Certain Success Part 8

[Sidenote: Weak or Undeveloped Centers]

It is evident, therefore, that if a _particular brain center_ temporarily or permanently is deprived of right and sufficient exercise in transmitting sense impressions, _its coordinated mind center_ will be stunted in its growth or starved for lack of mental food. This is why a man is awkward in using his native tongue when he returns to the country of his birth after a long residence among people of a different nation where that language was not spoken. But a little exercise of his brain in transmitting again the sound of his native tongue will quickly stimulate his mind with the renewed supply of this particular mental food to which it formerly was accustomed. In a few weeks he will use the old language naturally; whereas another man, who never had spoken it, would require years to build up such full knowledge from a start of complete ignorance of the language.

Evidently, too, a _weak_, undeveloped brain center would be incapable of receiving _strong_ mental impulses from its coordinated mind center, and of transmitting them in full strength to the particular muscles governed by that mind center. This is why, if a man's _brain center_ of courage is undeveloped, even the most courageous _thoughts_ will not make his body _act_ bravely. His legs may run away against his will to fight. The physical instrument of his mind (his brain), and also certain a.s.sociated sets of muscles, must be sufficiently exercised in the _action_ of courage to build up within him the _physical structure_ of fearlessness that will be instantly responsive to a _mental att.i.tude_ of bravery.

[Sidenote: Right Exercise for Development]

If for any reason the brain instrument is weak or undeveloped, it can handle only weakly either in-coming messages to the ego from the senses, or out-going impulses from the mind to the muscles. So, because of this undeveloped brain instrument, the full capability of neither the inner nor the outer man can be built up and put to use. Obviously, therefore, if one is ambitious to succeed, he needs to know and to practice the _coordinated mind-brain-muscle exercises_ that will increase the quant.i.ty and better the quality of his man capacity. Since he is a "many-minded, many-bodied" man, _general_ physical and mental exercise will not develop the _particular_ qualities required to a.s.sure his success. Each and every mind-brain-muscle set must be built up individually by _specific_ exercises which strengthen _that particular unit_ of the multiplex man. Then, of course, all his units should be taught to work _together_ to make his success certain with his all-around capability fully developed and coordinated.

[Sidenote: The Discriminative-Restrictive Method]

Luther Burbank worked out "discriminative-restrictive" methods of growth that may be applied as successfully to men as to plants. He could not have built up the ability of a prune tree to produce _delicious_ fruit if he had not fed into the tree structure, or instrument of production, a sufficient quant.i.ty and high quality of the _particular plant foods of deliciousness_. He restricted his experimental prune trees to the development of specific delicious qualities, by giving them no food except that _discriminatively_ selected for his purpose. That is, he made them develop in one way and in one way only, when he was making a particular test.

Similarly, as has been stated before, you can develop the specific _man_ qualities you need to succeed. You must _feed_ to a particular mind center, through the related brain center, _selected sense impressions_.

These can come only from the coordinated set of _muscles_ governed by that mind-brain center. Then you should _exercise_ the specific brain center and set of muscles in the production of mental reflexes, or the mind fruit. Acts of courage, for example, are the fruit of brave thoughts.

[Sidenote: Brain Development]

A particular brain center, of course, will be strengthened both by the _food_ of sense impressions it is given, and by the _exercise_ of handling messages to and from the mind. The brain, or physical instrument of the mind, is like an intermediary or go-between of the ego and the body. It is of the utmost importance that it should do its work efficiently. Otherwise the full capability of neither the outer nor the inner man can be utilized.

If Brown pa.s.ses something to Jones, who pa.s.ses it along to Smith; then Smith pa.s.ses it back to Jones to be re-pa.s.sed to Brown--Jones, the middle agent of transmission or handling instrument, whom we are comparing to the brain, might be so awkward, slow, and inefficient as a go-between that the possible ability of Brown and Smith in pa.s.sing would be nullified or greatly hampered. But if the inefficiency of Jones is blamable to his inexperience, it evidently can be changed to efficiency by _sufficient right exercise_ in pa.s.sing. The more of that sort of work he does, in either direction, the better pa.s.ser will Jones become.

His exercise, however, must be _in pa.s.sing_ things, if _pa.s.sing_ capability is to be developed. He would not become a better and quicker _pa.s.ser_ by any amount of exercise in taking things apart, or in inspecting things--wholly dissimilar functions.

[Sidenote: Training in Pa.s.sing]

Moreover, Jones would not become an expert pa.s.ser of _gla.s.sware_ as a result of practice in pa.s.sing _bricks_, for the two kinds of things are not handled alike. Indeed, the man accustomed to pa.s.sing bricks might be more likely to break gla.s.sware than another man who previously had no particular skill in pa.s.sing anything. The expert brick-pa.s.ser would be apt to forget sometimes that he was pa.s.sing gla.s.s. His muscles might treat the fragile ware with the rough habit acquired in pa.s.sing bricks.

Plainly, discriminative-restrictive methods of training are required to perfect capability in any _particular_ kind of physical pa.s.sing; however much skill in _general_ pa.s.sing may have been developed. If Jones should become expert in pa.s.sing pails of liquid, he would nevertheless need to train himself anew in order to pa.s.s frozen liquid efficiently in the form of cakes of ice. And, to particularize still more, it would be necessary for him to learn how to pa.s.s different liquids. Water and thick mola.s.ses in pails should not be handled alike.

Similarly the various brain centers, as pa.s.sers of different sense impressions and mental reflexes in and out, require, each of them--like Jones--the _specific_ exercises that will develop _their several particular_ abilities. The _individual brain unit_ (as of courage, memory, judgment, etc.) is strengthened only by handling the in and out business of _its_ coordinated muscles and mind center. Also, while a particular set of muscles and coordinate mind center are strengthening their brain center by the exercise they give _it_, they are both being developed by the same exercise of pa.s.sing along sense impressions and thoughts to each other through the brain--like Smith and Brown.

[Sidenote: The Process Of Growth]

Returning to the comparison of Burbank's methods with man development, we perceive again how the principle of discriminative-selective training is applied to accomplish the growth of certain characteristics needed to a.s.sure a man's success. The plant wizard in his initial tests gave to his undeveloped prune trees particular food and conditions and treatment selected for the purpose of imparting specific qualities of deliciousness. A prune _somewhat improved_ in deliciousness was the first result. Then from the product of that _improved_ prune he started _another_ cycle of development. He fed the selected food of deliciousness to the improved prune tree, and a fruit _more_ delicious resulted. His work was simply plant breeding by the discriminative-restrictive method. Brain breeding is a similar process of _particularized, c.u.mulative_ development.

[Sidenote: Begin With Specific Training of The Outer Man]

All the foregoing rather complicated explanation of "psychological processes" has seemed necessary to make a clear impression of the _right training methods_ for building within you any quality you need to a.s.sure your success. You must begin by training your _outer_ man.

You can develop a particular mind-brain center (such as the center of courage) only by the discriminative-restrictive training of those portions of your _body_ which are directly related in activity and responsiveness to that mind-brain unit of the multiplex YOU. Training of _any other_ set of muscles will not develop the particular mind-brain center you want to build up, and would be a wrong procedure.

You should _begin_ with specific training of particular sets of _sensory muscles_ because, as we have seen, that is the _natural_ order of the process of growth. It is how you began to learn everything you know. You can increase and improve your present limited, conscious knowledge most effectively by taking into your mind from your _trained_ particular senses _more and better_ impressions than you ever have taken in before.

[Sidenote: Developing Persistence]

Suppose your success has been hindered by your lack of persistence. You need to develop _that quality_ in particular. Let us see how the discriminative-restrictive principle should be applied specifically to a.s.sure you of building _persistence_ within yourself.

First it is necessary that you discriminate between _this one_ quality and _all others_; especially between it and the quality of _determination_. Very _different_ training methods are required to develop persistence and determination respectively. When you are just "determined" to do a thing, your jaw muscles, your arm and back muscles, perhaps all your commonly known muscles, will be hardened _as long as you remain determined, but no longer_. They will relax when the occasion for determination has pa.s.sed. The habit of instantly tensing your muscles temporarily whenever you need to be determined will very greatly strengthen and improve the efficiency of your brain-mind center of _determination._ But that _temporary_ hardening of your muscles will only slightly affect the development in you of _characteristic persistence_.

[Sidenote: Developing Determination]

Hence the training of your muscles for building the habit of determination within you should be concentrated on exercise in _changing swiftly_ from comparative laxity to _muscular tension_. That is, in order to accustom your _mind_ to hardening with _determined thoughts_ whenever determination is needed, you should train your _muscles_ to harden _in coordination_, and thus to support your mental determination by the complementary _physical suggestion_ of the same quality.

You do not need to use determination _all the time_; so it will be sufficient if your muscles are taught to be _quickly responsive_ to determination of mind on any occasion. (You know it helps you to carry out a resolution if you stiffen your body at the moment you make up your mind to do a thing, but _continued_ stiffness of the body in determination would be a strain likely to weaken your power of action unless backed by a tremendous, stored-up reserve strength of muscles.) Begin your practice for the development of determination, then, by training your muscles to tauten the instant you think determinedly. Your brain-mind center of determination will also be strengthened by the exercise that builds up the supporting habit of muscle action in coordination. Millions of men have failed in life because their determined thoughts were not reenforced by stiffened backbones.

[Sidenote: Discrimination Between Determination and Persistence]

Now let us discriminate between muscle training to develop the characteristic of _persistence_ and the training already described for the building of determination. In order to strengthen your persistence, you must transmit through the distinct brain center of persistence to the corresponding mind center, the impression of muscles _permanently developed in firmness_, not just capable of temporary hardening on occasion.

The _characteristically persistent_ man has gradually developed his lax-muscled, sagging, baby chin into a jaw that is habitually firm, whether or not he happens to be determined to do anything at a given moment. His muscles do not sag utterly, even when he is asleep. He probably wakes up in the morning with his teeth clenched. So, whenever his coordinated brain-mind center perceives that the quality of persistence is required, and starts to apply it, the _mental impulse_ to persist is backed by a _permanent firm muscle structure_ that can stand up as long as the mind needs the physical support.

[Sidenote: A Slump in Determination]

In contrast, the man who is only characteristically _determined_, but who lacks _persistence_ in his determination, has developed just the habit of hardening his muscles _for the time_ he is determined on doing a particular thing. That does not exercise his muscles sufficiently to make them firm _all_ the time, whether under tension or not.

Consequently his determination is likely to slump if his resolution is subjected to a long strain. He does not possess muscular structure sufficiently strong to support persistence in his determination.

_Habitual lack_ of firmness in the jaw muscles, as you know, results in a sagging chin; which detrimentally affects the brain-mind center of persistence. A man whose jaw habitually hangs loose may be capable of great _determination_ for a while, but he is not _persistent in character_. He might clench his teeth, stiffen his body, and plunge into the surf to rescue a drowning person; but his first resolution to effect the rescue would be weakened by the cold water and by fear. He lacks the quality of the bulldog that will die rather than loose its teeth from another dog's throat.

[Sidenote: Muscles Express and Impress Ideas]

The coordinated muscles _express_ the mental att.i.tude, as we have perceived; and equally they _impress_ the mind with _their_ att.i.tude. If you have a sagging chin, you are incapable of the mental bulldog grip of persistence. So _tighten up your jaw muscles, and never let them hang utterly loose_, if you are resolved to develop the characteristic of "stick-to-it-iveness." _Begin_ with _muscle_ training, for your muscles must be utilized to start the process of building up your brain-mind center of persistence.

[Sidenote: Developing Perception]

When you train the particular sense muscles that transmit external _impressions_ to a particular brain-mind unit (the same muscles that reflexively _express_ the ideas of that one part of your multiplex ego) you may be absolutely _sure_ of developing a particular related characteristic. For example, if you want to sharpen your _perceptive_ faculties so that you will see with the _eyes of your mind_ much more than the _ordinary_ man perceives, exercise your _physical_ eyes in taking snap-shots that you can see clearly in detail _with your imagination_ when you look away from an object after a glance at it. Try glancing at the furnishings of your room, then shut your eyes and construct a mental picture. When this is definitely clear to you, open your eyes. The reality will be very different from your imagined picture. But _sharpen your perceptive faculties_, develop a "camera eye;" then the reality will be exactly impressed on your mind. Witnesses in court often contradict one another, in all honesty, simply because their ability to perceive actualities is not highly developed. In consequence, they get false mental impressions of happenings or things they severally have seen.

[Sidenote: Three Processes Of Mental Development]

There are but three _processes_ of mental development:

The first process comprises _getting information_ from a _sense_ to its a.s.sociated _brain center_, which then makes the _mind_ center conscious that particular information has been transmitted to it.

The second process is _organizing_ the information in the mind center, with relation to _other_ information _previously_ brought to the mind.

In the third process the mind center directs its co-related brain center to send out certain _impulses of action_ to the corresponding muscular structure.

Let us a.n.a.lyze an ill.u.s.tration of these three processes of mental development. Suppose first you _hear_ something that concerns a particular prospect for your "goods of sale." Second, you comprehend the _significance_ to you of what you have heard. Third, your mind directs your muscles to make a particular _use_ of what you have comprehended.

The original mental impression has been _fully developed_ because you employed all three processes. If you had not completed the cycle of development, you would have given your mind only partial exercise with what you heard.

In order to become a master salesman, you must _take in_ many impressions, perceive their _significance to you_ and how you can make use of them, then _act_ on your comprehension of what you have learned.

There are countless failures in the world who might have been successes if they had not stopped their possible mental development at the first or second stages.

A man might know an encyclopedia of facts, but be a failure.

He might comprehend how to use his knowledge, and still be a failure.

_Success comes only to the man who acts most effectively on what he knows_.