Tony Michalski's Master Key Coaching

The Internet has been responsible for much of the popularity that Haanel and The Master Key System has attained. The Free Master Key web site, forums, and all things Internet have allowed people to communicate and share their views on this great work. Along the way, many myths and outright lies have been spread about the author and his great work. This article will put to rest three of the biggest lies you were told about Haanel and his perennial work.

1. Bill Gates read The Master Key System while he attended Harvard, which prompted him to drop out and form Microsoft

Did The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel make this man the richest man in the world?

One of the bigger claims made today about The Master Key System is that it was read by Bill Gates of Microsoft whilst he attended Harvard. According to myth and rumour, the book influenced him to drop out of school and start his computer software company. The rest, as they say, is history. (The rumour usually also adds that many of the Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires read the book and that it is their little “secret”.)

Let me preface this by saying that I have never spoken with Bill Gates. With that being said, does anyone actually believe this?

Bill Gates did not read The Master Key System while he was in Harvard. It did not influence him to drop out. It was not the impetus for him to form Microsoft. There are many tales about his time at Harvard and those tales include poker, Playboy, and computers. Poker had more to do with Gates’ success than anything! It was a move from many years of playing the game that got Bill Gates the deal he made with IBM for MS-DOS. (Read the book Fire in the Valley or watch the movie The Pirates of Silicon Valley.)

How did this myth start? I’d wager that a marketer thought that it sounded like a good idea. It’s as simple as that. There is not one statement from Gates regarding the book or anything of that nature. There aren’t even any quotes from friends or acquaintances!

But, suffice it to say that having an advertisement that says “Bill Gates, the world’s wealthiest individual, read The Master Key System“ would sell a lot of books.

Why does this myth persist? I think people continue to repeat – and in many cases believe – this because of wishful thinking. They look at Mr. Gates and think that something had to be behind his wealth other than intelligence, drive, and ambition. One of the problems with personal development is that people constantly quest for some sort of “silver bullet” that will instantaneously make them wealthy, healthy, happy – and more! And that is simply not the case. There are no silver bullets in this world. Reading The Master Key System can guide someone to developing the characteristics one would need to be much like Gates, but it is not a silver bullet.

Whatever the reasons for this rumor’s existence and persistence, the fact is that Bill Gates did not read The Master Key System whilst attending Harvard nor did it influence him to begin Microsoft.

2. The Master Key System was banned by the Church

Did the Church ban The Master Key System?

It is said that when Haanel wrote The Master Key System, the Church found out about it and banned it. Hence, copies of the book became difficult to obtain and it is one of the reasons it’s only now making a reappearance.

Why did the Church ban the book? No one really says. Some say because Haanel wrote about metaphysics that flew in the face of the Church’s teachings. Most just leave the reason blank. It’s enough that the Church banned the book.

Is it true? Did the Church ban Haanel’s work?

I decided to really investigate this claim. I couldn’t find one instance of the Church even mentioning the book let alone issuing a statement condemning the book. The closest I could find was the mention of a book banned in South Africa entitled The Master Key with no author listed.

Is this The Master Key System? By Haanel? I don’t know. It is certainly not evidence, though, of any wide-scale banning.

Think about this as well:

Who cares if the book was banned by the Church? What would that have meant in 20th century America?

It’s not like the book would be banned and people would be forced to stop selling it and would instead have to burn it. It would not have happened! If anything, if the Church really had banned the book and had spoken against it, don’t you think that that would have only increased the book’s popularity? How many times have you seen the Church speak out against something only for people to say to themselves, “The Church says I shouldn’t read this; I guess I have to go see what all the fuss is about!” Harry Potter, anyone? How about The DaVinci Code, about which the Church created a somewhat huge fuss?

Even if the Church had banned The Master Key System, the result would have been nothing. It would have been like a note passed in high school study hall. No more; no less.

From my research, though, I could find not one iota of evidence that the Church banned the book. Once again, we have a myth that has no truth to it.

3. The Master Key System was meant to be kept secret

Was The Master Key System meant to be only for a privileged few?

The third lie has to deal with Haanel and his marketing techniques – or lack thereof. It is said that Haanel never intended to market The Master Key System. He wanted to keep it a secret between himself and the “elite of society”, never intending for it to be distributed to “the masses”.

In the second lie, there are no documents that show that Haanel’s books were banned by the Church, thus proving that the book was never banned. With this lie, there are too many documents to show that Haanel did indeed market his works!

From small books and booklets to pamphlets and advertisements, Haanel not only marketed his tome, but he marketed it well using techniques that were quite innovative for the time. One small book entitled The Master Key (not to be confused with The Master Key SYSTEM) consisted of an essay that lead people to the conclusion that they should purchase the System. Following the essay was page after page of testimonials from people who had studied the System – testimonials from businessmen and politicians all the way to everyday folk.

Haanel also produced a pamphlet entitled The Master Key Psychological Chart. It was a self-test that one could do to see where one stood regarding their potential and what they wanted to achieve. At the end, it recommends that one reads The Master Key System – “the solvent for every Physical, Social, Political, Industrial, and Economic Ill in existence.”

Haanel also advertised his books in the periodicals of his time, such as The Nautilus. The ads provided a form so that people could get a free sample of his book.

Haanel also produced a variety of marketing tools that anyone could buy for ten cents a piece, including post cards. He implored his readers to “Send Master Key Literature to Your Friends.”

It does not sound like Haanel wanted to keep things a secret.

Haanel did indeed market his books and his ideas and that the lie of him keeping things a secret is not only a lie, but it’s pure bunk.

I was asked by someone why I am “exposing” these lies that have been built up around The Master Key System and Haanel.

I have the greatest respect for Haanel and his work; I truly believe that when a person puts the lessons of The Master Key System into practice he will see positive changes happen in his life; and if enough people practiced the System, then we would see changes on a global scale.

I don’t think that those changes can happen when people are purposefully lied to, though. The “Bill Gates Lie” has been in circulation for so long that it is legendary – and many, many people believe it to be true. This hurts those people in some ways because they then proceed to read The Master Key System expecting a silver bullet that is not there. The Master Key System is not a get-rich-quick program, nor is it a shallow read that will make you feel good. It’s a tough book – one that requires the best a person has to offer: his time, patience, persistence, and effort.

Some say that these lies are OK because they attract people to the book. I say why lie about things? Why perpetuate falsehoods? Why build false and heightened expectations? The Master Key System is about questing for and discovering TRUTH, not about lies and falsehoods.

There you have it: The three lies you were told about The Master Key System and why I decided to reveal them. It is my intention that they put his writings in perspective. When we can look at things cogently and soberly – as Haanel implores us to always do – then we can truly reach for all that world has to offer.

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So you have a good idea. Maybe it’s even a great idea. Now what?

I am very happy for you. Chances are likely, though, that one of three things will happen.

1. You will tell nobody about your idea for fear of it being stolen.
2. You will think that your idea, in and of itself, has value and won’t take any action on it.
3. You will discover that someone is already doing something similar to what you thought of, so you’ll toss your idea into the waste bin.

Your idea may be good. It may even be great. But without action on that idea or access to people who can make that idea happen, your idea is about as worthless as chit-chat.

If you are afraid that by sharing your idea others will steal it, then please put that notion to rest, for the most part. After being in business for quite a while and after studying business even longer, I’ve developed a rule that in my experience has stood the test of time.

If you truly have a great idea, then not only will no one try to steal it, but you’ll have to force it down peoples’ throats to even have them look at it, let alone buy it or invest in it.

People laughed at Henry Ford. The executives at IBM wanted nothing to do with Bill Gates’ computer operating system. Politicians and citizens alike called the purchase of Alaska “Seward’s Folly.” Walt Disney was refused financing by too many banks to count. The list is endless.

A few years ago, Apple released the first iPod, with which I am certain many of you are familiar. What did the Mac fans think about the iPod when it was released?

Take a look!

After reading that, I am sure that you get the idea. Even an idea that revolutionized how we listen to and enjoy music was scoffed at – and by people who were (and are) huge fans of the company and its products! That alone should tell you something.

Now, before I go any further, I am not saying to not be careful about giving away your ideas foolishly. I am saying that if you have a great idea, you will have to share it with people that can help you realize it. And if history is any indicator, you will probably have to share your idea with a lot of people.

Before going any further, you must now realize one of the most important things about ideas:

In and of themselves, ideas are worthless.

Just because you think it would be a good idea to open a pizza shop in your area doesn’t mean jack until you actually open a pizza shop! Your idea for a book is nothing until you write the damn book. Even your ideas about redecorating your house are naught but mental fancy until you take the plunge and purchase the new furniture and design the new color scheme.

Gene Simmons of KISS fame hit the nail on the head when he wrote this about the value of ideas and how to get an idea into motion:

In order to succeed and make money, you must have access – access to the people who have the power to implement … access to capital (money) to make things happen ….

So, even if it’s not your idea, if you can get to the people and the money, you own all the right cards. You can always “buy” someone’s idea for pennies, or simply come up with your own idea. Remember, an idea cannot be trademarked or copyrighted. Not unless there is a “process” … in which case, IT’S THE PROCESS, not the idea that is protected.

The reason I keep stressing “ideas mean little” is simply because it’s true. People don’t believe that. And, when they finally get to jump into the water and try swimming in the deep oceans of business, you will be shocked when the real rules of business come slamming down on you. And, you may point to all sorts of reasons why the “idiots out there” don’t recognize the genius of your idea. Oh, they may recognize the genius of your idea. But if you can’t make it happen, you are worthless to them.

Those are some tough words for many people, but if you want to succeed, then you must take them to heart. More times than I can count, a person says to me, “Hey! Here’s a great idea for you.” I generally appreciate their enthusiasm, but I eventually have to tell them that I have a surfeit of ideas here and that the real problem I have is having the time and access to get most of them into motion.

To paraphrase that credit card commercial:

Ideas are a dime a dozen. Making them happen in priceless!

What if you have an idea and then you discover that someone (or many people!) already are doing what you thought? That can actually be a good thing, believe it or not. In essence, someone else is doing your market research!

Returning to our pizza shop example, just because there’s already a pizza shop in your area, doesn’t mean that they are satisfying everyone. Keep your ears and eyes open. Perhaps they don’t deliver. Maybe they’re a little pricey. Whatever the case, just because they have the same idea as you doesn’t mean that you can’t copy it and do it your own way.

McDonald’s was the first fast food burger joint; then there was Burger King and Wendy’s. Apple made the first GUI computer operating system; Microsoft was second. Coke and Pepsi. Hershey and Nestle.

Much of our economic system is based on that – copying – happening. It’s called competition - and you shouldn’t be afraid to engage in it. Some would even argue that merely by throwing your hat in the ring you are succeeding. And I would more often than not agree whole-heartedly.

So, is your idea the one that will make you millions and change the world in the process?

Maybe.

If you do one of the three things I listed, then it definitely won’t be. But, if you

Take action on your idea,

Find the people who can help you with your idea,

Execute your idea properly,

then maybe, just maybe, you’ll make the millions.

Listen, ideas are important. But they are not the be-all end-all. They are the seeds from which action must sprout. Don’t you find it funny (or annoying) that people who haven’t ever had an original idea are making millions, while you (or some people you know) are wallowing in nowheres-ville?

Guess why that is. It’s action. So forget about trying to think about that one big super-original idea that will rock the world. Instead, just take an idea – any idea – and run with it and make it happen.

As Haanel wrote in Week Twenty of The Master Key System

Thought necessarily precedes and predetermines action; action precedes and predetermines condition.

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One of the best ways to approach goal setting that I ever heard was from a speaker named Fred Gleeck. He is a speaker who holds seminars about sundry topics from how to be a professional speaker to how to market different products. In addition to that, he is a pretty cool guy. If you get a chance to attend one of his seminars, I highly recommend it.

When he begins his seminar, he talks a little about goal setting. Basically, he says to plan your ideal day or how you would like to live every day. Many people don’t like their average day and instead live for the weekend or those days when they can “do what they want.” That isn’t much of a life, is it? Our goal should be to have every day be a good day – a day to which we look forward. It all begins to defining what that day would look like.

Now, we have to begin by being completely honest about it. Let’s face it, many right now would say that they want to relax by the pool and do a bunch of nothing, but that would not last too long. Why? We would get bored! Look at how many retirees go completely nuts because they have nothing to do! Or worse, look how many basically opt to die because they aren’t useful anymore.

Furthermore, it has been found that work-related stress is not the killer it was once thought it was. It has been found that stress in those situations actually improves one’s life! As a healthy human being, one needs to struggle, one needs to compete, one needs to set high goals and work to attain them.

These are the things that not only define us and give meaning to us, they give us life.

So, with that in mind, define what you love to do. List those things that you absolutely love and would like to do every day. Maybe you’d like to awaken at eight or nine and relax with a cup of coffee or tea whilst reading the paper or listening to the news. Afterwards, you work – either you go to a job that you enjoy or you have a business. Perhaps you’d like to workout or go to the gym; maybe even take a sauna or steam. Do you want to prepare dinner at home? Go out to eat? What do you want to do in the evening?

In other words

What would be a perfect every day for you?

You see, as you hone what you want and what you are passionate about and as you get that clear picture in your head, you will discover the ways and the means to make it happen. It may not happen over night, but by keeping your eyes open to the possibilities around you, you will attain that day – every day.

Plan your perfect day. Find the ways and means to make it happen. And live it every day.

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Whatever we want in life – be it money, happiness, success – requires that we have power. It does not necessarily mean power over men such as a potentate has, but the power to realize and attain what we desire. Some of the most powerful men in the world desired no political power, but they had the knowledge required to get what they want.

Haanel wrote in The Master Key System

“The real secret of power is consciousness of power.”

This consciousness of power is the realization that each and every one of us has the tools necessary for our continual growth and advancement. We need only to claim them and put them into motion – and it all begins with our thoughts, as this is what brings into reality the results we that we desire.

To acquire that power, here is the process that Haanel outlined:

Every thought creates an impression on the brain.

Experiences come to us through the law of attraction.

The predominant thought or mental attitude is the magnet.

Like attracts like.

The mental attitude is our personality and is composed of  all the thoughts that we have been creating in our mind.

By persistent effort, we can change the mental attitude.

To do this, replace the pictures you have in your mind with new pictures of what you want and desire.

When you have done this, you will begin to attract to  yourself those things.

Build into your mental pictures the necessary essentials, such as determination, ability, talent, courage, power, and anything else.

Aspire to the highest possible attainment in anything you undertake.

Repeat this process as repetition builds habit.

Everything that we have is a result of this process. Everything. Be it good or bad, what we want or what we dislike. This process describes how our  predominant mental attitude about everything is formed. Whether you like it or not, you are using this process. Now that you know how this process works, you can use it consciously and of your own volition.

As you can see, a good portion of this process deals with our mental attitude – what we think habitually. Like Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right!” If you think (and believe) that something can’t be done, then chances are likely that you will not accomplish the task at hand or attain the goal you have set. But as you shift your thoughts to ones of success and achievement, you raise the chances that you will get what you want.

For example, if you walk into a job interview like a nervous little whelp, what do you think your chances of being hired are? If it is for a good paying job, your chances are nil. If you walked into the same interview but instead of being mousy you were confident and calm (not to be mistaken for cocky or arrogant), then your chances all of a sudden become very good! What changed? Merely your mental attitude – what you were thinking.

Haanel said that “life is an accretion”, which means that we are building upon what we have and what we know. We are growing. Use the process Haanel outlined here to help you grow in a confident and strong fashion.

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A Zen story goes something like this:

A student was having a meal with his Master. When they were finished eating, the student asked his Master, “What should I do now?”

The Master replied, “Clean your bowl.”

At that moment the student was enlightened.

This story illustrates one of the most important ideas that we all should take to heart: whatever we start, we must complete. Leaving a task undone, unfinished, or incomplete is the surest path to failure. Success in life can be summarized in a sentence:

Show up and complete the job.

It’s amazing how few people fail to do those two seemingly simple things. That is what separates the winners from the losers.

In Week Four of The Master Key System, Charles F. Haanel held no punches when he wrote:

12. Unless you do this, you had better not start at all, because modern Psychology tells us that when we start something and do not complete it, or make a resolution and do not keep it, we are forming the habit of failure – absolute, ignominious failure. If you do not intend to do a thing, do not start. If you do start, see it through even if the heavens fall; if you make up your mind to do something, do it; let nothing, no one interfere; the “I” in you has determined, the thing is settled; the die is cast, there is no longer any argument.

As Haanel stated, not completing something forms within a person the habit of failure. Once a person begins to quit the things he endeavors to do, he finds that it becomes easier and easier to quit the task at hand rather than complete it. In the end, then, what does he have? Nothing.

If man had stopped at the launch pad rather than launching and landing on the Moon, would we have that amazing accomplishment to inspire us?

If Jonas Salk never completed his investigations into disease, we would still be suffering with polio (and probably other illnesses) to this day.

When the going gets tough, we are often told, then the tough get going. They don’t “get going” the other way, though; they go toward the trouble and get the job done.

A good analogy to illustrate these points is to think of your life as having a checking account. Every time you set yourself to do something and you attain your goal, then you deposit money into your account. You become richer. You’re life becomes fuller. You have bettered yourself. When you leave something incomplete, when you quit before you’ve attained your goal, then money is removed from your account. You are a little less than you were before you started. You’ve attained nothing, but lost the time you put into whatever little efforts you made.

A friend of mine made it his goal to become a master parachutist. (Please excuse me, but I do not know the proper term for someone who completes one hundred parachute jumps. “Master parachutist” will serve the purpose for this illustration, though.) He went through months of training and finally went on his first jump. After the jump, someone asked him how he liked it. My friend said that it was “the worst thing he ever did” and that he “couldn’t wait until it was all over.” He was then asked why he would keep on jumping if he hated it so much. He answered that he had to complete what he set his mind to.

Once he made his one hundredth jump, he quit jumping and has never done it since. He had attained his goal and in the process set himself up for future success. (He currently owns his own company and is very successful.)

Life, when all is said and done, is about the things we’ve done and the things we’ve accomplished and attained. Even something as little as buying something, if left incomplete, would leave us lacking in some way or other. Imagine needing a television, but never leaving the house to buy one or never committing to a particular model. You’d be inconvenienced for a very long while.

Complete your tasks; complete your goals; attain all that you can. Life might be a race, but it is a race of endurance, not speed. It matters not how we finish something nor how quickly. The fact that we finish is all that a person needs to be on the path to success.

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Focusing our thoughts to one specific purpose or aim is paramount to achieving anything of lasting value. More often than not, many of us “scatter” our thoughts, never concentrating on one goal and following it through. When we learn to keep our thoughts focused on one aim, then – and only then – will we see results.

Need proof of this? Listen to or read about what people say when they describe the people who “made it.” Every time those people are described by friends or associates, the words, “focused”, “driven”, and “single-minded” are used. In The Master Key Workbook, I quoted Larry Ellison, the billionaire CEO of Oracle, speaking about Bill Gates.

“Bill Gates wants people to think he’s Edison, when he’s really Rockefeller. Referring to Gates as the smartest man in America isn’t right … wealth isn’t the same thing as intelligence. One thing everyone will say about Mr. Gates, though, is the fact that he is driven and has a laser-like focus when he sets to do something.”

Being successful does not require lots of intelligence. If one focuses what one has to a certain definite aim, then one can accomplish anything! As it is said in the Bible: “Faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.”

Here is how Haanel described the power of concentration in Week Twelve of The Master Key System:

Week Twelve is enclosed herewith. In the fourth paragraph you will find the following statement: “You must first have the knowledge of your power; second, the courage to dare; third, the faith to do.”

If you concentrate upon the thoughts given, if you give them your entire attention, you will find a world of meaning in each sentence and will attract to yourself other thoughts in harmony with them, and you will soon grasp the full significance of the vital knowledge upon which you are concentrating.

Knowledge does not apply itself; we as individuals must make the application, and the application consists in fertilizing the thought with a living purpose.

The time and thought which most persons waste in aimless effort would accomplish wonders if properly directed with some special object in view. In order to do this, it is necessary to center your mental force upon a specific thought and hold it there to the exclusion of all other thoughts. If you have ever looked through the focusing screen of a camera, you found that when the object was not in focus, the impression was indistinct and possibly blurred; but when the proper focus was obtained the picture was clear and distinct. This illustrates the power of concentration. Unless you can concentrate upon the object which you have in view, you will have but a hazy, indifferent, vague, indistinct, and blurred outline of your ideal and the results will be in accordance with your mental picture.

An example of concentration or focus is to think of sunlight. As the sun pours its light onto the Earth, it gets scattered by the atmosphere. We can gather that light with a lens, though, and focus it into a ray that will readily and easily start a fire.

In The Master Key Workbook, I devised a little exercise to help you exercise the power of concentration. It’s fun and a little rewarding.

This week, you are going to have some fun – and make some money! You are going to put into action what you have been learning. By the end of this exercise, you may be a few dollars wealthier than when you started. Sound good? Good.

Visualize a quarter in your mind. Imagine it vividly and in detail. Keep it ingrained in your mind. Take as long as you want to visualize that quarter, perhaps a few minutes or so.

Next, vividly visualize that you are going to find that quarter on the street. 

Imagine the scene of you taking a walk and finding a quarter somewhere, perhaps when you are walking the dog or maybe strolling through the mall.

Look for the quarter when you are walking. Every time you are taking a walk, visualize the quarter.

How long did it take you to find the quarter?

You can use this exercise for just about anything! How about finding a parking space in a crowded mall parking lot? Or traversing heavy crosstown traffic? When I use this technique to find a parking space or to get through traffic, I visualize a warm knife sliding easily through butter and I say to myself “I will move through this traffic like a hot knife through butter.” I then mentally (and sometimes physically) repeat the word butter, almost performing a mantra.

It usually works! I do have great “luck” with finding parking spaces. And getting through traffic easily happens with a decent regularity. (Another time I will explain to you how I think this actually works. Believe or not, I do not think that it is the “Law of Attraction” per se.)

So, give these exercises a shot. A true, honest shot. Concentrate. Visualize.

Get for yourself the best of everything.

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Segal’s Law states this:

A man with one watch always knows what time it is.

A man with two watches is never sure.

Many have heard this before reading it here. What does it mean, though?

In a nut shell, it means that when one pursues more than one goal or aim, he rarely achieve either. One’s efforts become too dissipated and he rarely (or never) allows himself to focus on just one thing – quite possibly the one thing that would make for him his fortune. 

All of us have talents and skills, wants and needs, goals and desires. That is normal that is what makes us a human being. If we look around us, though, and look at those who achieve and attain, we will notice a startling thing. That thing is the fact that those who attain massive success, achieve that success in one thing – one specific thing.

Bill Gates achieved his success in the computer industry. Rush Limbaugh attained money and fame through radio. Tiger Woods mastered the game of golf and succeeded massively.

One thing. These people – and others like them – took one thing and ran with it. They ran with it until they achieved all of their goals.

Most of us fritter our time and talents by leaping from one toad stool to another. We never settle on any one. We jump around like lost frogs looking for the next fly to eat.

The smart frog, on the other hand, finds his place and lets the flies come to him. And come they do!

It has been postulated, and in my experience proven very true, that it takes ten years of doing something before any kind of success or mastery is to be attained. A person studying for a black belt in karate will study that long before they attain that vaunted level of skill. Microsoft went public as a company in 1986 and it grew through the nineties, but not until the later half of that decade did Microsoft really become a household name.

It takes time and patience and persistence – and more than a little perspiration – to achieve a goal.

What many find the most difficult, though, is finding just that one thing to do.

The greats were in many ways most fortunate because they found their passion early. Tiger Woods, Ludwig Von Beethoven, and others like them began studying their crafts while exceptionally young. That is one answer as to why they were hyper-successful.

That begs the question, if one is getting off to a “late start”, does that deny him from the race?

Not at all. Albert Einstein was 26 when he published his Special Theory of Relativity. Babe Ruth was older when he became the home run king. Many CEOs and executives work many years through the ranks before they begin to see the fruits of their labors.

In other words, age is rarely of consequence.

The hardest battle one will fight with himself is deciding what that one thing is!

Take the time to discover what it is exactly you want to do. I wrote The Master Key Workbook to assist you with that “great battle”. It’s a step-by-step guide to discovering what is important to you and how to form a plan to attain it. Most people have found that once they decide definitively on something, whether that goal be tangible or intangible, it is often times easier to achieve than they thought it would be when they were merely musing and day dreaming.

A person merely “wanting a job” will often find it difficult to obtain a desirable position. The person who declares “I want to be an engineer!” will practically have their path laid out for them.

A person who wants “somebody – anybody!” in his life will more than likely by mired in bad relationship after bad relationship. The person who takes the time to define exactly what they would like in another person will eventually find that person and enjoy a sublime happiness.

You who would like to own a prosperous business must take the time to decide what you want to trade. Once you have that, you can then form you plan. And then you implement. And then you persevere. And then you prosper. If you jump from one plan to another or one industry to another with no good reason, though, then you will never gain the traction you need that will propel you to success.

Once you have that one thing in mind, then you can put into practice what Haanel wrote in Week Seven of The Master Key System

Visualization is the process of making mental images, and the image is the mold or model which will serve as a pattern from which your future will emerge. 

Make the pattern clear, and make it beautiful; do not be afraid – make it grand. Remember that no limitation can be placed upon you by any one but yourself; you are not limited as to cost or material; draw on the In?nite for your supply, construct it in your imagination; it will have to be there before it will ever appear anywhere else. 

Make the image clear and clean-cut, hold it firmly in the mind and you will gradually and constantly bring the thing nearer to you. You can be what “you will to be.” 

Decide! Decide! Decide! Find that one thing and pursue it with every fibre of your being! Don’t relent and never surrender. Time is running short. Run with your dream or else your dreams will run past you.

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When I drive, I look at the signs and businesses that line the roads and streets. Recently, I asked myself a question that revealed a fatal flaw in my thinking – a fatal flaw that just may be the difference betwixt wealth and insecurity, becoming what I wish to be and remaining in my current position.

Whilst looking at the sundry businesses – at the many different ways people were creating wealth and personal prosperity – I asked myself a simple question and one, I am certain, you probably have asked yourself a plethora of times.

What is the difference between them and me?

Perhaps you did not use that exact wording, but the spirit of the questin is the same. On that night, like many uncountable nights, I wondered about the people of commerce and industry and power and ideas. I wondered why Sam Walton could create his line of stores, yet so many are left wallowing in positions that they could barely stand – and which kept them barely above water.

While I had asked myself that question many times in the past, on this particular night I had a revelation. I followed with another question:

Why am I looking for differences when, intrinsically, no real differences exist?

The differences I saw and noticed weren’t the real factors that contributed to anyone’s success or failure. It wasn’t a matter of brains or brawn, capital or ingenuity, push or pull. Rather, it was a matter of doing things – at least, just doing something. Anything!

It has often been the nature of popular business books and pop psychologists to earn their sheckles by keeping us in shackles with endless ramblings about what makes the successful successful. In other words, most of the common literature on the subject of success has been mired in putting our noses in our somehow unglamourous values and habits rather than showing us what really counts: Doing it!

I have a passion for reading biographies of historical or successful people. In all of the biographies that I have read, there has always been one common element: they are all crazy. When I say crazy, I mean completely nuts, bonkers, whacked. The “successful” have so many idiosynchrosies that to name all of them would be to name every speck of sand on a beach. For now, I will just list a few that I find most amusing:

Steve Jobs: Control freak and not very nice to underlings. Not to mention the drugs.

Donald Trump: Can we safely call him an egomaniac?

Larry Ellison: Braggart, egomaniac, BS-er.

Bill Gates: Do I have to mention his business practices?

Alexander the Great: Delusions of grandeur.

Napoleon: Another one with delusions of grandeur.

JD Salinger: Reclusive.

Lord Byron: Womanizer and scandal monger.

Ted Turner: Speaks before he thinks.

Just by looking at this miniscule sampling of famous personas, it becomes obvious that probably none of them read How To Win Friends and Influence People or The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. All of them have had scandalous exposes written about them. All of them were majourly flawed in one way – or many. All of them pushed the envelope and just did what they did.

That, it turns out, is the deciding factor: doing what one wants to do. There is no preparing, no training, no self-improvement necessary. How big would Microsoft be today if Mr. Gates simply welcomed competition with a smile? What would the news industry be like if Ted Turner kept his mouth shut and minded what he said? I can answer that: kinda dull. His brashness earned him billions.

I do not write this as a vindication for all of our vices and failing points. I do not write this to stop people from reading self-improvement books and attending seminars. I write this for the people who do those things again and again and again. Those people must realize that the difference between them and the successful is merely the ability to dig in one’s heels and get to it.

Too often, I speak with a person who continually reads the books and attends the seminars and always has a plan or scheme for self-improvement. Listening to them is like listening to a Dead Head recant all of the shows to which he’s been. “I saw Tony Robbins in Atlanta, ‘99; Dr. Phil in Boston, ‘00; I was to Chopra’s book signing in New York last month…” and the litany continues ad nauseum. The kicker is that the person still isn’t particularly happy, fulfilled, or successful. Do these seminars and books make the person happy? Yes, like crack makes a drug addict happy. The person catches his buzz and feels that in doing so, he is doing something. In the end, though, he is not.

All of the speakers and motivators say the same thing: Do it! All of the books reiterate that simple, yet poignant, phrase. There comes a time when a person realizes that they do not need to be completely organized or a polished speaker or a flawless person. Instead of studying the books, they should take what they learned and apply it to real life by working on their dreams. Or if not their dreams, then something – anything!

Or, as Haanel wrote

“You must first have the knowledge of your power; second, the courage to dare; third, the faith to do.” 

You have the knowledge of your power (if you don’t, then keep reading this blog and get The Complete Master Key Course – you’ll get it!); the courage to dare will come to you, if you don’t have it already, as you take those first steps toward your goal. All that’s needed is for you to have the faith to do. To get that, forget what you’ve heard and read; instead go boldly forward with what you know.

There are no real differences between us and them. The “differences” that certain authors and speakers like to notice are just fluff. I may have been a tad hasty when I said that their are no differences, perhaps there is one:

The successful know that they are flawed, but they just don’t care. They just do it!

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In Week Eight of The Master Key System, Haanel writes:

14. Do not confuse Imagination with Fancy, or that form of day dreaming in which some people like to indulge. Day dreaming is a form of mental dissipation which may lead to mental disaster. [Emphasis mine.]

15. Constructive imagination means mental labor, by some considered to be the hardest kind of labor. But, if so, it yields the greatest returns, for all the great things in life have come to men and women who had the capacity to think, to imagine, and to make their dreams come true. [Emphasis mine.]

These are the lines that I believe confuse many people. Let’s look at them closely.

Haanel considers constructive imagination to be “mental labor” while he states that day dreaming is something that “people like to indulge” but is a form of “mental dissipation”. CONSTRUCTIVE is the key word when trying to differentiate the two.

When you use imagination in a constructive fashion, you are using your mind – your mental faculties – to envision things as you would like them to be. While it can be pleasing, it can also be hard, difficult work. For example, let’s say you are working on a project; you will want to imagine in your mind the outcome that you would like. In Week Sixteen, Haanel relates an interview with Henry M. Flagler, the Standard Oil multimillionaire who

…admitted that the secret of his success was his power to see a thing in its completeness. The following conversation with the reporter shows his power of idealization, concentration, and visualization – all spiritual powers:

9. “Did you actually vision to yourself the whole thing? I mean, did you, or could you, really close your eyes and see the tracks? And the trains running? And hear the whistles blowing? Did you go as far as that?” 

“Yes.” 

“How clearly?” 

“Very clearly.”

That, my friend, is using constructive imagination. With that in mind, it will be easy to see how constructive imagination can be confused with daydreaming.

Day dreaming is basically mental masturbation. It takes place when you do NOT think about things in a constructive fashion, rather you think of them in an “I wish” sort of way. For example, listening to music and fantasizing about being a great singer when you have no musical ability whatsoever is day dreaming – and therefore wasteful.

While that is mild, day dreaming can get worse. Worrying is the WORST form of day dreaming! When you worry, you “day dream” about things that may not ever happen, but you instill in you mind and body a very real feeling of fear and anxiety. Do you see how this works? Do you see how this is NOT constructive? It is at best dissipative – and at worst destructive.

Look at it this way: If a person buys life insurance, he is using his constructive imagination to foresee a possible situation that may happen in the future. Therefore, he buys a policy so that his family will be cared for in the event that the worst comes to pass. There is no worry there, just good planning.

A person who worries, on the other hand, would use his mind and time to wastefully envision every horrible thing that could happen. And then he dwells on those possibilities. He doesn’t just take care of business and then get on with his life. No, he fritters his energy on events that may never happen – and, statistically speaking, probably won’t.

Haanel’s goal with The Master Key System is to train the brain – to inculcate in a person mental discipline that will help him to achieve high aims. Having mental focus is at the top of the list and one cannot have that focus if he wastes his most valuable resources (his mental power and his time) entertaining frivolous things.

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For Wrinkled Brows

Try the well-known cream, SWEETNESS OF TEMPER. It tones up the facial muscles, reduces wrinkles, and is very uplifting.

For the Lips

Use the marvelous lip stick SILENCE. It is particularly good for lips that have been distorted by uncharitable gossip.

For Lovely Hands

There’s really only one preparation to use. It is called GENEROSITY. Get a large size jar.

For Facial Tone

Expose the face to the MORNING AIR, especially between six and eight o’clock. The air during a morning walk or while on the way to work is especially refreshing and uplifting.

For Clear Eyes

Faithful care with that tried and true protective preparation, MODESTY. For the best results we recommend that you carry it with you wherever you go.

These are tips by which to live. Haanel writes about them as have many of the great philosophers throughout the ages. Print this page. Carry these little tips wherever you go. It’s always good to remind yourself about the little things – because the little things become big things … eventually.

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