WHAT IS WILL-POWER?

If he can put himself together, so that the
mainspring of his will can be effective, he can
do things that he never dreamed of doing in
his unassembled days.

Many a man of quite ordinary abilities, who
was not in any way a genius, has risen to the
top of his trade or his profession by organizing
and controlling his power, by creating a
Purpose and strengthening his Purpose-will.
No man can ever be as well organized as his
watch is, but if he stops being a casual drifter
and takes himself in hand, he can do things
that will surprise him.

Every man has a Positive and a Negative
in his nature. He is both dynamic and static.
He is pushed forward and pulled back. He
seems to have two selves—a strong self and a
weak self.
As soon as he has a Purpose, he makes his
strong self stronger. As soon as his Purpose
leads him to action, his weak self flies the
white flag and surrenders. Every successful
man remembers with amazement the miserable
little fears that held him back for a time in the
beginning of his career.

When Napoleon was twenty-one, he sat
down in a fit of discouragement and wrote in
his diary : ‘“ My life is finished.” His weak

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