TNT

1. The Power Within You is Real ("TNT")

Remember, T N T is a dangerously high explosive; so when you gather it closely, handle it carefully.

Discovering inner power. The author recounts a decades-long search for "that something," the secret to success and happiness, only to realize it was always within reach, like TNT in his pocket. This inherent power, available to everyone, is described as a high explosive capable of removing obstacles and straightening life's path, but it must be used carefully and only for good. Its existence is supported by teachings from the Bible, physics, and common sense.

Universal access. This power is not exclusive; it resides within every individual who seeks to learn and make progress. Whether understood spiritually, scientifically, or practically, opening one's mind allows this brilliant light to pour in. The author's personal breakthrough came after hitting a "stone wall" of fear and worry during a financial crisis, leading to a sudden "unfoldment" and understanding of this inner force.

Transformative potential. Accepting and understanding this power can turn your world upside down, bringing health, wealth, success, and happiness. It requires handling with caution, as misuse has historically led to destruction. The author's own transformation, from fear and despair to confidence and success, serves as a testament to its potential when properly understood and applied.

2. Your Mind Thinks in Pictures, Not Words

Did you know, for instance, that you actually do not think in words . . . you think in pictures!

Ancient mental process. Despite modern language, the human mind fundamentally operates by thinking in mental pictures, just like primitive man communicated through drawings. When you recall an experience, you see images in your mind's eye, and when someone describes something, you translate their words back into pictures to understand. This basic mechanism is crucial to understanding how your mind works.

Pictures influence reality. What you picture in your mind, especially when combined with strong feelings, acts like a magnet. This creative power within you responds to these mental images, attracting conditions, resources, opportunities, and people needed to manifest those pictures in your outer life. This applies to both desired outcomes and feared ones.

Creative power responds. The inner creative power doesn't reason or judge; it simply produces based on the mental pictures and the emotional intensity behind them. Therefore, the results you get in life depend directly on the kind of mental pictures you consistently present to this power. Understanding this allows you to consciously choose and direct your thoughts for better outcomes.

3. Faith and Feeling Energize Your Mental Pictures

Faith is the energizer of the creative power, "that something" within.

Faith activates power. Mental pictures alone are not enough; they must be energized by faith in yourself and faith in the power within. Doubt acts as a demagnetizer, weakening the creative power and leading to half-results, no results, or even wrong results. Believing that what you picture can come to pass is essential for the power to work effectively.

Feeling enhances pictures. Whether you are a visualizing type or a feeling type, strong emotions behind your mental pictures are crucial. If visualizing is difficult, focus on the feeling of having already achieved your desire. This emotional conviction unites with the creative power, making the manifestation process more potent.

Persistence and expectation. Hold your mental pictures resolutely and persistently, day after day, especially before retiring. Go about your life with the happy expectation that what you have pictured is in the process of materialization. This sustained faith and positive feeling, combined with effort, proves to the creative power that you mean business and helps attract everything needed to bring your picture to life.

4. Fear and Worry Are Destructive Forces

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

Fear works in reverse. Just as positive thoughts attract good, fear and worry are negative forces that attract the very things you dread. Job's ancient lament confirms that what he greatly feared came upon him, illustrating how negative mental pictures, energized by fear, use the same immutable law to attract undesirable outcomes. Fear is the "Great Destroyer."

Negative thoughts multiply. Worry is the handmaiden of fear, multiplying troubles rather than solving them. Constantly dwelling on problems, aches, or negative possibilities reinforces them in your consciousness. This repetition of negative thoughts acts like a snowball rolling downhill, gathering momentum and potentially leading to an avalanche of unhappy conditions.

Control your emotions. To overcome fear and worry, you must gain control of your emotional reactions. Recognize when you are expressing fear-based thoughts ("I'm afraid," "I'm worried," "Nothing will turn out right") and consciously replace them with positive, courageous thinking. This requires exercising your will and maintaining a positive attitude consistently, not just for a few minutes.

5. Indecision Paralyzes; Decision Magnetizes

There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.

Indecision's cost. Indecision is a major obstacle, wrecking more lives than perhaps any other cause. It keeps you stuck, unable to move forward with assurance or security. A mind unsettled by indecision can only attract unsettled conditions, preventing the creative power within from working effectively.

Decision focuses power. The creative power within acts like a magnet, but it needs a definite point to focus its attraction. Indecision pulls in multiple directions, confusing and neutralizing this magnetic force. Making a clear decision, however, instantly magnetizes your mind, aligning your inner power to attract what you have chosen.

Act with conviction. Once you decide what you want, you must back it with will power, stamina, and dynamic force. Even a "wrong" decision acted upon is often better than no decision at all, as it provides experience and momentum. Decision, born of courage and faith, starts an immediate magnetic action that rearranges your life's elements and gives you the vitality to move forward.

6. Repetition Reinforces Your Mental Pictures

Everything you've ever memorized was impressed upon your consciousness through repetition.

Tap-tap-tap effect. Repetition is a powerful force, whether it's the physical pounding of a pneumatic chisel or the constant exposure to advertising slogans. In the mental realm, repeating a thought or visualizing a picture over and over impresses it deeply upon the subconscious mind. This "tap, tap, tap" process causes the creative power within to produce results based on the repeated input.

Consistent focus. Successful people live with their ideas, holding their objectives constantly in mind through consistent repetition of their mental pictures. This isn't wishful thinking; it's a deliberate, persistent effort to keep the creative power focused on the desired outcome. The more you repeat and reinforce your picture, the more powerful its magnetic attraction becomes.

Building habits. Repetition is also the foundation of habit formation. Whether good or bad, repeated thoughts and actions create grooves in the mind. To change a negative habit or thought pattern, you must consciously create a new groove by repeating positive thoughts and actions. Use the power of repetition to impress right thoughts and actions upon your subconscious.

7. Listen to Your Inner Voice (Intuition)

Mahatma Gandhi upon arriving in England to seek a solution of India's problems, said: "I'm doing this because a voice within me speaks."

Guidance from within. Great men and women throughout history, like Gandhi, Edison, and Lincoln, have listened to an "inner voice" or intuition for guidance. This isn't an external sound but an unmistakable inner knowing, a sudden idea, conviction, or urge that comes when the mind is quiet and receptive. It provides direction when important decisions are needed.

Receptivity is key. To hear this voice, you must quiet the conscious mind and relax the body, removing the "static" of worry, doubt, and indecision. Edison, for example, would take "cat naps" after research to allow the answer to "flash" from his subconscious. This inner intelligence is always trying to serve you, often aware of conditions your conscious mind knows nothing about.

Trust your hunches. Learn to recognize genuine intuitive flashes, which come without premeditation, as distinct from wishful thinking or fear-driven imagination. Trust these urges and act upon them, even if they seem illogical at the moment. Following your intuition, which is part of the creative power within, can guide you to avoid problems and attract opportunities, sometimes in ways you couldn't consciously plan.

8. Positive Thinking Attracts; Negative Repels

Never forget: like always attracts like!

Universal law. The principle that "like attracts like" is a fundamental law operating in the mental realm, similar to electromagnetism in physics. Positive mental attitudes attract positive results and experiences, while negative attitudes attract negative ones. This is not an accident but a direct consequence of the law of cause and effect.

Conscious choice. You have the power to direct your thoughts and choose your mental attitude. If you wake up expecting a bad day, you are likely to create one through your negative thinking. Conversely, expecting good things makes you receptive to them and magnetizes conditions to bring them about. Your current situation is largely the sum total of your past mental and emotional attitudes.

Influence on others. Your mental attitude also affects those around you. A depressed attitude can bring others down, while enthusiasm and positive energy are contagious, inspiring and attracting others. By maintaining a positive mental attitude, you not only improve your own life but also contribute positively to the collective thought environment.

9. Write Down and Visualize Your Desires

Write it down!

Crystallize your desires. Writing down your desires helps to clarify and organize your thoughts, creating a clear "blueprint" for the creative power within to work from. It makes your wishes tangible and helps your mind focus its attention on them. This is especially helpful if you find pure mental visualization challenging.

Reinforce through repetition. Keep your written desires visible and review them frequently throughout the day. This repetition reinforces the mental picture in your subconscious mind, increasing its magnetic power. Some people keep cards with their desires or a journal labeled "My Heart's Desires" to facilitate this process.

Track progress and give thanks. Regularly review your written desires to track your progress. As you achieve objectives, mark them as "closed" and express gratitude to the power within. This continuous process of setting goals, visualizing, writing, working, and acknowledging results fuels further unfoldment and development.

10. Your Mind Can Facilitate Healing

Now, get this important point: if your mind has the power to make you sick, through wrong thinking, it obviously has the power to make you well, to heal you, through right thinking!

Mind-body connection. Chronic negative thoughts and emotional reactions like fear, worry, hate, and resentment can upset the body's chemistry and lead to physical ailments. The body reflects the attitudes of the mind. Recognizing this means that changing your thinking can positively impact your health.

Healing through thought. The same creative power within that can be negatively influenced by wrong thinking can also be directed to heal. While not a guaranteed cure-all, a right mental attitude significantly aids recovery from illness. Simple techniques like positive affirmations ("Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better") work by impressing the subconscious through repetition.

Conscious direction. Healing requires more than just wishing; it involves consciously changing the underlying negative mental and emotional patterns that contributed to the illness. Visualizing the body or affected area as healthy and functioning perfectly, combined with unwavering faith, directs the creative power towards restoration. This principle can even extend to influencing healing in others or animals, suggesting a universal connection through feeling and consciousness.

11. Suggestion Influences Self and Others

Suggestion is one of the most powerful forces in the world.

Power of suggestion. Suggestion, whether positive or negative, has a profound impact on the mind, especially the subconscious. Persistent negative suggestions from others or oneself can lead to illness or failure, while positive suggestions can build confidence and facilitate success. Advertising and legal strategies effectively use repetition and emotional appeal to influence belief through suggestion.

Influencing others. Getting others to think as you do is essentially using the power of suggestion. Believing in your product or idea and conveying that enthusiasm creates a powerful, contagious vibration that influences others positively. Conversely, expressing pessimism or doubt can tap others down and repel opportunities.

Self-suggestion. You can use suggestion to build yourself up. By consciously giving yourself positive suggestions ("I will improve," "I am gaining control," "I am developing greater health") and visualizing yourself as you want to be, you impress these ideas upon your subconscious. This requires analyzing yourself, accepting constructive criticism, and replacing negative self-talk with positive affirmations, maintaining belief in yourself despite external doubts.

12. Misusing the Power Brings Destruction

If you use this power wrongly, it will blow your hat skyhigh—and you, and all you hold dear, with it.

Peril of misuse. The creative power within is neutral; it responds to whatever mental pictures and intentions you give it, whether good or evil. Using this power for selfish gain, to take advantage of others, or to dominate can bring temporary success but ultimately leads to self-destruction. History is filled with examples of leaders who misused this power and met tragic ends.

Self-inflicted traps. Attempting to harm or manipulate others through wrong thinking creates a negative vibration in your own consciousness. The law of "like attracts like" means that what you plot against others, you are unknowingly attracting back to yourself. The law of compensation ensures that you cannot ultimately get away with misusing this power.

Responsibility and wisdom. It is crucial to use this power wisely and ethically. Don't let ego expand with success. Listen to your conscience and question your intentions. Ensure you are ready for the responsibilities that come with the opportunities you attract. Progress should be earned through effort and deserving, not gained through manipulation. The right use of this power, for good and in harmony with others, is the path to lasting happiness and universal well-being.

Last updated: May 19, 2025