Self-Development And The Way To Power

L.W. Rogers

The book “Self-Development and the Way to Power”

contains a powerfully positive message. The words written here are uplifting and inspirational. “Happiness is the product of wisdom” starts the conversation. We suffer because we “lack spiritual illumination to find out the cause of our suffering.”

Why are we harmed by the words or actions of other people?

It is because sometime in our past we have sent harmful

thoughts or made bad plans in our minds, and whether or not we acted on them, as part of nature's law once something starts it tends to accelerate and build in momentum unless consciously cast aside. Everything happens for a reason, and if we want to make this happen in our favor, we must learn how to control ourselves.

Sixth Sense

We are responsible for a conscious evolution, and we must become aware that we are steadily growing and changing in every thought we create if we want to master our destiny. This

“sixth sense” as the author describes, is not made complete

and permanent but instead is flexible and forever changing.

We have the opportunity to control our circumstances by using only our mind, our sixth sense. However, we must use this strength, and just as with building a muscle, it will grow stronger and become more accessible to us. Rogers states nature's Law of Economy in which nature punishes inaction with atrophy. He follows with the example of a hermit crab that has a soft delicate outer protective layer because it lazily used empty sea shells rather than growing its' own home for many years until finally devolution took place. By failing to use our own power we lose it.

No man can avoid life by choosing to end it himself through suicide, states Rogers, implying reincarnation of the soul. This is against the law of nature, and since the body only houses the soul temporarily, killing the physical being does not kill the soul. We must obtain spiritual illumination to allow our soul to peacefully rest. However, there are certain moral

qualities that we must discover before we can find any true spiritual illumination, genuine wisdom or moral virtues. The process of living our lives provides us with the instructions that will lead us to inner harmony, and this cannot be simply read from someone else's words, as it is within all our experiences and reshaped daily.

Three Steps to Self-Development

A step-by-step approach to beginning this lifelong journey is a three point process.

1. Learn what mental and moral qualities you need 2. Figure out how to gain them

3. Work with intellect and diligence to gain those qualities It is important to remember that your body is your

instrument. Rogers states that we are given this body to use for our life journey, and we should mold it and use it to our

advantage. Successful self-development consists of three parts:

1. Ardent desire 2. Iron will

3. Alert intelligence

No matter what we attempt to accomplish, if we are not willing to push ourselves and if we lack passion we will not achieve our goals.

After becoming conscious of the invisible world, people are capable of consciously conversing with the dead including those we knew such as friends and family members. The connection allows us to know for certain that we survive our bodies here

on earth. Rogers also contends that willpower is essential for the successful, as well as determination and perseverance.

Whenever we are mentally tired or having writer's block, this is typically not the case. Really, the only thing that can be tired is our physical body, as our “self” is never tired, and never rests until we die or allow it to atrophy. We have to be on constant alert to our physical and social environments as “a person who fails in attention misses the purpose of life and throws away valuable time and opportunity.” Concentration is key as

scatterbrains tend to throw all of their energy about, and fail to focus and achieve real success. Get up at the same early hour every morning and work steady and purposefully throughout the day. Also, good motives must be internalized and not just put on for display to the outside world.

Keen Intelligence

Keen intelligence means being a participant in your life and not just a bystander watching the world flash before your eyes. You are to read news articles and literature with

discrimination based on what you already know and

researching to learn what you do not understand. Never simply accept the opinions of someone else as truth just because it is published or written in a book. However, you should read

quality material and be restrictive on what you are spending

your time reading. Rogers states we should observe and study all those around us, and travel to study people of other places.

Sociology is an example of a scholarly subject that deals with understanding how people act and why we do what we do through systematic, scientific study and observation. The

imagination is the birthplace of all thoughts, and it would do us good to exercise this mental muscle.

Meditation is the way that ego manifests into reality, and Rogers goes into detail about how to start a meditation routine of daily exercise. Self-improvement is change, and is an

evolutionary process that is difficult, time consuming and

requires consistent progression; it is not going to happen over night or by simply reading a book. The person must apply what they have learned in this book if they are to truly find success in life.

Is this Program for ME?

Anyone that suffers from addictions can benefit from this self-improvement tool. Addictions are fueled by hatred, and Rogers states that in order to be free from an addiction we should not hate the object we are addicted to, but instead remain indifferent. The hatred links the addict's mind back to the addiction, making it impossible to quit. Considering that

this is a book promoting self-development, anyone that wants to continue to grow and improve as a person would be well suited for this book. .

Sum of it All

“Self-Development and the Way to Power” is a tool to weld the power of achievement on a personal level. To be successful, self-development must include three qualities: ardent desire, strong will and keen intellect. After deciding what mental and moral qualities are to be achieved, the person must figure out how to obtain them. Using intellectual powers, patience and diligence, the person will eventually gain those qualities. This book is a wonderfully written flow chart for those who want to improve their circumstances.

Success

Lord Beaverbrook

The “Success” guide was first printed in a local newspaper, and everyone enjoyed the editorials so much that they were gathered and printed as a book. This book is a philosophy of success and explains all facets of the double-edged sword that is success. Beaverbrook defines success, how one achieves success and how to enjoy it once it is obtained.

The essential qualities necessary for true success are:

1. Judgment - the power to assimilate knowledge and use it 2. Industry - in true form, concentration; it can be acquired but not squandered

3. Health - the foundation to judgment and industry; without health we are nothing

Happiness is next to success. The three qualities of happiness are:

1. To do justly 2. To love mercy 3. To work humbly

However, happiness is variable to the experiences of every person. For example, some people that have achieved great success are still miserable due to too much ambition,

selfishness or an uneasy conscious. A person cannot be happy in their success if they doubt their own justice. Anyone that is achieving success should have mercy for the underdog, as well as being merciful to their own meager beginnings.

Beaverbrook states “an inner sense of gratitude for the scheme of things, finding expression in outward action, and therefore, assuring its possessor of an abiding happiness,” is the key to meshing happiness and success. We can have both happiness and success, if we are conscious of the effort it takes to

achieve them.

Humility versus Arrogance

Humility is the most difficult attribute to obtain because with success comes courage, struggle and conquest, and each of these invites arrogance. One type of humility insists that the successful must acknowledge younger aspiring people moving into their footsteps, and by refusing to do so is a clear

indication of jealousy resulting in the successful person failing to become truly happy. In order to gain perpetual satisfaction, a person should “be able to practice courage without arrogance and to walk humbly without fear.”

Luck

Beaverbrook spends time discussing luck, particularly any role it plays in lasting success. Luck as he states is the belief in imaginary “tendencies of chance” to lead to events that are continuously favorable or unfavorable, and has nothing to do with skill or knowledge. And just as with any game of chance, with luck eventually the odds will be stacked against the person depending upon it. Anyone who truly intends on succeeding must banish luck from their psyche.

Steps to Success

1. Accept all opportunities that lead to possibly greater things.

2. Develop the industry to increase the chances of success.

3. When judgment or experience is lacking a person may choose a wrong path but will gain knowledge from the

experience.

“Believe in industry, not in fortune, and in judgment rather than in chance,” states Beaverbrook. Restraint and moderation are keys in retaining success, and should be

maintained while enjoying the fruits of success. Every person using restraint and moderation will keep his judgment intact,

his nerves sound and his mind secure by self-discipline.

The Price of Money

Money has no value expect for the character it creates in the making, and the self-expression of the individuality in its use. Other than this, money means nothing. This can be

acknowledged with those who have achieved great fortune yet refuse to burden their descendents with great inheritance, as they realize the benefit of being made to struggle with only brains and character, creating a more successful and beneficial humanity. If someone receives something they do not earn earnestly, then they will lose it sure enough or squander their own lives away. The art of making money requires resolution, concentration, economy and self-control - all of which also

create success and happiness. Beaverbrook states that the first 10,000 pounds are where the blood, sweat and tears are used to truly gain success. At the end of the day, money is worth having, though, and “money which is striven for brings with it real qualities in life” because money is what almost every single person wants the most creating the most severe

competition. “Money is nothing but the fruit of resolution and intellect applied to the affairs of the world,” and we all know that it takes money to buy necessities as well as luxuries, both of which are required to sustain success, happiness and health.

Education

For those who are unable to achieve a formal, expensive Ivy League education at Yale, Oxford or some other fancy institution, do not let this take away your right to knowledge.

Anyone can read any book they choose, and thereby can learn anything they can read. Just because someone is not given a formally structured education does not mean they cannot have this knowledge. The author even states that most formal

educations turn out a particular type of person, and this cookie cutter personality is not the best suited for success. Many great leaders were not formally educated, including Abraham Lincoln who only received eighteen months of schooling yet went on to become one of the most successful Presidents in the U.S. Read, read, read. Read anything and everything that can be read, and read what you want to read. The simple act of reading requires and develops a use of concentration and focus that can be used in other aspects of daily life. Math and foreign languages are the two subjects that should be considered for study, as they are the most beneficial in industry.

Equal Opportunities for All

We should have courage, be willing to compromise, be firm yet adaptable and be responsive while remaining steady in

our personality. Panic is only a figment of our imagination and we should never act on it. Keep self-control and let panic pass.

It is only a test of our body, soul and mind, and should be taken with a grain of salt. The world is not coming to an end, and once the panicky situation has past, we often wonder what the fuss was all about. Depression is another test of our psyche.

Beaverbrook states that depression is a “wholesome corrective which Nature applies to the swollen periods of the world's

affairs.” The laws of nature state that for optimism and elation are but equal parts of reaction and gloom - there cannot be all roses and cake all the time without thorns and obesity.

Depression is the purge of business. During depressed times of economic recession, such as seen globally today, business

needs to continue to sell, because depression is only a passing phase to weed out the unsuccessful and balance the markets.

Selling is the final cure for a depression. No one should succumb to failure unless they are a criminal or wasteful

person. Times of a depressed economy are periods where time is provided for restructuring, creativity and change that is

necessary for the economy to continue.

Is this Program for Me?

Anyone who wants to be successful in their lives must read this informative book. In particular, those who suffer from

depression, failure, or superstition should read this book in earnest. Business people can also benefit from understanding how the market works naturally, and can learn a lot from learning how to “go with the flow” rather than trying to force themselves into success. Anyone who thinks luck or chance is the only road to success will also benefit from understanding how this really hurts them in the long run. All in all, everyone who wishes to live a happy, healthy life should read this book.

Sum of it All

Beaverbrook uses simplistic everyday realities to inform readers about the laws of nature and their applications for success. Everyone strives to live happy and healthy, and to become successful. Yet, most people have no idea where to start, and often use the wrong motives and judgment in their daily affairs. Success is coincidental with health and happiness, and we really all must be successful if we wish to make the most of our lives. By living a positive, relaxed lifestyle and through earnest efforts of learning and developing our natural talents, we can achieve the greatest personal success. As we become successful, we are able to use our body, soul and mind to benefit not only ourselves but all of humanity.

In document 23 Self Help Classics (Page 144-157)