There is a Science of getting rich, and it is an exact science, like
algebra or arithmetic. There are certain laws which govern the process
of acquiring riches; once these laws are learned and obeyed by any man,
he will get rich with mathematical certainty.
The ownership of money and property comes as a result of doing things
in a certain way; those who do things in this Certain Way, whether on
purpose or accidentally, get rich; while those who do not do things in
this Certain Way, no matter how hard they work or how able they are,
remain poor.
It is a natural law that like causes always produce like effects; and,
therefore, any man or woman who learns to do things in this Certain
Way will infallibly get rich.
That the above statement is true is shown by the following facts:--
Getting rich is not a matter of environment, for, if it were, all the
people in certain neighborhoods would become wealthy; the people of one
city would all be rich, while those of other towns would all be poor;
or the inhabitants of one state would roll in wealth, while those of an
adjoining state would be in poverty.
But everywhere we see rich and poor living side by side, in the same
environment, and often engaged in the same vocations. When two men are
in the same locality, and in the same business, and one gets rich while
the other remains poor, it shows that getting rich is not, primarily,
a matter of environment. Some environments may be more favorable
than others, but when two men in the same business are in the same
neighborhood, and one gets rich while the other fails, it indicates
that getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way.
And further, the ability to do things in this Certain Way is not due
solely to the possession of talent, for many people who have great
talent remain poor, while others who have very little talent get rich.
Studying the people who have got rich, we find that they are an average
lot in all respects, having no greater talents and abilities than other
men. It is evident that they do not get rich because they possess
talents and abilities that other men have not, but because they happen
to do things in a Certain Way.
Getting rich is not the result of saving, or “thrift”; many very
penurious people are poor, while free spenders often get rich.
Nor is getting rich due to doing things which others fail to do; for
two men in the same business often do almost exactly the same things,
and one gets rich while the other remains poor or becomes a bankrupt.
From all these things, we must come to the conclusion that getting rich
is the result of doing things in a Certain Way.
If getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way, and if
like causes always produce like effects, then any man or woman who can
do things in that way can become rich, and the whole matter is brought
within the domain of exact science.
The question arises here, whether this Certain Way may not be so
difficult that only a few may follow it. This cannot be true, as we
have seen, so far as natural ability is concerned. Talented people get
rich, and blockheads get rich; intellectually brilliant people get
rich, and very stupid people get rich; physically strong people get
rich, and weak and sickly people get rich.
Some degree of ability to think and understand is, of course,
essential; but in so far as natural ability is concerned, any man
or woman who has sense enough to read and understand these words can
certainly get rich.
Also, we have seen that it is not a matter of environment. Location
counts for something; one would not go to the heart of the Sahara and
expect to do successful business.
Getting rich involves the necessity of dealing with men, and of being
where there are people to deal with; and if these people are inclined
to deal in the way you want to deal, so much the better. But that is
about as far as environment goes.
If anybody else in your town can get rich, so can you; and if anybody
else in your state can get rich, so can you.
Again, it is not a matter of choosing some particular business or
profession. People get rich in every business, and in every profession;
while their next door neighbors in the same vocation remain in poverty.
It is true that you will do best in a business which you like, and
which is congenial to you; and if you have certain talents which are
well developed, you will do best in a business which calls for the
exercise of those talents.
Also, you will do best in a business which is suited to your locality;
an ice-cream parlor would do better in a warm climate than in
Greenland, and a salmon fishery will succeed better in the Northwest
than in Florida, where there are no salmon.
But, aside from these general limitations, getting rich is not
dependent upon your engaging in some particular business, but upon your
learning to do things in a Certain Way. If you are now in business, and
anybody else in your locality is getting rich in the same business,
while you are _not_ getting rich, it is because you are not doing
things in the same Way that the other person is doing them.
No one is prevented from getting rich by lack of capital. True, as you
get capital the increase becomes more easy and rapid; but one who has
capital is already rich, and does not need to consider how to become
so. No matter how poor you may be, if you begin to do things in the
Certain Way you will begin to get rich; and you will begin to have
capital. The getting of capital is a part of the process of getting
rich; and it is a part of the result which invariably follows the doing
of things in the Certain Way.
You may be the poorest man on the continent, and be deeply in debt; you
may have neither friends, influence, nor resources; but if you begin to
do things in this Way, you must infallibly begin to get rich, for like
causes must produce like effects. If you have no capital, you can get
capital; if you are in the wrong business, you can get into the right
business; if you are in the wrong location, you can go to the right
location; and you can do so _by beginning in your present business and
in your present location_ to do things in the Certain Way which causes
success.