Success is a matter of never-ceasing application. You must forever work at it diligently. Otherwise, it takes wings and flies away. At no time can you afford to rest on your laurels— a pause for self-admiration— because there are others who may have eyes on your coveted place and who would like nothing better than to push you out of it, especially if they observe that you have a weak hold on it or are doing nothing to strengthen your position. Despite the great strides that America has made, it is still a country with great resources, many of which have not yet been tapped.  Already in our laboratories, scientists are at work on what many may consider fantastic ideas. These include light and wearable fabrics from wood and other products that will be fire- and water-resistant, materials that will make ships unsinkable, machines that will capture energy from the sun, and even apparatus that will actually record our unspoken thoughts. These are only a few of the things appearing on the horizon, and they are all coming from the imaginations of men, or from their subconscious minds. Perhaps in less than fifty years thought transference or telepathy will be as commonplace as the radio of today. Who knows? It has been said that man can bring into materialization anything that he can conceive mentally, and the millions of things we use and enjoy today prove it. When a man fully comprehends the great power of his mind and earnestly puts it to work, not only will he have dominion over this earth and everything on it, but he may be reaching out to control the nearby planets. You yourself have this inner spark, but it must be fanned until the fire is of white-heat intensity and it must be constantly stoked, which you do by adding fuel— ideas, ideas, more ideas, and action. One man, I know who has many achievements to his credit and who has passed the seventy mark declared that most people fall by the wayside because they are never starting anything. “I make it a plan, and have for years, to start something new— that is, new for me— at least once a week. It may be only the making of some simple gadget for use in the kitchen or it may be an entirely new sales plan or reading an unfamiliar book. I find in following this plan not only that I keep my body and mind active, but also that I put to use a lot of imaginative qualities that otherwise might fall asleep and atrophy. This idea of a man’s retiring when he’s sixty or sixty-five is to me a great mistake. As soon as a man retires and quits becoming active mentally and physically, he’s on the way to his grave in short order. You have seen what has happened to fire horses when they are retired. You know what happens to your automobile when you leave it outside unused and neglected; it starts to rust and is soon headed for the junk-shop. Humans are the same; they rust out or wither and die when they go on the shelf. The plan of starting something new at least once a week brings us to the matter of initiative and how valuable an asset individual initiative is for any person who seeks success. Without it, a man is stopped almost as soon as he starts. Men and women remain in minor clerical positions all of their lives because they never display initiative in their work, never attempt to find new ways of doing their work, and never suggest improvements.

Your very life is your thinking and the result of your thinking processes. Your flesh, bones, and muscles can be reduced to 70 percent water and a few chemicals of small value, but it is your mind and what you think that makes you what you are. The secret of success lies not without, but within, the thoughts of man.