Certain Success Part 7

If Luther Burbank had merely _desired_ and _willed_ that the walnut should give up its old bad habit, he never could have accomplished the job of development. He might have _insisted persistently_ for a life-time that the little, sour, dry prune should become more luscious and larger than the plum; but it would have remained the same in size and other characteristics as it always had been, despite his continued determination. Desire, will, and persistence were but preliminary steps toward the complete accomplishment of his purpose with the prune.

[Sidenote: Luther Burbank's Method]

Burbank worked out in his mind and by actual experiments _distinctive methods_ of development--_development and changes along particular, definite lines._ He selected for the prune he _wanted to produce,_ (an imagined, ideal prune) certain desirable qualities of the plum--the best plum characteristics. He studied _what produced these particular qualities in plums_. Then with his exact, scientific knowledge of the _similarity in nature_ of the plum and the prune, and his equally definite knowledge of the _differences in their characteristics_, supplemented by his knowledge of _exactly what produced_ the difference in the two fruits, he started his experiments with natural prune trees.

He led specimens through a pre-determined scientific process of training. He succeeded in getting his experimental prune trees to develop discriminatively, almost as if they had the power of choice, _particular plum qualities in preference to others._ But the result was not a transformation of the prune trees into plum trees. The fruit of the tree he evolved was just a _perfected_ prune. He simply developed _all the capability_ the prune had originally to be _like_ a plum in deliciousness.

[Sidenote: Natural Growth Without Struggle]

Note just here one very important feature of the Burbank method of plant development and change. It did not involve any _struggle_ or _hard work_ on the part of his trees. He merely provided _natural_, but scientifically _selected_ conditions and food; knowing that his prunes then would grow naturally in the particular ways he wanted them to develop, and in no other ways at variance with his plan.

Perhaps the primary fault in your ineffective effort to develop yourself into the man you want to be, is that it has been a _struggle_. _Natural_ growth always is _easy_. Growth involves a struggle only when one or more of the _means_ of natural growth are lacking. Luther Burbank wished his prune trees to develop certain selected qualities of the plum.

Therefore he provided his wild prunes with the same means he had used effectively _with plums_ to increase _their_ lusciousness. He knew these means should have a _similar_ effect on _prunes_. When he had provided the natural means of discriminative development, he left the rest to the _natural growth_ of his prune trees. They began to develop the selected plum qualities _easily_, and generation after generation became more and more like plums.

[Sidenote: Two Bases Of Growth Mind and Body]

Now let us consider briefly: first, the _bases_ of natural, easy growth of selected man qualities; second, the _processes_ that take place in the development of desired man qualities, some of which may not have seemed to exist previous to the evolutionary training; third, the training _methods_ that should be employed to make these processes most effective and to produce the particular results wanted and no others.

There are _two bases of development in every one_--the inner and the outer man. The _real himself_ is the inner man, which psychologists call the "Ego." But there is something else in the make-up of every man, his _body_. Each of us recognizes his body--not as _himself_, not as his ego--but as _belonging to_ the real, or inner himself. A man thinks and says, "_my_ body" just as he considers and refers to anything else that is his.

The discrimination between the two parts of "_You_" must be understood at the very start of your self-development. All your plans for the growth of the characteristics you need to a.s.sure your success should be based on comprehension of your _duality_. The two "You's" in yourself not only are distinctly _different_, but they are also very intimately _related_ in all their functions. Neither your "ego" nor your body is independent of the other part of your duality. So, of course, both must co-operate fully in every _process_ of your self-development; and your _training methods_ should be planned for the bettered growth of your inner and outer man _as a team_.

[Sidenote: Team-work Processes]

You understand now that your growth should be on a dual basis; that you have two different men to develop, not just one; and that they must be handled _discriminatively_, but _together_.

Next it is necessary that you know in _exactly what ways_ the activities of the mind man, or ego, are related to the activities of his body, or the physical man. Otherwise you cannot comprehend the team-work processes by which any desired qualities of manhood can be developed from their rudiments. Perhaps the reason you have not yet succeeded fully is that you have been a "one-horse" man and have not trained your dual self to be an effective _mind-and-body_ team pulling together. It takes both mind and body to bring to market successfully all the "best capability" of a man.

[Sidenote: Training Methods]

Evidently, as a pre-requisite to self-development, one should have knowledge of the particular processes that result _surely_ in natural, easy, rapid growth. Otherwise he would be more than likely to employ a wrong or only partly right _method of training_. So as a student of yourself you need to start with comprehension of your two _bases_ of development, mind and body. It is necessary next that you acquire scientific knowledge of the distinct but related _processes_ of developing your two selves severally to work together as a team. Then you must learn the particular _methods_ of cooperative mental and physical training that are most effective in accomplishing the man growth you desire.

[Sidenote: Neither Mind Nor Body A Unit]

Not only have you two selves, but neither "You" is a _single unit_. Your mind, as well as your body, is made up of distinctly different but very intimately related and a.s.sociated _parts_. Your "mind" cannot be developed as a _whole_. Its parts must be severally bettered and strengthened in coordination, just as the physical man is developed by training his various muscles.

You know you have _distinct sets of muscles_ which all together make up your _composite body_. Perhaps, however, you have not realized before that your _mind_ is not a _unit_, but is made up of innumerable distinct "mind centers," each of which functions as independently of the others as your set of eye muscles operates independently of the set of muscles governing the movements of one of your fingers. And possibly you do not know that each _mind_ center has a distinct _brain_ center, which functions for that _particular part alone_ of your whole mind. _Each a.s.sociated mind-and-brain center_ also has direct, distinct nerve connections _with only one set of muscles_.

In fact, you are "a many-minded, many-bodied" man--a collection of mental and physical _parts_, a composite man rather than a man unit.

These several parts are in large measure practically _independent_ of one another. One set of body parts "belongs to" only its particular a.s.sociated set of mind parts, or mind center.

[Sidenote: Independent Mind and Body Centers]

If you were const.i.tuted otherwise, your life would be very precarious; for the injury or destruction of even a minor part of your body would be fatal to the whole unit. As it is, you can lose a finger without affecting your eye-sight in the least. So you might suffer a localized brain injury that would completely paralyze a finger, without impairing your sight at all. Either the mind center that governs a finger, or the set of muscles in that finger can be affected without necessarily reacting upon any _other_ mind center or any _other_ set of muscles.

[Sidenote: Interrelation Of the Ego And Physical Man]

_But if the mind center that governs a certain set of muscles is affected, that set of muscles also is directly affected and at once.

Likewise if anything happens to a particular set of muscles, the reaction is instantly transmitted to its a.s.sociated mind center through the "direct wire" nerves and brain center which particularly serve that part of the mind_.

Great scientists have studied mental and physical phenomena in inter-relation and have learned certain facts. For example, it is known that "the mind" not only affects the general functions of "the body,"

but also the rate of bodily activity and the chemistry of body tissues.

Long-continued hard thinking actually does "wear a man out." It consumes blood and brain tissue. It "slows him up." It may impair his digestion and appet.i.te. We all know these things, but the scientists know just _why_ we feel _physically_ tired after using only our _minds_.

They have learned also that every activity of the _mind_ has a direct effect on the _brain substance._ That is, each mind operation _through_ the brain _changes_ its physical structure in some degree. Mental effort or relaxation increases or decreases the amount of blood in the brain.

When you have been using your mind very hard, your head "feels heavy,"

and it _is_ unusually heavy then on account of the extra amount of blood weight. Even the temperature of the brain, particularly of that portion of the brain which is especially functioning at a given moment, is changed with every mental effort.

[Sidenote: Slow Muscles Slow Mind]

There is abundant scientific proof that the quality and quant.i.ty of muscle, brain, and nerve (_physical_) activity in a particular individual are accompanied by corresponding qualities and quant.i.ties of _mental_ activity. That is, when a person's muscle action, nerve response, and brain action are sluggish, his _mind_ also develops a characteristic of slow action. And vice versa.

We say of a certain acquaintance that he has an alert mind. But his "ego," or mental self, could not act quickly and alertly if his _brain_, the physical instrument of his _mind_, did not receive and transmit impressions swiftly to his mentality. The _brain_ does not _think_. It is as purely physical as any other part of the body. It just _handles_, or transmits in and out, to and from the _mind_, the various impressions sent _in_ by different sense muscles, and the mental reflexes or impulses sent _out_ by the innumerable mind centers. Your mind works _through_ your brain. Of course, therefore, the quality and quant.i.ty of mental work _you_ are capable of doing are limited by the degree of handling-or-transmitting _efficiency_ characteristic of _your_ particular brain structure.

[Sidenote: Value of Practical Psychology]

Any interference with the _brain_ quality or quant.i.ty of an individual naturally interferes with his normal _mental_ functioning. If a particular part of a man's brain is injured, the a.s.sociated mind center is harmed likewise and his mental _quality_ is affected in proportion.

Should a certain portion of his brain be cut out, the total _quant.i.ty_ of his mental powers would be correspondingly reduced. We all know these things about the brain and the mind. But only a few scientists are familiar with many _details_ of the _inter-relation of mind and brain and muscles_, which should be known to all people who want to make the most of themselves. The salesman of himself needs to understand his "goods" thoroughly; so as we study the selling process that completes the secret of certain success, we dig into _practical psychology_ a little way now in order to stimulate in you a desire for further exploration of that gold mine of opportunities.

[Sidenote: Physical Manifestations of Ideas]

The mind depends on the brain, in coordination with the nerves and muscles, to _express_ thoughts. That is how your _inner_ or "ego"

sales-man gets his ideas _out_ of your physical salesman, and _shows them_ to the minds of prospective buyers. You can make another person conscious of your thoughts only by some _perceptible physical manifestation_ of the idea you wish to convey to him. Evidently, then, in order to succeed in developing your big sales manhood and in making effective impressions of it on others, you must learn both _how to think the ideas of big manhood into your own mind_ most effectively and how to _show them outwardly_ with masterly skill. The first process is man development; the second is sales-_man_-ship, or _manhood self-expression for the purpose of controlling the ideas of other men_.

[Sidenote: Selling A Thought]

There is but one way to indicate or express what is going on in your mind. Your thoughts can be physically shown only by _muscular action_ of some kind. Brain and nerve action are hidden, but muscle action can be perceived. If your _muscular action_ expresses exactly the _idea_ you desire and will and use it to manifest, your mind is able to get its _thought_ across to another mind--_to sell_ the idea.

Conversely, if your muscle action--your outer, perceptible self--expresses something _different_ from your thought intention, your mind has failed to make the true impression of your idea. It may be that an impression directly contradictory to your thought has been made by your muscles working at cross purposes. So the truth in your mind won't get across to the other man's mind--not because your _idea_ was untrue, but because it has not been _physically interpreted_ by your muscles as you _intended_. For example, you might stand so much in awe of a man you greatly admire that you would avoid speaking to him, and in consequence would appear to him indifferent or cold. Your physical appearance would belie your intentions.

Perhaps, if you have failed in life or have only partially succeeded, despite the qualifications you possess for complete success, your _muscles_ may be princ.i.p.ally to blame. The parts of your idea-selling equipment that _can be perceived in action_ probably have not "delivered the goods" of sale correctly.

[Sidenote: How Knowledge is Acc.u.mulated]

Not only is your mind absolutely dependent on the muscular system of your body for any true _expression_ of the real _you_ inside; it likewise must depend on the activity of your various sets of muscles to get all the _incoming_ sense impressions that make up whatever _knowledge_ you have.

Have you realized how your present fund of information was acc.u.mulated?

Everything you know came into your conscious mind originally through impressions first made on your various "sense" muscles, and then transmitted by nerve telegraph to directly connected brain centers, which in turn pa.s.sed on to their a.s.sociated mind centers these original impressions of new ideas. Many repet.i.tions of similar sense impressions were needed to register permanently in your mind your first conceptions of different colors, scents, etc. Thus you learned to think. The process was _started_--not by your _mind_--but by your various "sense" muscles.

These received from your environment impressions of heat, cold, softness, hardness, etc., and pa.s.sed them in to a.s.sociated brain-mind centers, which thus commenced to collect knowledge about the world which you entered with a mind _absolutely empty of_ ideas.

If a child might be born with a good brain, but with his general muscular system completely paralyzed, _he could learn nothing at all_ regarding the world. He would have no conscious mind. No sense impression of smell, light, taste, sound, or feeling could be received by the brain of such a child; for no original perceptions of any kind could be taken in. He would be like a complete telegraph system with every branch office closed. No intelligence would be transmitted; since no message could be even filed for sending. Because of the paralysis of the sensory muscles, the child's conscious mind would remain blank.

[Sidenote: Each Mind-Center Must Be Developed Specifically]

Recall now that you have a _multiplex_, not a single brain. That is, your so-called "brain" is made up of innumerable, distinct "brain centers" which function quite independently of one another. No particular unit requires help from any of the others in order to do its especial work with full efficiency. _Each center attends only to its specific business in your life_. It rests, or relaxes from activity, when it has nothing to do; or when the particular muscles it governs are not in use. And, of course, when a certain _brain_ center rests or is inactive, its a.s.sociated _mind_ center also rests or is inactive.

As already has been stated, the mind of a man is built up, _through_ the brain instrument, by the _sense impressions_ transmitted to his consciousness. In other words, _all he knows with his mind first came into his mental capacity from outside impressions of things and ideas_.

The fewer the impressions that come into the mind through the brain, the less does a man know. And only the impressions that come into a _particular_ mind center develop _that_ center. (For example, the development of keenest eyesight by many _optical_ impressions would not affect at all a man's ability to discriminate among the tones of music, would not give him "a good _ear_.")