As featured in the bestselling book The Secret, here is the landmark guide to wealth creation republished with the classic essay “How to Get What You Want.” Wallace D. Wattles spent a lifetime considering the laws of success as he found them in the work of the world’s great philosophers. He then turned his life effort into this simple, slender book – a volume that he vowed could replace libraries of philosophy, spirituality, and self-help for the purpose of attaining one definite goal: a life of prosperity.
The first step on the road to wealth is to begin to act in the “Certain Way”. This entails believing categorically that there is a formless substance that truly exists and upon which our thoughts become impressed. Positive thoughts lead to a positive life while negative thoughts lead to a negative life because the formless substance of the universe simply receives whatever is sent to it. Since each person has the ability to control the types of thoughts they allow in their minds, each person has the ability to shape the formless substance to positively impact their future.
What this book gives you is a method for the success that is as certain of results as mathematical equations, if it is followed to the word. Getting rich is all about what you do and not how hard you do it. People can spend all day punching a wall for nothing but you could spend a day of investing in stocks and double your money with a fraction of the effort. Getting rich is not a matter of what environment that you start in, it is a matter of causation. Things come to you when you make them come to you. Born with no capital then go get capital and get rich. In a bad place then get in a good place. Got bad people around you then get rid off them. You are the one who gets the success.
Wallace says that it is a misconception that wealth is limited, he says that nature is inexhaustible. In fact he talks of a ‘formless substance’ which continually produces wealth for the men that desire it and work for it. The formless substance reacts to the needs of men. He claims that collectively the world is rich, individuals are only poor because they do not act in the certain way. It is this certain way of acting that he discusses in his book. So do not accept the common tale that markets are flooded and there is no way for you to make money, just remember the world has endless resources and you just need to find a way of tapping into them.
Every single thing that has come to men is as a result of an initial thought, thoughts always find a way to manifest themselves into reality. Before you attempt to do anything you have to have a clear thought of the end result or what you achieve is not under your control. Get in the mindset of dedication and you will be dedicated, equally get into the mindset that you are a successful person and that is what you will be. Once you have a thought live it, breath it and it will soon be a reality. The power to turn thoughts into success lyes in the ability to control the way that you think. Thinking health in the midst of disease and thinking wealth in the midst of poverty is the key to success. Do not become distracted by other peoples failure or they will become your own. Don’t think according to what surrounds you or you have no control over your fate.
The only way that you are going to be consistently bringing wealth to yourself is if you give more in use value to people than you get in cash value for return. Wallace uses his book as an example, if you follow the advice in his book then you will become rich, you will have turned a something of little value, just some paper and ink, into something worth thousands or millions of pounds in use value. Do not try to exploit customers for your own gain, your aim in life should be to advance their lives more than your own. If you are doing this then you cannot feel bad for becoming wealthy because along the way you have made others wealthy. You should want for others what you want for yourself and wealth will come to both of you.
You need skills to be successful, professional singers are really good at singing but there are plenty of amazing singers that haven’t made it in to major league. There is clearly something that is missing and that thing is, in Wallaces’ opinion, that certain mindset for success, the tools needed to deliver your talents. You can give a person the tools needed to build a chair, but if they don’t know how to use them effectively no chair is getting built. The mindset for success is more important than the tools needed to give it to you. Desire is power waiting to manifest itself. If you want to achieve something enough then you will learn how to do it. You can become successful in any business, you will just need to make the tools necessary along the way.
