This is the third post in a series based on the teachings found in the success classic “The Science of Getting Rich”, written in 1910 by Wallace D. Wattles. As I stated in the two previous posts, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants increased prosperity.
You can read the first two posts of this series here:
- Lessons from “The Science of Getting Rich” (Part 1)
- Lessons from “The Science of Getting Rich” (Part 2)
Get Rid of the Thought of Competition
Wattles emphatically states in “The Science of Getting Rich” that in order to do things “in a certain way” you must get rid of the thought of competition. In the fifth chapter of his book he explains that the way to get what you want is to create it, not to take it away from someone else.
In order to get what you want, you do not have to cheat or take advantage, because you’re not competing for a piece of finite resources. Instead, you’re creating what you want from the limitless supply that exists in the invisible formless substance. He urges the reader to be a creator, not a competitor.
He goes on to say that the one living substance is permeated with the desire to live more, and it wants to continually create new things in order to meet its need to increase, grow, and expand. This substance expresses itself through you, and, therefore, it wants you to have everything you desire.
This idea is well summed-up in the following quote from “The Science of Getting Rich”:
“It is the desire of God that you should get rich. He wants you to get rich because he can express himself better through you if you have plenty of things to use in giving him expression. He can live more in you if you have unlimited command of the means of life.”
A scarcity mentality states that since the supply is limited, in order for you to have more, someone else must necessarily have less. An abundance mentality states that there is more than enough for everyone, so that when you get what you want everyone else that is affected will also have more. You can have anything that anyone else has, and you can have it by creating it for yourself.
Wattles acknowledges that there are people who acquire much wealth purely by their extraordinary ability at competition. But he adds that “riches secured on a competitive plane are never satisfactory or permanent.” To think that you must compete for what you want comes from a mentality based on lack, limitation, and struggle.
Furthermore, those who get what they want through competition knock down the ladder by which they climbed to the top, while those who get what they desire through creation open the way for others to follow.
Those doing things in “a certain way” know that the pie is limitless. Therefore, instead of grabbing for a bigger piece of the pie, you should be looking for ways to make the pie bigger so that there is more for everyone.
In order to get rich by doing things “in a certain way” you must rise out of competitive thought. When you begin to think that you must fight for what you want, and that you must hurry before someone else gets to it first, you momentarily lose your power to create. Rest assured that since you’re creating what you want from the formless substance, and this substance is limitless, if you do things in “a certain way” you will not go without.
The Importance of Gratitude
As we saw in Part 2 of this series on “The Science of Getting Rich”, Wattles explains that there is one intelligent substance from which all things proceed, and the first step toward getting rich is to convey the idea of your wants to this formless substance.
In order to communicate successfully with the original substance, you must come into harmony with it. Wattles explains that the way in which to establish a harmonious relationship with the thinking substance is through a feeling of deep and profound gratitude.
You should relate with original substance by acknowledging everything that you receive. Many people, having received what they want, cut the wires which connect them to the source by failing to recognize the gift that has been given to them.
It makes sense that the closer you are to the source of wealth, the more wealth will come to you. And since gratitude brings you into closer harmony with the creative energies of the universe, the more grateful you are, the more good things you will receive, and the more rapidly they will come to you. To quote a passage from “The Science of Getting Rich”:
“There is a law of gratitude, and it is . . . the natural principle that action and reaction are always equal and in opposite directions. The grateful outreaching of your mind in thankful praise to supreme intelligence is a liberation or expenditure of force. It cannot fail to reach that to which it is addressed, and the reaction is an instantaneous movement toward you.”
Gratitude is you reaching out to the formless substance. And if your gratitude is strong and constant, the formless substance will react by moving all the things that you want toward you.
In addition to keeping you connected to the source, gratitude keeps you satisfied with what you have, which helps in keeping your mind focused on the things you want more of.
When you fix your attention on the common, the ordinary, and the mean, your mind takes these forms, and it these forms that you will impress into the formless substance and draw toward you. You should give your attention only to those things you want to draw into your life. Since the grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best, it receives the best.
In my last post I explained the importance of having faith that you will receive the things that you’re trying to impress into original substance. The grateful mind continually expects good things, and expectation becomes faith.
Cultivate the habit of being grateful for all of the good in your life, and give thanks continuously. Being grateful will bring you into harmonious relation with the good, and it will move the good toward you. Bring gratitude to each moment of your life, instead of waiting for something favorable to happen before being thankful.
The Role of Your Will
In chapters 9 and 10 of “The Science of Getting Rich” Wattles explains that the role of your will in getting rich is to compel yourself to think and do those things that will keep you on the course to riches. That is, you should use your will to keep yourself thinking and acting in “a certain way”. When your mind deviates from focusing on what you want, use your will power to bring it back.
You should use your mind to form a clear mental image of what you want and use your will to make sure that you hold on to that vision continuously. If you hold on to the picture of your desires steadily, you will get rich more quickly because you will only make positive impressions on the formless substance.
Beware that you can stop the flow of positive things toward you by letting your mind wander and allowing it to focus on things that you do not want, or by giving heed to doubts and fears. Hence, it is of utmost importance to control your thoughts so that you don’t spend time worrying, doubting, and focusing on the negative. And the way that you control your thoughts is by using your will to keep your mind working in the right way.
If you’ve had past troubles of a financial nature, stop thinking about them. You should give your attention wholly to riches and stop focusing on any hardships you may have had in the past. When you recall your attention from the past and keep it firmly rooted in the present, you’re reclaiming an enormous amount of energy you had stored in the past.
In addition, your beliefs are important in getting you what you want. In turn, your beliefs are shaped by what you observe and think about. Therefore, it is very important that you should govern what you’re paying attention to, and it is by your will that you determine what your attention will be focused on. Use your willpower to keep your mind fixed with faith and purpose on what you’re creating.
In Take Your Time: How to Find Patience, Peace, and Meaning
- The mind drives us through life, and we go where it takes us.
- When you’ve decided what you want, and are focused on it, you’re driving down the center lane.
- However, when you become angry, fearful, or doubtful, or you start thinking about what you don’t want, it’s as if you changed lanes.
- When you change lanes you’re no longer on the path you need to be on to get what you want.
- You should use your will to take control of the steering wheel and make sure that your mind is always on the right course.
Wattles points out that things are not brought about by thinking about their opposites: you will not get rich by thinking about poverty and you will not become healthy by thinking about disease.
It is not possible to create in the negative; that is, stop thinking about what you don’t want and hope that if you put up enough resistance you won’t get it. You will attract toward you anything that you’re thinking about; if you’re thinking about how much you don’t want something, this constitutes “thinking about it”, so you will attract it into your life.
Summarizing this section, use your will to keep your mind off the things that you don’t want to attract into your life and to keep it fixed with faith and purpose on those things that you do want. To use Eknath’s car analogy, trying to get what you want out of life without having control of your thoughts is like trying to reach your destination without having control of your car. Keep both hands on the wheel at all times and do not let wandering thoughts or anything outside of yourself veer you off course.
I haven’t told you how to act in a certain way yet, because then this post would have been over 4,000 words long. However, the next post is already written, and I promise that the information is there. 
Get the Book for Free
If you would like to read “The Science of Getting Rich”, you can get the book for free by clicking here: The Science of Getting Rich for Practical Geniuses. The book is a free download; you also have the option of enrolling for a course on “The Science of Getting Rich” created by Rebecca Fine (Rebecca lets you decide how much you’ll pay for the course, how cool is that). Rebecca also offers a lot of interesting free stuff, so stop by, get the book, and have a look. (And yes, should you decide to enroll in the course, I’m an affiliate.)
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photo credit: Stephen K. Willi
Related Posts:
- Lessons from “The Science of Getting Rich” (Part 4)
- The Silva Life System – Make Your Life Better, Better, and Better
- As a Man Thinketh – The Power of Right Thought
- Six Steps to Creating the Life You Really Want
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