that sufficient to enable us to conquer our real troubles when they occur. You remember the tale of the old man on his deathbed, giving his son good advice, who said: "John, I have lived eighty years and have had many troubles, the majority of which never occurred." The old man merely voiced the experience of all men or women who have lived to old age. The moral is obvious.