Listen To The Tramp Who Heard The Third Mind

Let me introduce you to a one time tramp who may, if you are ready, help you out of your financial woes instantly.

Let us assume if you are reading this you are ready to make a major shift in mind, in life.

I’m going to relate a story to you from Napoleon Hill’s Laws of Success. It is a message from a street person, Dr. Hill and myself that is still very timely today given our current world economy.

This illustration is used because it is such a perfect illustration of how The Third Mind works and how I use it in my coaching and facilitation work to bring out the best in people to help them better their best to do what it takes to succeed, and because there are so many in need of the inspiration it will deliver to you now as you read and after.

Perhaps you think it is not possible to better your best. If that is true of you, read every word that follows because the power of this message is charged especially for you. I’ll let Napoleon tell the story in his own words.

“One day a tramp presented himself at my office and asked for an interview. As I looked up from my work and greeted him he said, ‘I have come to see the man who wrote this little book,’ as he removed from his pocket a copy of a book entitled Self-confidence, which I had written many years previously. ‘It must have been the hand of fate,’ he continued, ‘that slipped this book into my pocket yesterday afternoon, because I was about ready to go out there and punch a hole in Lake Michigan. I had about come to the conclusion that everything and everybody, including God, had it in for me until I read this book, and it gave me a new viewpoint and brought me the courage and the hope that sustained me through the night. I made up my mind that if I could see the man who wrote this book he could help me get on my feet again. Now, I am here and I would like to know what you can do for a man like me.”

NOTE: This man’s “knowing” from within moved him into action guiding him every step of the way. He acted on the “knowing” when he made up his mind. Remember that phrase, “made up his mind.”

“While he was speaking I had been studying him from head to foot, and I am frank to admit that down deep in my heart I did not believe there was anything I could do for him, ( the “knowing” speaks to Dr. Hill) but I did wish to tell him so. The glassy stare in his eyes, the lines of discouragement on his face, the posture of his body, the ten days’ growth of beard on his face, the nervous manner about this man all conveyed tome the impression that he was hopeless, but I did not have the heart to tell him so, therefore I asked him to sit down and tell me his whole story. I asked him to be perfectly frank and tell me, as nearly as possible; just what had brought him down to the ragged edge of life. I promised him that after I had heard his entire story I would then tell him whether or not I could be of service to him. He related his story, in lengthy detail, the sum and substance of which was this: He had invested his entire fortune in a small manufacturing business. When the world war began in 1914, it was impossible for him to get the raw materials necessary in the operation of his factory, and he therefore failed. The loss of his money brok his heart and so disturbed his mind that he left his wife and children and became a tramp. He had actually brooded over his loss until he had reached the point at which he was contemplating suicide.

After he had finished his story, I said to him: ‘I have listened to you with a great deal of interest, and I wish that there was something which I could do to help you, but there is absolutely nothing.’

Please notice his answer did not look at all the way he thought it would. This is often the case with guidance from The Third Mind.

“He became as pale as he will be when he is laid away in a coffin, and settled back in his chair and dropped his chin on his chest as much as to say, ‘That settles it.’ I waited for a few seconds, then said:

‘While there is nothing that I can do for you, there is a man in this building to whom I will introduce you, if you wish, who can help you regain your lost fortune and put you back on your feet again.’ These words had barely fallen from my lips when he jumped up, grabbed me by the hands and said, ‘For God’s sake lead me to this man.’

It was encouraging to note that he had asked this ‘for God’s sake.’ This indicated that there ws till a spark of hope within his breast, so I took him by the arm and led him out into the laboratory where my psychological tests in character analysis were conducted, and stood with him in front of what looked to be a curtain over the door. I pulled the curtain aside and uncovered a tall looking-glass in which he saw himself from head to foot. Pointing my finger at the glass I said:

‘There stands the man to whom I promised to introduce you. There is the only man in this world who can put you back on your feet again, and unless you sit down and become acquainted with that man, as you never became acquainted with him before, you might just as well go on over and punch a hole’ in lake Michigan, because you will be of no value to yourself or to the world until you know this man better.’

I’m very glad he said it just that way. To become acquainted with yourself, your true character, is at the very heart of our personal power, the pearl of great price in life and that truth which Andrew Carnegie pointed to as a prerequisite to engaging the principle of The Master Mind when he told us, “Any man wishing to engage the cooperation of the minds of other men in a Master Mind alliance usually begins by taking complete charge of his own mind.” Keep this in mind as you read on.

He stepped over to the glass, rubbed his hands over his bearded face, studied himself from head to foot for a few moments, then stepped back, dropped his head and began to weep. I knew that the lesson had been driven home, so I led him back to the elevator and sent him away. I never expected to see him again, and doubted that the lesson would be sufficient to help him regain his place in the world, because he seemed to be too far gone for redemption. He seemed to be not only down, but almost out.

A few days later I met this man on the street. His transformation had been so complete that I hardly recognized him. He was walking briskly, with his head tilted back. That old, shifting, nervous posture of his body was gone. He was dressed in new clothes from head to foot. He looked prosperous and he felt prosperous. He stopped me and related what had happened to bring about his rapid transformation from a state of abject failure to one of hope and promise.

‘I was just on my way to your office,’ he explained, ‘to bring you the good news. I went out the very day that I was in your office, a down-and-out tramp and despite my appearance I sold myself at a salary of $3,000.00 a year. (read $60,000.00 in 2009 dollars) Think of it, man, three thousand dollars a year! And my employer advanced me money enough with which to buy some new clothes, as you can see for yourself. He also advanced me some money to send home to my family, and I am once more on the road to success. It seems like a dream when I think  that only a few days ago I had lost hope and faith and courage, and was actually contemplating suicide.

‘I was coming to tell you that one of these days, when you are least expecting me. I will pay you another visit, and when I do I will be a successful man. I will bring with me a check, signed in blank and made payable to you, and you may fill in the amount because you have saved me from myself by introducing me to myself – that self which I never knew until you stood me in front of that looking-glass an pointed out the real me.’

Write that phrase down and post it on the wall before reading another line because there is a “real me” inside you also. Now hear the lesson the teacher received from the student. Most of us never hear of these, so I joyfully share this one.

As that man turned and departed in the crowded streets of Chicago I saw, for the first time in my life, what strength and power and possibility lie hidden in the mind of the man who has never discovered the value of Self-reliance. Then and there I made up my mind that I , too, would stand in front of that same looking-glass and point an accusing finger at myself for not having discovered the lesson which I had helped another to learn.

Friends watch out for this one. This is like when we try to remember a name and it doesn’t’ come right way so we say “I forgot.” Then later when the name comes to mind we say, “that’s the name I forgot.” Wrong, that’s the name you just remembered. Both are true, yet lets reinforce the truth we want to build. It’s a subtle negative self communication that can and does undermine people without awareness of it. Being aware we can correct ourselves and say, “Yes, I remembered.”

I did stand before that same looking-glass, and as I did so I then and there fixed in my mind, as my definite purpose in life, the determination to help men and women discover the forces that lie sleeping within them.”

The man who’s story Hill related later became President of one of the largest and most successful concerns of its kind in America at that tie with a business extending from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico.

And, yes, that man did in fact make good on his promise to Napoleon returning a few years later with a signed blank check. Hill filled in the amount of $10,000.

Remember not so much from this story first the material demonstration but the action taken by the man in each instant when he made up his mind to take action. That is the secret to embracing your true character – listening to and following your own internal guidance mechanism.

Now cover the page below this line and answer without looking. So, did you get it? What was the principle in the looking-glass?

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Before I give you the principle remember the greatest value of the Synergy Success SPA comes to you when you learn to hear the story and identify the principle for yourself so you can apply it to your own life situation. So think about the story before you answer and before you look ahead to check your answer.

Okay, here it is:

Principle: You have within you right now exactly what you need to proceed from here to success. Recognize and embrace it. Take one step at a time.

Now how will you apply this principle this week?

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When? _________________________________________________

Congratulations!

Now, like the tramp in the story make up your mind to never look back.