Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you. There is no half-way compromise. The most practical of all methods for controlling your mind is the habit of keeping it busy with definite purpose, backed by a definite plan. Study the record of any man who achieves noteworthy success, and you will observe that he has control over his own min, moreover, that he exercises that control and directs it toward that attainment of definite purposes. Without control, success is not possible.
A character analyst compiled a list of the most commonly used alibis. As you read this, examine yourself carefully, and determine how many of these alibis, if any, are your own property. Remember, too, the philosophy of wealth creation makes every one of these alibis obsolete.
IF I didn’t have a wife and family…
IF I had enough “pull” …
IF I had money …
IF I had a good education …
IF I could get a job …
IF I had good health …
IF I only had time …
IF times were better …
IF other people understood me …
IF conditions around me were only different …
IF I could live my life over again …
IF I did not fear what “they” would say …
IF I had been given a chance …
IF I now had a chance …
IF other people didn’t “have
it in for me” …
IF nothing happens to stop me …
IF I were only younger …
IF I could only do what I want…
IF I had been born rich …
IF I could meet ” the right
people”
IF I had the talent that some
people have …
IF I dared assert myself …
IF I only had embraced past
opportunities …
IF people didn’t get on my nerves
…
IF I didn’t have to keep house
and look after the children …
IF I could save some money …
IF the boss only appreciated me
…
IF I only had somebody to help me
…
IF my family understood me …
IF I lived in a big city …
IF I could just get started …
IF I were only free …
IF I had the personality of some
people …
IF I were not so fat …
IF my talents were known …
IF I could just get a “break” …
IF I could only get out of debt…
IF I hadn’t failed …
IF I only knew how …
IF everybody didn’t oppose me …
IF I didn’t have so many worries…
IF I could marry the right person…
IF people weren’t so dumb …
IF my family were not so extravagant …
IF I were sure of myself …
IF luck were not against me …
IF I had not been born under the wrong star …
IF it were not true that “what is to be will be” …
IF I did not have to work so hard…
IF I hadn’t lost my money…
IF I lived in a different neighborhood …
IF didn’t have a “past”…
IF I only had a business of my own …
IF other people would listen to me …
IF *** and this is the greatest of them all ***
I had the courage to see myself
as I really am, I would find out what is wrong with me, and correct it, then I might have a chance to profit by my mistakes and learn something from the experience of others, for I know that there is something wrong with me, or I would now be where I would have been if I had spent more time analyzing my weaknesses, and less time building alibis to cover them.
Building alibis with which to explain away failure is a national pastime. the habit is as old as the human race, and is fatal to success! Why do people cling to their pet alibis? The answer is obvious. They defend their alibis because they create them! A man’s alibi is the child of his own imagination. It is human nature to defend one’s own brainchild.
Building alibis is a deeply rooted habit. Habits are difficult to break, especially when they provide justification for something we do. Plato had this truth in mind when he said, “The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.”
Another philosopher had the same thought in mind when said.”It was a great surprise to me when I discovered
that most of the ugliness I saw in others, was but a reflection of my own nature.”
“It has always been amystery to me,” said Elbert Hubbard,” why people spend so much time deliberately fooling themselves by creating alibis to cover their weaknesses. If used differently, this same time would be sufficient to cure the weakness, then no alibis would be needed.”
In parting, I would remind you that “Life is a checkerboard, and the player opposite you is time. If you hesitate before moving, or neglect to move promptly, you men will be wiped off the board by time. You are playing against a partner who will not tolerate indecision!”
Previously you may have had a logical excuse for not having forced Life to come through with whatever you
asked, but that alibi is now obsolete, because you are in possession of the Master Key that unlocks the door to Life’s bountiful riches.
The master Key is intangible, but is powerful! It is the privilege of creating, in your own mind, a burning desire for a definite form of riches. There is no penalty for the use of the Key, but there is a price you must pay if you do not use it. The price is failure. there is a reward of stupendous proportions if you put the Key to use. It is the
satisfaction that comes to all who conquer self and force Life to pay whatever is asked.[/fusion_text]