You “CAN” Succeed

I am of the opinion that to keep developing, one has to unlearn, relearn and learn. Time and again I keep applying that concept through reading. Every time I read a book, it never ceases to amaze me at the uniqueness of the information I imbibe. Self-help books have aided my focus and intentionality. Through a book, I was shown how to develop my special faculties and get what I wanted in life. Basically, the book just showed me how to succeed.

The book was published in 1909 by an American who was referred to as a New Thought writer, Wallace Delois Wattles. He is known to be a pioneer success writer who has written over five bestselling books on success. I read his book titled “How to Get What You Want,” and what did the book do to me? It made me more confident and certain that I could succeed at anything I set my mind on. By reading the book, I uncovered some things that I think you should know about. I will be sharing some of it with you in this post and the following ones.

What really is success?

The definition of success has been one that has caused a lot of confusion for me in the past. My confusion cleared when I got exposed to the fact that the definition of success was constant, but each individual’s view of success varied. For instance, the definition of success and what success means to you are two different statements. To succeed, I believe the first important step is to be convinced that you can succeed and also know the definition of success. According to the author, getting what you want is success. He goes further to say that success is essentially the same in all cases; the difference is in the things successful people want, but not in success itself. This just clears up the confusion about the difference between the definition of success and what success means to you. That brings me to my next discovery from the book.

The cause and faculty of success

To succeed, you have to find the cause of success, and develop it to sufficient strength. Then apply it properly to your work; for the application of a sufficient cause can not fail to produce a given effect. The cause of success is a power within you; we all have the power to develop any power to a limitless extent. For instance, there is no end to mental growth. Developing that power is what the author calls the development of the special faculties. To succeed as a teacher, you have to develop your teaching faculty. I believe this is where we sometimes miss it.

We tend to think that because we have a skill in an area, we can venture into it as a source of business and succeed in it. A lot of times, that’s now always the best case. The author says when choosing a business, you should choose the one that will call for the use of our strongest faculties. The ideal is to identify the faculty, develop its power, and apply it. Your inner will that causes you to use the tools in the right way, at the right time, and in the right place is the cause of success. The question next is, “What is the cause?”

Active power consciousness

Power-consciousness, which is your inner will, is what you feel when you know that you can do something and you know how to do it. When you are in full power-consciousness, you will approach the task in an absolutely successful frame of mind. To succeed, the subconscious mind must know that he can and the objective mind must have been trained to do the work. The author says that people get it wrong because they think, objectively, that they can do things, but they do not know, subconsciously, that they can do them. To succeed, it is important to clear the doubts in your subconscious mind because they are the source from which the faculty draws its power. Accept that you can; others have, and you can do more than anyone else has, because no one has ever used all of the power that exists.

CAN

Instil confidence in your subconscious mind through repeated suggestions that you CAN. Do it all day long and before you sleep. Place the statement “You Can Do What You Want To Do” in your mind for at least a month and you will begin to KNOW that you have within you that which you CAN DO. 

The stepping stone to success is to first impress upon the subconscious mind the knowledge that you CAN.