A Theory of Personality

The late Prescott Lecky (1), one of the pioneers in self-image psychology. Lecky conceived of the personality as a system of ideas, all of which must be consistent with each other. Ideas that are inconsistent with the system are rejected, "not believed," and not acted on. Ideas that seem to be consistent with the system are accepted. At the very center of this system of ideas-the keystone, or the base on which all else is built-is the individual's self-image, or his conception of himself.

12 Lessons in Concentration and Will Power

We should never be afraid to spend our money for anything which will benefit us.

There is plenty of money in the world and there is no reason why we should not relate with whatever amount we may want.

When we do not it is because we have used our concentration and will power wrongly and not because there is any lack in the supply of money.

When we try to get the best of anyone in any deal we are only beating ourselves by using our concentration and will power wrongly.

When we do anything with the consciousness of "economizing" we are simply shutting ourselves away from the universal abundance of the supply of everything through the wrong use of our concentration and will power.

When we attempt to control others and make them buy our goods whether or not they want them, we are using our concentration and will power wrongly and no matter how much profit we may make today as the result, the day will come when we will lose it all and everything else we may have.

All this is the result of the Universal Law which works out the effects of causes we set in motion through the wrong use of our concentration and will power.

We may say "I do not believe such rot," but that doesn't in any way affect its truth.
The time was, and not so very long ago either, when the most intellectual men in the world did not believe such "rot" as that the world was round, and they proved conclusively (to their own satisfaction) that it couldn't be round or else the water would all fall off of it.

The best educated men of that day, as well as the Christian religion, taught also that the sun revolved around the earth and ostracized and excommunicated those who did not profess similar beliefs, but that did not make the earth square neither did it make the sun revolve around the earth.

"Ignorance of the law excuses no one," so say our civil and criminal courts," and this is in full accord with the Universal Laws; our " beliefs," no matter what they may be, do not in any way excuse our ignorance.

It is evident that you wanted to learn something you did not know otherwise you would not have purchased these lessons.

The first thing for a real student to do is to become receptive to his teacher.

This does not mean that he has to become acceptive and swallow everything whole at one gulp without regard to whether or not it appeals to his reason, logic and common-sense, but it does mean that he should become receptive, and that when he finds something which does not agree with his preconceived ideas he should not reject it at once as being untrue but he should go to work to see how well he can prove its truth to himself.

There is nothing in these lessons but what the Author knows is true because he has proven them for himself and has taught thousands of his students how to prove them during the past few years.

There are two ways in which to learn any lesson: One way is to memorize the words.

This is the method usually adopted by most students.

The other way is to learn by absorption. That is, read the lesson over quietly, carefully, calmly, while in a relaxed condition and so absorb it rather than attempt to memorize it.

When we memorize a lesson we only get the form, the words; we get little or nothing of either their consciousness or vibration.

Memorizing a thing gives us an intellectual knowledge of it, its theory, but gives us little or nothing of its wisdom or understanding.

When we absorb a lesson we may not at first be able to express our conception of it as intellectually as it is written but we at least get the soul of it, the wisdom and understanding of it, because we feel it and live it in our consciousness.

This is the true method of obtaining wisdom and understanding, and it is the method the Author would most earnestly recommend in the study of these lessons.

My best wishes are always with you.
THE AUTHOR.

12 Lessons in Concentration
and Will Power
by F.W. Sears
1919

Topics covered in the 12 lessons include: Concentration Rightly and Wrongly Used; Character of Thoughts We Think; Thought Habits; Inharmonious Thought Habits; Consciousness and Thought Habits; I'll Try Thought Habit; Overcoming Self-Consciousness; Law of Harmony; Law of Force; Oneness of All Life; Individuality; and Will Power.

F.W. Sears was a pioneer in the field of self-help writing and teaching and his theories remain as relevant decades after his death as they were at the time of his writings in the 1910s and 1920s.

A Pioneer In The Field Of Self-help

Franklin Warren Sears held a Master of Psychology and was the author of “The Books Without an If” series in the early 20th century. Through his books, correspondence courses, as well as by personal counseling, he was able to help a great many people overcome everyday difficulties of all kinds.

HOW THE RENT WAS PAID

SHE was about 25, well dressed, neat in appearance, rather good looking, quite intelligent, and a teacher of art. The distressed look upon her face when she entered my office showed that she was undergoing terrible suffering of some kind. She greeted me with the inquiry, "What in the world will I do, doctor?"

I told her the first thing she should do was to sit down, just get quiet a little and "let go," then tell me all about it.

I talked with her about unimportant matters for a few minutes until I saw that she had grown somewhat calm and quiet in the harmonious atmosphere of my office and then asked her what her trouble was.

She said that it was money or rather the lack of it. I told her there was plenty of money in the world and a great abundance of it right here in New York. "Yes," she said, "but I can't get hold of it unless I pawn my diamond ring. I had to pawn one of them last month in order to pay my rent and will have to pawn my last one in order to pay my rent this month and then what shall I do?"

"Why pawn your ring now?" I asked.

"I haven't pawned it yet," she said, "but I will have to do so."

"You may not as yet have gone through the physical act of taking your ring to the pawn shop and leaving it there," I replied, "but you have pawned it already in your consciousness, your thought world, your imagination, and unless you at once stop pawning it there you will soon take it to the pawn shop. But should it be necessary for you to go to the pawn shop, why worry about it? Why not look upon your rings as cash in the bank, to be drawn upon when necessary. We sometimes draw our bank balance down to the last dollar but that does not worry us for we know we will deposit some more right away, and when we do KNOW it we always get the money to deposit. Why not take this same attitude towards the ring you have in pawn?"

"Again, this is only Friday and the first of the month does not come until next Monday," I said.
"Supposing you did not pay your rent on that day, your landlord would not put you out for you have always been a good tenant and paid your rent heretofore. Even though he was to serve a dispossess notice on you you have five days in which to pay or move, so that you have at least a week from today, under the most unfavorable conditions, in which to get your rent money."

"Yes," she replied, "that is all very true but from whence is the money coming? I haven't been doing any work lately and no one is paying out any money for my kind of work these days and I haven't a cent in sight anywhere and no place I can go to get any, except by pawning my diamond ring, even if I had two months' time instead of only a week."

"It isn't necessary for you to know from whence the money is coming," I replied, "for that is the work of God—the great Universal Law. Your work is to KNOW that God always attends to His part of the business and materializes things for us, both in body and environment, to accord with the vision or image we create and hold in our imagination and the harmonious or inharmonious energy we use in creating and holding it. God always does His part of the work whether we do ours consciously and intelligently or unconsciously and ignorantly. Just so long as you hold the image, thought or idea that you will have to pawn your ring, creating and holding this image, thought or idea in fear and trembling, then the only thing God can do for you is to work out that image in material form the same as he did for you last month. You actually had to pawn your ring then, and while you paid your rent, yet you are in even worse condition today than you were then. You can continue to do this same thing again this month and keep it up until there is nothing left for God to do for you but to continue materializing lack and inharmony for you in every way. Or by using this same Universal Law which has brought you lack, but changing your application of it by changing the image, thought, idea, vision with which you fill your imagination, you can attract the money to you with which to pay your rent, get it in a perfectly legitimate and constructive manner and not have to pawn your ring either, and by continuing to make the new application which I will teach you you can be in a much better position this time next month instead of a worse one as you now are."

"Oh how can I do it, doctor," she asked.

"Just FILL your thought world, your imagination, with the thought, idea, image, vision, that you have your rent money NOW, and keep it FILLED. Every time the thought of lack comes to you displace it at once with the affirmative statement of 'I have the rent money NOW,' " I replied.

"How can I say 'I have the rent money NOW,' doctor," she asked, "when I know it's a lie, for I haven't it?"

"My dear girl," I said, "as long as you know you haven't it; as long as you know it's a lie, just so long will you continue to be without it, for God—the Universal Law—can only materialize for you according to your vision and the energy back of it, and he cannot furnish you with supply for your needs so long as you continue to create lack, fear, worry, anxiety, etc., in your consciousness, your imagination. When you learn to affirm that you have your rent money NOW with one-tenth the energy and creative power you use in affirming its lack, God will materialize it for you."

"Well, doctor, I will try," she said.

"That will not do," I answered.

"I will do the best I can, then," she said.

"That will not do," again I answered.

"I will do it," she said.

"Now I am sure you will succeed," I replied.

On the following Tuesday she came into my office with her face wreathed in smiles and, after greeting me, said, "Oh doctor, it is so wonderful. I hardly know how it was done, but it seemed as though every one in the world wanted to pay me money since I was here the other day, and I have collected enough money not only to pay my rent this month but was able to take my ring out of pawn today."
Everyday Experiences
by F.W. Sears M.P.
1916

MAN POSSESSES WITHIN HIMSELF ALL THE CREATIVE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE. ~ Dr. F.W. Sears

F.W. Sears was a pioneer in the field of self-help writing and teaching and his theories remain as relevant decades after his death as they were at the time of his writings in the 1910s and 1920s.