THE ART AND SCIENCE OF PERSONAL MAGNETISM/PART 11
CHAPTER 11.
MENTAL ATTITUDES
In a preceding chapter, I have stated that the mental
phase of personal magnetism consists of two coordinated manifestations of
mental power, the first of which was “the holding of certain mental states
until the mental atmosphere becomes charged with the vibrations of the
particular mental states.” Let us now consider what are these “certain mental
states” which are to be held.
In the first place, these “mental states” are not so much
any set of particular thoughts, but rather are stated mental attitudes in
relation to oneself and the outer world of men. A man’s mental attitude, if
firmly defined and as firmly held, impresses itself upon everything around the
man. His looks grow to conform; his voice; his walk; his general appearance;
all grow to reflect his inner states of mind. Moreover, his mental atmosphere
becomes so charged with certain vibrations that those who come in contact with
the man actually feel his mental attitude, and adjust themselves to it.
Who of us cannot recall the “so meek and humble,” Uriah
Heep mental attitude manifested by some persons of our acquaintance? Who does
not remember having actually felt the sneaky, foxy mental attitude of certain
other persons? And who can forget the bold, masterful, mental attitude of
certain successful men in our field of business acquaintance? Each of these
classes is possessed of a mental atmosphere, which reveals itself at once to
us, when we meet them.
I need scarcely urge
upon you the importance of producing in yourself the most desirable kind of
personal atmosphere. And, as I have said, the mental atmosphere is the direct
result of the mental attitude of the person, and reflects the same inevitably.
Of course, the mental attitude of a person is composed of a variety of beliefs,
opinions, views, ideals, etc., and must of necessity be of a somewhat mixed
character. In the case of the majority of persons, the personal atmosphere
lacks force and character because of a lack of any particular mental color.
But, in the case of the strong individuals of the race, it will be found that
there is always a strong fixed mental attitude - a strong
desire which colors all the thought; a powerful ambition which gives tone to
all the rest; or a firm resolve which fires the entire mental character. This
strong vibration is carried out into the personal atmosphere, and its influence
is felt, and men react thereto.
In a general way, mental attitudes may be divided into
two classes, viz.: (1) positive and (2) negative.
It is difficult, at first, to give the keynote of each of
these two classes of mental attitude, but I call your attention to the words of
an American writer, in this connection who well says: “That which tends to
render one strong, is positive; that which tends to render him weak, is
negative.” I do not think that I can improve on this definition, and I advise
you to adopt it, and to measure your mental attitudes by that standard.
By all means cultivate and develop the positives, and
restrict the negatives, in your mental make-up so that, in the end, your mental
attitude may be “positive” instead of “negative” - strong instead of weak.
An interesting thing about the cultivation of a mental
attitude, is that not only does the improved mental attitude tend to impress
itself upon others with whom you come in contact, but that it also tends to
impress itself upon your own mentality, so that you gradually become more and
more fixed in the mental attitude.
Mental attitude resembles yeast, in the sense that if you
insert a single bit of the ferment in your mind, it will begin to work, and
grow other cells, until it finally fills your entire mind. It tends to reproduce
itself. This is true of both desirable and undesirable mental ideas, but - and
remember this well - here is a most hopeful and encouraging fact: a positive
idea will tend to kill a negative one, so you see Nature is fighting on your
side. The best way to kill and destroy negative mental ideas and attitudes is
to plant a good crop of positive in their places, and then encourage the fight
- the negatives will go under surely. It is like pouring fresh water into a
basin of dirty water - in time the water will become clear; or, again, like
flooding a room with sunshine - the darkness will be destroyed.
Let us take a little glance at the principal positives
and negatives in the list of mental attitudes:
Positives: courage, masterfulness, activity, initiative,
dynamic thought, self-esteem, assertiveness, continuity.
Negatives: fear, slavishness, sluggishness,
waiting-for-orders, static thought, self-distrust, retreativeness, fickleness.
This list might be extended much further, but I think
that you will have caught the idea by this time. Run over the list of the
strong positive qualities of the strong men of your acquaintance and endeavor
to reproduce them in you. Run over the list of weak, negative qualities of the
weak persons you know - and endeavor to “cut them out” of your mental
attitudes.
In this work of building-up of mental attitude, remember
this: “The mind grows to resemble that upon which it feeds,” and therefore, you should “feed” your mind with the very
kind of ideas which you would like to have your mental attitude reflect. For
instance, if you desire a mental attitude of Courage, Determination,
Masterfulness, Success, etc., you should read stories in which these points of
character are brought out; you should frequent the company of this kind of
persons; you should constantly hold in your mind the IDEAL of the things you
wish to develop in your mental attitude, and you will find that you will
naturally find in the outer world the material things corresponding to them.
And, remember this, avoid the opposite and negative books, persons and
thoughts, as you would poisonous snakes.
It is astonishing how
quickly the mind will respond to the steadfast holding of the POSITIVE IDEAL,
and the stimulating environment of POSITIVE things. In a short time, there will
be set up an instinctive habit of mind, which will select the positive things
from its environment and will also reject the negative things. Train your mind
to select the right kind of food for itself, and it will soon acquire the habit
and perform the work instinctively without any special supervision on your
part. Moreover, there will be developed in your mind that which that gifted
American writer, Prentice Mulford, once called “The Attractive Power of
Thought,” by means of which you will draw to yourself the things, persons,
books, etc., which will supply you with the particular kind of mental
food best fitted to the IDEAL you are carrying in your mind. I shall not
discuss this last wonderful phenomenon, but ask you to remember and apply the
fact, nevertheless, for it is one of the great forces of nature.
Finally, I advise you to sit down and make a careful,
full, and honest chart of your mental characteristics, positive and
negative. Then, place a plus sign before the positives, and minus sign before
the negative. Then every day run over your plus list, and fix in your mind the
idea that these positives MUST be developed; and the negatives MUST be
restarted. The development of the positives will come about by the holding in
mind of the ideal of them - thus they will develop and increase, like a
self-multiplying cell. The negatives may be restricted by developing their opposites - for this is the application of the law that positives
kill out negatives. Upon these two great fundamental laws of practical
psychology, one may build a character at will. I will repeat them once more, so
that you will fix them in your mind.
· Feed your positive qualities by ideas of the
same kind, in thoughts, books, persons, environment, etc.
· Restrict or kill-out your negatives, by
developing their positive opposites. And, now, for a wonderful plan of
developing a positive mental attitude.
This plan has been successfully practiced by many of my
students, some of whom stand high in the list of the world’s great men.
It is this:
Build up for your own use, an IDEAL PATTERN
of that which you wish to be. Map out exactly the characteristics, which you
wish to be yours. Then picture, in your mind’s eye, an individual possessed of
just these qualities - a complete model, or pattern, of that which you wish to
be. Then hold that pattern or model, constantly in your imagination. See it
ever; think always about it; view it from the inside and the outside; get fully
acquainted with it. And, gradually you will begin to grow like your ideal. The
IDEAL will begin to materialize in your own character, and your mental attitude
will be that of your model.
Do not pass by this rule, because of its simplicity. It
has worked miracles for others - why not for you? If you will persist with this
plan, your mental attitude will become positive and fixed, and your personal
atmosphere will be charged with the strong, positive vibrations, which will
proclaim you as a master.
Let this idea be yours, in studying the
following chapters, and remember that in this way you can get the best results
from the special instruction, which is to follow this chapter.
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