The Power of Concentration

thought is weak. But the person that can center his mind on any
problem, no matter what it is, and remove any unharmonious
impressions has strength of mind. Concentration, first, last and
all the time, means strength of mind.

Through concentration a person is able to collect and hold his
mental and physical energies at work. A concentrated mind pays
attention to thoughts, words, acts and plans. The person who
allows his mind to roam at will will never accomplish a great
deal in the world. He wastes his energies. If you work, think,
talk and act aimlessly, and allow your brain to wander from your
subject to foreign fields, you will not be able to concentrate.
You concentrate at the moment when you say, "I want to, I can, I
will."

Some Mistakes Some People Make. If you waste your time reading
sensational stories or worthless newspaper items, you excite the
impulsive and the emotional faculties, and this means you are
weakening your power of concentration. You will not be a free
engineer, able to pilot yourself to success.

Concentration of the mind can only be developed by watching
yourself closely. All kinds of development commence with close
attention. You should regulate your every thought and feeling.
When you commence to watch yourself and your own acts and also
the acts of other people, you use the faculties of autonomy, and,
as you continue to do so, you improve your faculties, until in
time you can engineer your every thought, wish and plan. To be
able to focalize the mind on the object at hand in a conscious
manner leads to concentration. Only the trained mind can
focalize. To hold a thought before it until all the faculties
shall have had time to consider that thought is concentration.

The person that cannot direct his thoughts, wishes, plans,
resolutions and studies cannot possibly succeed to the fullest
extent. The person that is impulsive one moment and calm the next
has not the proper control over himself. He is not a master of
his mind, nor of his thoughts, feelings and wishes. Such a person
cannot be a success. When he becomes irritated, he irritates
others and spoils all chances of any concerned doing their best.
But the person that can direct his energies and hold them at work
in a concentrated manner controls his every work and act, and
thereby gains power to control others. He can make his every move
serve a useful end and every thought a noble purpose.

In this day the man that gets excited and irritable should be
looked upon as an undesirable person. The person of good breeding
now speaks with slowness and deliberation. He is cultivating more
and more of a reposeful attitude. He is consciously attentive and
holds his mind to one thing at a time. He shuts out everything
else. When you are talking to anyone give him your sole and
undivided attention. Do not let your attention wander or be
diverted. Give no heed to anything else, but make your will and
intellect act in unison.

Start out in the morning and see how self-poised you can remain
all day. At times take an inventory of your actions during the
day and see if you have kept your determination. If not, see that
you do tomorrow. The more self-poised you are the better will
your concentration be. Never be in too much of a hurry; and,
remember, the more you improve your concentration, the greater
are your possibilities. Concentration means success, because you
are better able to govern yourself and centralize your mind; you
become more in earnest in what you do and this almost invariably
improves your chances for success.

When you are talking to a person have your own plans in mind.
Concentrate your strength upon the purpose you are talking about.
Watch his every move, but keep your own plans before you. Unless
you do, you will waste your energy and not accomplish as much as
you should.

I want you to watch the next person you see that has the
reputation of being a strong character, a man of force. Watch and
see what a perfect control he has over his body. Then I want you
to watch just an ordinary person. Notice how he moves his eyes,
arms, fingers; notice the useless expenditure of energy. These
movements all break down the vital cells and lessen the person's
power in vital and nerve directions. It is just as important for
you to conserve your nervous forces as it is the vital forces. As
an example we see an engine going along the track very smoothly.
Some one opens all the valves and the train stops. It is the same
with you. If you want to use your full amount of steam, you must
close your valves and direct your power of generating mental
steam toward one end. Center your mind on one purpose, one plan,
one transaction.

There is nothing that uses up nerve force so quickly as
excitement. This is why an irritable person is never magnetic; he