Lesson 17 and 18 of the Power of Concentration. The Power of Concentration by Theron Q. Dumont. Lesson 17 and 18. The Power of Concentration by Andrea Fiori. Lesson 17. Ideals Developed by Concentration. Through our paltry stir and strife close the wished ideal and longing molds and clay what life carves in the marble reel. Lowell. We often hear people spoken of as idealists. The fact is we are all idealists to a certain extent and upon the ideals we picture depends our ultimate success. You must have the mental image if you are to produce the material thing. Everything is first created in the mind. When you control your thoughts you become a creator. You receive divine ideas and shape them to your individual needs. All things of this world are to you just what you think they are. Your happiness and success depend upon your ideals. You are responsible for every condition you go through either consciously or unconsciously. The next step you take determines the succeeding step. Remember this. It is a valuable lesson. By concentrating on each step as you go along you can save a lot of waste steps and will be able to choose a straight path instead of a roundabout road. Concentrate your ideals and they will become material actualities. Through concentration we work out our ideals in physical life. Your future depends upon the ideals you are forming now. Your past ideals are determining your present. Therefore if you want a bright future you must begin to prepare for it today. If persons could only realize that they can only injure themselves, that when they are apparently injuring others they are really injuring themselves, what a different world this would be. We say a man is as changeable as the weather. What is meant is his ideals change. Every time you change your ideal you think differently.  Therefore realize the importance of holding to your ideal until it becomes a reality.  This is your ideal of a person of real strength and poise.  For the time being you forget your ideal. If you had just thought a second of what a well poised person implies you would not have become angry.  Each time we allow our ideals to be shattered we also weaken our willpower. Holding to your ideals develops willpower. Don't forget this. Why do so many men fail? Because they don't hold to their ideal until it becomes a mental habit. When they concentrate on it to the exclusion of all other things it becomes a reality. I am that which I think myself to be. Ideals are reflected to us from the unseen spirit. The laws of matter and spirit are not the same. One can be broken but not the other. To the extent that ideals are kept is your future assured. It was never intended that man should suffer. He has brought it upon himself by disobeying the laws of nature. He knows them so cannot plead ignorance. Why does he break them? Because he does not pay attention to those ideals flashed to him from the infinite spirit. Life is but one continuous unfoldment and you can be happy every step of the way or miserable as you please. It all depends upon how we entertain those silent whisperings that come from we know not where. We cannot hear them with mortal ear but from the silence they come as if they were dreams. Not to you or me alone but to everyone. In this way the grandest thoughts come to us, to use or abuse. So search not in treasured volumes for noble thoughts but within and bright and glowing vision will come to be realized now and hereafter. You must give some hours to concentrated, consistent, persistent thought.  No man gets over a fence by wishing himself on the other side. He must climb. No man gets out of the rut of dull, tiresome, monotonous life. By merely wishing himself out of the rut he must climb. If you are standing still or going backward there is something wrong. You are the man to find out what is wrong. Don't think that you are neglected or not understood or not appreciated. Such thoughts are the thoughts of failure. Think hard about the fact that men who have got what you envy got it by working for it. Don't pity yourself, criticize yourself.  Lesson 18. Mental Control Through Creation I attended a banquet of inventors recently. Each inventor gave a short talk on something he thought would be accomplished in the future. Many very much needed things were spoken of. One inventor spoke of the possibilities of wireless telephone. Distance, he said, would shortly be annihilated. He thought we would soon be able to talk to the man in the submarine forty fathoms below the surface and a thousand miles away. When he got through he asked if there were any that doubted what he said. No one spoke up. This was not a case of tactful politeness, as inventors like to argue, but a case where no one present really doubted that the inventor's vision would, in the future, materialize. These shrewd men, some real geniuses, all thought we would in time be able to talk to those a thousand miles away without media. Now if we can make an instrument so wonderful that we can send wireless messages a thousand miles, is there any reason why we should not, through mental control, transmit messages from one person to another? The wireless message should not be as easy to send as the projected thought. The day will come when all business will employ highly developed persons to send out influences. These influences will be so dominating that employees will be partly controlled by them, and so you will profit more and more by your mental powers and depend on them to draw you to all forces of a helping nature. You will be constantly sending out suggestions to your employees and friends. They will receive these unconsciously. But in case yours is the stronger personality, they will carry them out the same as if you had spoken them. This is being done even today. A finely organized company secures the combined effort of all its men. They may be each doing a different kind of work, but all work to bring about the very best results. The whole atmosphere is impregnated with a high standard of workmanship. Everyone feels he must do his best. He could not be in such surroundings and be satisfied to do anything but his best work. A business will exceed only to the extent that the efforts of all are coordinated toward one result. At least one person is needed to direct all toward the desired end. The person at the head does not have to exactly outline to the others what steps to take, but he must possess the mental power of control over others. An up-to-date business letter is not written in a casual, commonplace way today. The writer tries to convey something he thinks the receiver will be interested to know. In this way he awakens a responsive spirit. Just the addition of a word or two will change a letter of the matter-of-fact style to one that compels a response. It is not always what is actually in a letter, but the spirit which it breathes that brings the results. That intangible something that defies analysis is the projected thought of the matter that brings back the harvest that it claims. But we should not always claim success for ourselves only. If you are anxious that some friend or relative should succeed, think of this person as becoming successful. Picture him in the position you would like to see him in. If he has a weakness, desire and command that it be strengthened, think of his shortcomings which belong to his negative nature as being replaced by positive qualities. Take a certain part of the day to send him thoughts of up-building nature. You can in this way arouse his mental powers into activity, and once aroused they will assert themselves and claim their own. We can accomplish a great deal more than many of us are ready to believe by sending to another our direct, positive and controlling suggestions of leadership, but whether a man is a success or not is greatly determined by the way he acts on the suggestions he receives. We either advance or decline. We never stand still. Every time we accomplish something it gives us ability to do greater things. The bigger the attempt undertaken, the greater the things accomplished in the future. As a business grows the head of the business also has to grow. He must advance and be ever the guiding influence. By his power to control he inspires confidence in those associated with him. Even employees are superior to their employers in some qualities, and, if they had studied instead of neglected their development, they could have been employers of more commanding influence than those whom they serve. Through your mental power you can generate in another enthusiasm and the spirit of success which somehow furnishes an impetus to do something worthwhile. In concentrated mental control there is a latent power more potent than physical force. The person becomes aware that the attitude of the mind has a power of controlling, directing and governing other forces. He has been placed in an attitude capable of acquiring that which he desires. All of us, no matter how strong we are, are affected by the mental forces of our environment. There is no one that can remain neutral to influences. The mind cannot be freed from the forces of a place. If the environment of your place of business is not helpful it will be harmful. That is why a change of position will often do a person a great deal of good. No person was ever intended to live alone.  The mind becomes narrow, the mental powers weaken. Living alone often causes some of the milder forms of insanity. If children do not play with those their own age, but associate with only older people, they will take on the actions of the older people. The same is true of older persons if they associate with people younger than they are. They will take on the spirit of youth. If you wish to retain your youth you need the influences of youth. Like attracts like all over the world. The thought element plays a great part in our lives. Every business must not only command physical effort but it must also command thought effort. There must be coordination of thought. All employers should aim to secure employees that think along similar lines. They will work in fuller sympathy with each other. They will better understand each other. This enables them to help each other, which would be utterly impossible if they were not in sympathy with each other. It is this that goes to make up a perfect organization, which directs and influences them toward the one end. Instead of each person being a separate unit, each one is like a spoke in a big wheel. Each member carries his own load, and he would not think of shirking. One working in such an atmosphere could not help turning out his best work. All great leaders must be able to inspire this cooperative spirit.  Then they make their assistance realize the value of mental control. Soon there is a close bond between them. They are working toward a single purpose. They profit by their combined effort. The result is that they accomplish much. If your business is conducted in the right spirit, you can instill your thoughts and your ideas into your employees. Your methods and ideas become theirs. They don't know it, but your mental forces are shaping their work. They are just as certain to produce results as any physical force in nature. The up-to-date businessman of the future is going to take pains to get his employees to think and reason better. He will not want them to become depressed or discouraged. There is time that instead of being wasted, he will endeavor to have them use in concentrated effort that will be profitable to both employer and employed. There must be more of the spirit of justice entering into the business of the future. There is a firm I know that will not hire an employee until he has filled out an application blank. No doubt those that fill it out think it is a foolishness, but it is not. A capable manager can look over this application blank and pretty nearly tell if this person will fit into his management. The main thing he wants to know is the applicant's capacity for efficient, cooperative effort. He wants persons that have faith in themselves. He wants them to realize that when they talk of misfortunes and become blue, they are likely to communicate the same depressing influence to others. The up-to-date manager wants to guard against hiring employees who will obstruct his success. You must realize that every moment spent in thinking of your difficulties of the past, every moment spent in bad company, is attracting to you all that is bad, is attracting influences that must be shaken off before you can advance. Many firms prefer to hire employees that never worked before so that they have nothing to unlearn. They are then not trained, but have had no bad business habits to overcome. They are more easily guided and graphs the new materials more effectively because they are not contrary to what they have already learned. They are at once started on the right road, and as they cooperate readily they receive the mental support of the management and learning the methods that have been perfected. This inspires confidence in themselves and they soon become efficient and, finally, skilled workers. Most big business firms today employ efficiency experts. Each day or week they are in a different department. They earn their money because they familiarize persons with very little business experience, with plans that have taken the expert years of training and much money to perfect. The attitude we take has a great deal more to do with our success than most of us realize. We must be able to generate those forces that are helpful. There is a wonderful power in the thought rightly controlled and projected, and we must, through concentration, develop this power to the fullest possible extent. We are surrounded by many forces of which we know but little at present. Our knowledge of these is to be wonderfully increased. Each year we learn more about these psychic forces which are full of possibilities of which we are not even dimly conscious. We must believe in mental control, learn more about it, and use it if we want to command these higher powers and forces which will unquestionably direct the lives of countless future generations. End of Lesson 18 Lessons 19 and 20 of The Power of Concentration This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Power of Concentration by Theron Q. Dumont Lessons 19 and 20 Read by Andrea Fiori Lesson 19 A Concentrated Will Development New Method You will find in this chapter a most effective and most practical method of developing the will. You can develop a strong one if you want to. You can make your will a dynamo to draw you to untold power. Exercises are given which will, if practiced, strengthen your will, just as you would strengthen your muscles by athletic exercises. In starting to do anything, we must first commence with elementary principles. Simple exercises will be given. It is impossible to estimate the ultimate good to be derived from the mental cultivation that comes through these attempts at concentration. Even the simple exercises are not to be thought useless. In no respect, writes Dr. Oppenheim, can a man show a finer quality of will power than in his own private, intimate life. We are all subjected to certain temptations. The will decides whether we will be just or unjust, pure of thought, charitable in opinion, forebearing and overlooking other shortcomings, where we live up to our highest standard. Since these are all controlled by the will, we should find time for plenty of exercises for training of the will in our daily life. You, of course, realize that your will should be trained. You must also realize that to do this requires effort that you alone can command. No one can call it forth for you. To be successful in these exercises you must practice them in a spirit of seriousness and earnestness. I can show you how to train your will, but your success depends upon your mastery and application of these methods. New Methods of Will Training Select a quiet room where you will not be interrupted. Have a watch to determine the time, and a notebook in which to enter observations. Start each exercise with date and time of day. Exercise 1 Time Decided on Select some time of the day when most convenient. Sit in a chair and look at the door knob for ten minutes. Then write down what you experienced. At first it will seem strange and unnatural. You will find it hard to hold one position for ten minutes. But keep as still as you can. The time will seem long, for it will probably be the first time you ever sat and did nothing for ten minutes. You will find your thoughts wandering from the door knob, and you will wonder what there can be in this exercise. Repeat this exercise for six days. Ten P.M. Second Day Notes You should be able to sit quieter, and the time should pass more quickly. You will probably feel a little stronger because of gaining a better control of your will. It will brace you up as you have kept your resolution. Ten P.M. Third Day Notes It may be a little harder for you to concentrate on the door knob as perhaps you had a very busy day and your mind kept trying to revert to what you had been doing during the day. Keep on trying and you will finally succeed in banishing all foreign thoughts. Then you should feel a desire to gain still more control. There is a feeling of power that comes over you when you are able to carry out your will. This exercise will make you feel bigger and it awakens a sense of nobility and manliness. You will say, I find that I can actually do what I want to, and can draw foreign thoughts out. The exercise I can now see is valuable. Ten P.M. Fourth Day Notes I found that I could look at the door knob and concentrate my attention on it at once. Have overcome the tendency to move my legs. No other thoughts try to enter as I have established the fact that I can do what I want to do and do not have to be directed. I feel that I am gaining in mental strength. I can now see the wonderful value of being the master of my own will-force. I know now if I make a resolution I will keep it. I have more self-confidence and can feel my self-control increasing. Ten P.M. Fifth Day Notes Each day I seem to increase the intensity of my concentration. I feel that I can center my attention on anything I wish. Ten P.M. Six Day Notes I can instantly center my whole attention on the door knob. Feel that I have thoroughly mastered this exercise and that I am ready for another. You have practiced this exercise enough, but before you start another I want you to write a summary of just how successful you were in controlling the flitting impulses of the mind and will. You will find that this is an excellent practice. There is nothing more beneficial to the mind than to pay close attention to its wonderful subtle activities. Exercise Two Secure a package of playing cards. Select some time to do the exercise. Each day at the appointed time take the pack in one hand and then start laying them down on top of each other just as slowly as you can with an even motion. Try to get them as even as possible. Each card laid down should completely cover the under one. Do this exercise for six days. First day. Notes. Task will seem tedious and tiresome. Requires the closest concentration to make each card completely cover the preceding one. You will probably want to lay them down faster. It requires patience to lay them down so slowly, but benefit is lost if not so placed. You will find that at first your motions will be jerky and impetuous. It will require a little practice before you gain an easy control over your hands and arms. You probably have never tried to do anything in such a calm way. It will require the closest attention of your will. But you will find that you are acquiring a calmness that you never had before. You are gradually acquiring new powers. You recognize how impulsive and impetuous that you have been and how by using your will you can control your temperament. Second day. Notes. You start laying the cards down slowly. You will find that by practice you can lay them down much faster, but you want to lay them down slowly and therefore you have to watch yourself. The slow, steady movement is weary some, but you have to conquer the desire of wanting to hurry up. Soon you will find that you can go slowly or fast at will. Third day. Notes. You still find it hard to go slowly. Your will urges you to go faster. This is especially true if you are impulsive, as the impulsive character finds it very difficult to do anything slowly and deliberately. It goes against the grain. This exercise still is tiresome, but when you do it it braces you up mentally. You are accomplishing something you do not like to do. It teaches you how to concentrate on disagreeable tasks. Writing these notes down you will find very helpful. Fourth day. Notes. I find that I am beginning to place the cards in a mathematical way. I find one card is not completely covering another. I am getting a little careless and must be more careful. I command my will to concentrate more. It does not seem so hard to bring it under control. Fifth day. Notes. I find that I am overcoming my jerky movements. That I can lay the cards down slowly and steadily. I feel that I am rapidly gaining more poise. I am getting better control over my will each day and my will completely controls my movements. I begin to look on my will as a great governing power. I would not think of parting with the knowledge of will I have gained. I find it is a good exercise and know it will help me to accomplish my tasks. Sixth day. Notes. I begin to feel the wonderful possibilities of the will. It gives me strength to think of the power of will. I am able to do so much more and better work now that I realize that I can control my will action. Whatever my task, my will is concentrated on it. I am to keep my will centered there until the task is finished. The more closely and definitely I determine what I shall do, the more easily the will carries it out. Determination imparts compelling force to the will. It exerts itself more. The will and the end act and react on each other. Seventh day. Notes. Now try to do everything you do today faster. Don't hurry or become nervous. Just try to do everything faster, but in a steady manner. You will find that the exercises you have practiced in retardation have steadied your nerves and thereby made it possible to increase your speed. The will is under your command. Make it carry out resolutions rapidly. This is how you build up your self-control and your self-command. It is then that the human machine acts as its author dictates. You certainly should now be able to judge of the great benefit that comes from writing out your introspection each day. Of course you will not have the exact experience given in these examples, but some of these will fit your case. Be careful to study your experiences carefully and make as true a report as you can. Describe your feelings just as they seem to you. Allow your fancies to color your report and it will be worthless. You have pictured conditions as you see them. In a few months, if you again try the same exercises, you will find your report very much better. By these introspection we learn to know ourselves better and with this knowledge can wonderfully increase our efficiency. As you become used to writing out your report, it will become more accurate. You thus learn how to govern your impulses, activities, and weaknesses. Each person should try to plan exercises that will best fit his needs.  If you cannot devote ten minutes a day to the experiments, start with five minutes and gradually increase the time. The exercises given are only intended for examples. Will Training Without Exercise There are many people that do not want to take the time to practice exercises, so the following instructions for training the will are given to them. By willing and realizing, the will grows. Therefore, the more you will, the more it grows and builds up power. No matter whether your task is big or small, make it a rule to accomplish it in order to fortify your will. Form the habit of focusing your will and all its strength upon the subject to be achieved. You form in this way the habit of getting a thing done, of carrying out some plan. You acquire the feeling of being able to accomplish that which lies before you, no matter what it is. This gives you confidence and a sense of power that you get in no other way. You know when you can make a resolution that you will keep it. You do not tackle new tasks in a half-hearted way, but with a bold, brave spirit. We know that the will is able to carry us over big obstacles. Having this despair never claims us for a victim. We have wills and are going to use them with more and more intensity, thus giving us the power to make our resolution stronger, our actions freer, and our lives finer and better. The education of the will should not be left to chance. It is only definite tasks that will render it energetic, ready, persevering, and consistent. The only way it can be done is by self-study and self-discipline. The cost is effort, time, and patience, but the returns are valuable. There are no magical processes leading to will development, but the development of your will works wonders for you, because it gives you self-mastery, personal power, and energy of character. CONCENTRATION OF THE WILL TO WIN The adaptability of persons to their business environment is more a matter of determination than anything else. In this age we hear a good deal of talk about a man's aptitudes. Some of his aptitudes, some of his powers, may be developed to a wonderful extent, but he is really an unknown quality until all his latent powers are developed to their highest possible extent. He may be a failure in one line and a big success in another. There are many successful men that did not succeed well at what they first undertook, but they profited by their efforts in different directions, and this fitted them for higher things. Whereas had they refused to adjust themselves to their environment, the tide of progress would have swept them into oblivion. My one aim and all my works is to try and arouse in the individual the effort and determination to develop his full capacities, his highest possibilities. One thing I want you to realize at the start, that it is not so much ability as it is the will to do that counts. Ability is very plentiful, but organizing initiative and creative power are not plentiful. It is easy to get employees, but to get someone to train them is harder. Their abilities must be directed to the work they can do. They must be shown how, while at work, to conserve their energy, and they must be taught to work in harmony with others, for most business concerns are dominated by a single personality, concentrating on driving force within. We are all conscious, at times, that we have somewhere within us an active driving force that is ever trying to push us onward to better deeds. It is that force that makes us feel determined at times to do something worthwhile. It is not thought, emotion, or feeling. This driving force is something distinct from thought or emotion. It is a quality of the soul, and therefore it has a consciousness all its own. It is the I will do of the will. It is the force that makes the will concentrate. Many have felt this force working within them, driving them on to accomplish their tasks. All great men and women become conscious that this supreme and powerful force is their ally in carrying out great resolutions. This driving force is within all, but until you reach a certain stage you do not become aware of it. It is most useful to the worthy. It springs up naturally without any thought of training. It comes unprovoked and leaves unnoticed. That's what this force is we do not know, but we do know that it is what intensifies the will in demanding just and harmonious action. The ordinary human being merely as merchandise, if he could be sold as a slave, would be worth ten thousand dollars. If somebody gave you a five thousand dollar automobile you would take very good care of it. You wouldn't put sand in the carburetor, or mix water with the gasoline, or drive it furiously over rough roads, or leave it out to freeze at night. Are you quite sure that you take care of your own body, your own health, your own real property, as well as you would take care of a five thousand dollar automobile if it were given to you? The man who mixes whiskey with his blood is more foolish than a man would be if he mixed water with gasoline in his car. You can get another car, you cannot get another body. The man who misses sleep lives irregularly, bolts his food so that his blood supply is imperfect.  Do you try to talk with men and women, who know more than you do, and do you listen rather than try to tell them what you know? There are a hundred thousand men of fifty and men of sixty running along in the old rut, any one of whom could get out of it and be counted among the successful men if only the spark could be found to explode the energy within them, now going to waste. Each man must study and solve his own problem. Lesson 20 Concentration Reviewed In bringing this book to a close I again want to impress you with the inestimable value of concentration, because those that lack this great power, or rather, that fail to develop it, will generally suffer from poverty and unhappiness, and their life's work will most often be a failure, while those that develop and use it will make the most of their life's opportunities. I have tried to make these lessons practical, and I am sure that many will find them so. Of course the mere reading of them will not do you a great deal of good. But if the exercises are practiced and worked out, and apply to your own individual case, you should be able to acquire the habit of concentration, in such measure as to greatly improve your work and increase your happiness. But remember, the best instruction can only help you to the extent to which you put it into practice. I have found it an excellent idea to read a book through first, and then reread it, and when you come to an idea that appeals to you, stop and think about it, then, if applicable to you, repeat it over and over, that you will be impressed by it. In this way you can form the habit of picking out all the good things you read, and these will have a wonderful influence on your character. In this closing chapter I want to impress you to concentrate on what you do, instead of forming most of your work unconsciously or automatically, and tell you of formed habits that give you the mastery of your work and your life powers and forces. Very often the hardest part of work is thinking about it. When you get right into it, it does not seem so disagreeable. This is the experience of many when they first commence to learn how to concentrate. So never think it a difficult task, but undertake it with the I Will Spirit, and you will find that its acquirement will be as easy as its application will be useful. Read the life of any great man, and you will generally find that the dominant quality that made him successful was the ability to concentrate. Study those that have been failures, and you will often find that the lack of concentration was the cause. One thing at a time, and that done well, is a good rule, as I can tell. All men are not born with equal powers, but it is the way they are used that counts. Opportunity knocks at every man's door. Those that are successful hear the knock and grasp the chance. The failures believe that luck and circumstances are against them. They always blame someone else instead of themselves for their lack of success. We get what is coming to us, nothing more or less. Anything within the universe is within your grasp. Just use your latent powers, and it is yours. You are aided by both visible and invisible forces when you concentrate on either to do or to be. Everyone is capable of some concentration, for without it you would be unable to say or do anything. People differ in the power to concentrate, because some are unable to will, to hold the thought in mind for the required time. The amount of determination used determines who has the strongest will. No one's is stronger than yours. Think of this whenever you go against a strong opponent. Never say, I can't concentrate today. You can do it just the minute you say I will. You can keep your thoughts from straying, just the same as you can control your arms. And once you realize this fact, you can train the will to concentrate on anything you wish. If it wanders, it is your fault. You are not utilizing your will. But don't blame it on your will and say it is weak. The will is just the same, whether you act as if it were weak or as if it were strong. When you act as if your will is strong you say, I can. When you act as if it were weak you say, I can't. It requires the same amount of effort in each case. Some men get in the habit of thinking I can't and they fail. Others think I can and succeed. So remember, it is for you to decide whether you will join the army of I can't or I can. The big mistake with so many is that they don't realize that when they say I can't, they really say I won't try. You cannot tell what you can do until you try. Can't means you will not try. Never say you cannot concentrate. For when you do, you are really saying that you refuse to try. Whenever you feel like saying I can't, say instead, I possess all will and I can use as much as I wish. You only use as much as you have trained yourself to use. An experiment to try. Before going to bed tonight, repeat, I am going to choose my own thoughts and to hold them as long as I choose.  My will is as strong as anyone else. While going to work the next morning, repeat this over. Keep this up for a month and you will find you will have a better opinion of yourself. These are the factors that make you a success. Hold fast to them always. Concentration is nothing but willing to do a certain thing. All foreign thoughts can be kept out by willing that they stay out. You cannot realize your possibilities until you commence to direct your mind. You then do consciously what you have before done unconsciously. In this way you note mistakes, overcome bad habits, and perfect your conduct. You have at times been in a position that required courage and you were surprised at the amount you showed. Now when once you arouse yourself you have this courage all the time and it is not necessary to have a special occasion reveal it to you. My object in so strongly impressing this on your mind is to make you aware that the same courage, the same determination that you show at certain exceptional times you have at your command at all times. It is a part of your vast resources. Use it often and well and working out the highest destiny of which you are capable. Final Concentration Instruction You now realize that in order to make your life worthy, useful, and happy you must concentrate. A number of exercises and all the needed instruction has been given. It now remains for you to form the highest ideal that you can in the present and live up to that ideal and try to raise it. Don't waste your time in foolish reading. Select something that is inspiring, that you may become in rapport with those that think thoughts that are worthwhile. Their enthusiasm will inspire and enlighten you. Read slowly and concentrate on what you are reading. Let your spirit in the spirit of the author commune, and you will then sense what is between the lines, those great things which words cannot express. Pay constant attention to one and one thing only for a given time and you will soon be able to concentrate. Hang on to that thought ceaselessly until you have attained your object. When you work, let your mind dwell steadily on your task. Think before you speak and direct your conversation to the subject under discussion. Do not ramble. Talk slowly, steadily, and connectedly. Never form the hurry habit, but be deliberate in all you do. Assume static attributes without moving a finger or an eyelid or any part of your body. Read books that treat of, but one continuous subject. Read long articles and recall the thread of the argument. Associate yourself with people who are steady, patient, and tireless in their thought, action, and work. See how long you can sit still and think on one subject without interruption. Concentrating on the higher self. Father time keeps going on and on. Every day he rolls around means one less day for you on this planet. Most of us only try to master the external conditions of this world. We think our success and happiness depends on us doing so. These are, of course, important, and I don't want you to think they are not, but I want you to realize that when death comes, only those inherent and acquired qualities and conditions within the mentality, your character, conduct, and soul growth, will go with you. If these are what they should be, you need not be afraid of not being successful and happy, for with these qualities you can mold external materials and conditions. Study yourself. Find your strong points and make them stronger, as well as your weak ones and strengthen them. Study yourself carefully, and you will see yourself as you really are. The secret of accomplishment is concentration, or the art of turning all your power upon just one point at a time. If you have studied yourself carefully, you should have a good line on yourself, and you should be able to make the proper interior readjustments. Remember first, last, and always, right thinking and right living necessarily results in happiness, and it is therefore within your power to obtain happiness. Anyone that is not happy does not claim their birthright. Keep in mind that some day you are going to leave this world, and think of what you will take with you. This will assist you to concentrate on the higher forces. Now start from this minute to act according to the advice of the higher self and everything you do. If you do, its ever-harmonious forces will necessarily ensure to you a successful fulfillment of all your life purposes. Whenever you feel tempted to disobey your higher promptings, hold the thought. The higher self ensures to me the happiness of doing that which best answers my true relations to all others. You possess latent talents that when developed and utilized are of assistance to you and others.  Others will also be worse off if you do not fulfill your obligations. When you have aroused into activity your thought powers you will realize the wonderful value of these principles and helping you to carry out your plans. The right in the end must prevail. You can assist in the working out of the great plan of the universe and thereby gain the reward, or you can work against the great plan and suffer the consequences. The all-consuming fires are gradually purifying all discordant elements. If you choose to work contrary to the law, you will burn in its crucible, so I want you to learn to concentrate intelligently on becoming in harmony with your higher self. Hold the thought. I will live for my best. I seek wisdom, self-knowledge, happiness, and power to help others. I act from the higher self. Therefore only the best can come to me. The more we become conscious of the presence of the higher self, the more we should try to become a true representative of the human soul and all its wholeness and holiness, instead of wasting our time dwelling on some trifling external quality or defect. We should try to secure a true conception of what we really are, so as not to overvalue the external furnishings. You will then not surrender your dignity or self-respect when others ignorantly make a display of material things to show off. Only the person that realizes that he is a permanent being knows what the true self is. End of The Power of Concentration by Theron Q. Dumont This recording is in the public domain.


On April 18, 1988, USS Samuel B. Roberts hit an Iranian mine. President Ronald Reagan initiated Operation Prane Mantis in response, ordering the Navy to destroy two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf. They must know that we will protect our ships, and if they threaten us, they'll pay a price. Evacuate the platform immediately. I repeat, evacuate immediately. An Iranian patrol boat fired back but was probably neutralized by the USS Simpson and USS Wainwright. The Iranian Navy also engaged the U.S. in the Strait of Hormuz. Well, we, of course, had no way of knowing just what their reaction might be. On the other hand, it would not be prudent not to have planned what to do in the event of a reaction. Of course, our ships are prepared and have the necessary guidance to permit them to defend themselves against any hostile action. And they took the necessary action very successfully. Operation Prane Mantis lasted approximately nine hours and involved coordination between Navy surface and air elements to complete the operation. By the end of the operation, the coalition of surface and air units not only destroyed the two oil rigs, but also Iranian units attempting to counterattack U.S. forces. Once the ceasefire was ordered, half of Iran's operational fleet was sunk or severely damaged. I think all of our people, and by this I'd have to say the people of all the services involved in that engagement, are that series of engagements last Monday. All of them demonstrated a very high level of professionalism, good coordination, good professional competence. From the Defense Media Activity, I'm Petty Officer Jonathan Pancall.


Today's quick tip is don't send the email, this is for those of you out there, parents and carers and other supporting adults who might sometimes feel a little bit angry about things that are happening with your child. We've all been there. This is sponsored by today's experience trying to hold it all together whilst things were less than ideal for actually both of my children in two totally different schools. The thing is that when things go wrong or we think things could have been done differently or whatever, it can trigger quite a big response from us and I'm not suggesting that that's unwarranted and I'm not suggesting that these conversations don't need to be had, none of those things but what I am suggesting is that maybe you write the email but do not send the email, certainly not in that instance, give it a day, come back to it, think about whether you can tone it down a little bit, think about whether it could be a face to face conversation that's less likely to trigger a challenging response from the person you sent it to, just give it a moment and really think carefully about whether sending this email is going to move things forwards or whether it's just going to create animosity and challenge in your relationship with whom you want, in your relationship with the person to whom you want to send it. It's really tough and particularly if you faced repeated challenges and sometimes we can become like keyboard warriors and just want to get out there and start the fight and get it off our chest and we might feel momentarily better but very rarely is it exactly the right thing to do, much better let it sit there in your drafts, come back to it tomorrow, reframe it a little bit and send it at a time of calm or choose not to. I'd love to know how you manage in these moments, these angry moments, pop it in a comment down below have you ever sent an email in the heat of the moment and regretted it or have you ever been really glad that you managed not to send it in that moment and then thought afterwards, gosh that was a good thing, share your experience of this I'd love to hear about that and as ever thank you for watching and if you are enjoying my content created more focused on parents and carers then please hop along to my Patreon page and consider subscribing there, the income that I'm trying to grow through Patreon is allowing me to focus more effort and energy on creating content to help you to help your child which is where my true heart lies but which rarely gets commissioned so I'd love if you could support with that. Okay until next time goodbye from me and goodbye from Mork.


In this presentation, we will create the payroll expense journal entry from our payroll register to our general journal posted to the general ledger and then create the trial balance. So we're going to pick up our information here from the payroll register. We're going to go to the second tab over here. This is going to be where the journal entry will be implemented. So we're going to have our journal entry as of nine one into the general journal here. We'll then post it to the right to our general ledger and then that general ledger will be used to create the trial balance. So the first thing we want to do is just consider how we're going to construct the journal entry. If it was a very simple journal entry for payroll, the most simple journal entry would be we're just paying someone cash for payroll. That would be a debit to payroll expense and a credit to cash. So you can imagine that easiest journal entry would just be like any other type of expense that we pay. We're going to pay cash. We're going to credit cash. We're going to debit expense for the payroll expense because that's what we paid the cash for to the employees. We're still going to have that we're going to say that the cash is going to go down here but we want to and we're still going to have a payroll expense as well. So those are two components still in place. However, we're going to have to also pull out money for all the other stuff that we got to take out of the paycheck, which will include the payroll taxes and those will be liabilities. So if we go back to the payroll register, then we're going to basically be mirroring what happens from the total earnings here minus all the deductions. So that total earnings minus all these areas in red. So the deductions for OASDI, HI, FIT, insurance, union dues, 401k, that'll give us the net check. So this is really what we're looking at. This minus all of this to get to that. So we're going to start. I'm going to go back to our journal entry tab and we'll start with the expense. That will remain the same. It's going to be payroll expense. Here's payroll expense and so we're going to copy that. It's going to be a debit account. Expenses go up in the debit direction. We'll do the same thing to it. Another debit. So we will right click on that and copy, scroll back up top and we're going to put that in B5, right click and paste 123. Now the amount's going to come from the register.  So we're just going to say equals. We're going to do this with a formula. I should say equals. We're going to go back to our tab over here and we're going to pick up the amount of total earnings, 48, 896 and enter. So that's going to be it. Now the other thing that's going to be affected is cash, but it's going to be like our bottom line number. So instead of starting with cash, we're going to note that cash will go down, but it's going to be at the end. Note too that it is possible that we run payroll at a different time than we actually process the paychecks. So we could be putting it to payroll payable and some texts or books or processes will do that and then pay cash later. But we're just going to put it to cash here so that we can see how it kind of similar, it's similar to the most basic journal entry, which would be a debit to payroll expense and a credit to cash. So before we credit cash, however, we're going to have to pull out all the stuff that we're not going to pay to the employees. And we have to put them into liability accounts because we don't get to hold them. It's not revenue to us. We have to pay them. We owe them to the government typically. So we're going to go back to our total, our register and that's going to include OASDI, Social Security, H.I., Medicare, Federal Income Tax for the employees, the employees, Federal Income Tax, any other withholdings like group insurance, union dues, 401k plan, we got to take all that out. So we're going to go back to our journal entry. We're going to do that with a credit so to a liability account. So that'll include the FICA, OASDI, the FICA for the H.I., and I'm holding down control. I'm letting go and holding down control because it's not going to include FIT or FUTA. I mean, because that's going to be a employer only tax. I'm holding down control. It will include FIT, group insurance, union dues. I'm scrolling down a little bit holding down control again and retirement plan. So all of these are going to be things that we're going to pull out. We're just going to put that in our journal entry with credits. So I'm just going to copy all these, right click and copy. We're going to put that up top in B6, right click and paste 1, 2, 3. Now we're going to enter the credit amounts from our register. We're going to do that with a formula. They will be credits. I'm going to represent them with a negative. To do that, we're going to say put our cursor in E6 instead of hitting equals, we're going to say negative and then go back to our register and we're going to pick up the OASDI in N9 and then enter and it'll just pull that over. We're going to do the same thing for HI. Instead of equals, we're going to say negative, go back to our register and we're going to pick up that 708.99 in HI and enter. Same thing for FIT. Instead of equals, we'll say negative, go back to our earnings record and we're looking for FIT, picking up FIT and enter. And then the group insurance, same thing. We got our cursor in E9. We're going to say negative, go back to our earnings record, go to the group insurance and enter. Then the union dues, we're going to be saying negative, go back to our earnings records, to the union dues and enter. And then the 401k or retirement plan, we're going to say negative, go back to our register and pick up the 401k and enter. Okay, so now our debits don't equal our credits. The credits add up to 20,689 and the debits add up to 48,896. So we're going to need a credit for the basically the plug to make this fit, make this work. And that will be if we go back to our register, it should be the net pay. However, I'm going to do that. I like to just figure that out. I'm going to go back to the journal entry by doing our negative sum function and figuring this number out and then checking to see if it's the same as the net check. To do the kind of the plug formula, the negative sum formula will be instead of equals negative, SUM will double click the sum function and highlight these cells. And then that should take the difference and then flip the sign so that we get that negative 2826611. If we go back to our register, we could see that that should be our number here, 2826611. All right, and I'm going back to the journal. That should be going then to cash. So we're going to say cash is where that goes. I'm going to copy that and paste cash as our last account here. Now note that if it was we could have gone to accounts payable or not accounts payroll payable as well. If it was a payroll account, and we're going to pay later, but we're going to put it to cash here. Now we're going to go ahead and post this to our general journal. So a general ledger. So to do that, I'm going to first freeze the pains. So we're going to go up to AD one, we're going to go to the view tab. And this is just one way to make it a little bit easier. If not, it's just a little bit more scrolling to do if we can't freeze the pains. Then we're going to go to freeze pains and freeze pains. So it's in the view tab windows freeze pains. Now when we go to the right, the pains will stay in the same area. Now if we scroll down, we're looking for this 502 first. That's way down here on the expenses. So it's going to be in the same order on the GL assets, liabilities, equity, income and expense. So we're going to go to the right looking for that expense. So we've got the assets and then the liabilities and orange and then equity. And then we're looking for that expense, which is payroll expense down here in BM. So I'm going to say it's on nine one. And we're going to be in cell B and 18 and cell B and 18. And we're just going to say that that equals and pull over this 4896. So we'll say this equals, and we're just going to pull over this 48896, which will increase the balance to 48896. So that's that's what we have here. Now you could just type in, I would put a formula equals D5. And that'll pull over the information. Then if we just go to the left side of the frozen pains and scroll right, we'll see that that number should be picked up right here on the trial balance as well. And of course, we're out of balance by that same number. Net income has gone down by that expense. So net income is the revenue minus the expenses went down in the debit direction. Revenue minus expenses has gone down. Okay, next item, we're going to have the 5215 here. It's going to be a liability. It's our third liability. So that's where we're going to. It's going to be assets up top. And then we're looking for the liabilities. And here it is 215. Once again, the date is 91. We are in 86. Within 86, we're going to say equals point to the 3031 50 and enter. So there's the 3031 50. If we go right to the left of the frozen pains and scroll right a bit, we see it here as well. Then we're going to go to the 220. So 220 is here. FICA 220 here. We'll go to the right and see the same area on the general ledger. Here's the FICA 220 hi, which is Medicare date 91. Then we're in a x six within a x six, we're going to say equals and point to that 708 99 to give us that number. Then we'll go right to the left of the frozen pains, scroll right, and we'll see that 708 99 here as well. Then we're going to go to the 225. Here it is 225 225 on the trial balance. And we're going to scroll right and see if we can find this 225. So here's 223. Here's 225. And so we want to be in BE seven. And so we'll say 91 tab. And we're going to say equals and pick up the 8008 5 899 13. So here's that number. We go right to the left of the frozen pains and scroll right. We can see that same number here on the FIT liabilities increasing. Then we're going to go to 243. We're looking for account 243. So we scroll to the right. Looking for account 243. So if we scroll down a bit here it is on that BE 21, we're going to say 91 BE 20 BF 21. We're going to say equals and point to that 243 bringing the balance up to we're going to point to that 5500 bringing the balance up to 5500 and depending going right to the left again and scrolling right we're going to see that picked up on the trial balance as well. Then we'll go to the union dues. So 245. I'm going to scroll over to find 245. It's going to be a liability. So 243. Here's 245 should be up top. Dates going to be 91. So then in BJ six we're going to say equals and we're going to point to that $16 bringing the balance up to 16. Then if we go right to the left of the frozen pains and scroll right we see that 16 here. Then we're going to go to 247. 247 weighed down here last liability accounts. So we'll scroll to the right to find that last liability account retirement and here it is. So it's in BI 21. We're going to say 91 within BJ 21 we will say equals and point to that 2774 20 bringing the balance up to 2774 20 then if we go right to the left and scroll right we see that same amount here then we just need the checking account. So here's the checking account in 100. It's going to go up top first account. We scroll to the right. So if we're in AK six we're going to say 91 and then in AL six we say equals and point to that 28266 11 bringing the balance down from 600,000 by 28266 to 571 733. Okay scrolling back to the right we then see this information here. All of our liability accounts have now gone up for FICA Social Security FICA Medicare and FIT Federal Income Tax Troop Insurance Union dues retirement. Those are all things that we're going to have to pay to the government or to whoever were responsible to pay them to at some point in the future. Then we've got the payroll expense increasing which brings net income down. Note what we do not have. We don't have payroll taxes expense here. Payroll taxes expense is not going up because even though we're withholding taxes it's all part of the employee's wages. These aren't payroll taxes to us the employer. We will record payroll taxes in another journal entry and those will be things that we have to pay out of our bank account not out of the paycheck of the employees.


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Welcome back folks, Dow. Dow Industries right now up 718, Nasdaq up 183, S&Ps up 67. Let's go over to our man, Mr. Dave Mazza. Dave, folks, is the managing director, head of product at Direction Shares. And what I'd love you to do right now, folks, is actually come over, not to TFNN, I'd like you to come over to Direction.com and Direction Spell, D-I-R-E-X-I-O-N. And the reason that I'm bringing you over there, we're going to be talking about a new, well, it's not a new regulation yet, but it's a regulation that the SEC is looking at right now. Dave Mazza, what's going on? Not too much. I'm happy to be back. How are you? I'm doing great. How about this volatility, huh? Well, it's funny. We've been in an environment where we've had low volatility, so the trading community has been difficult to find opportunities.  Right. And for traders, it's great. I happen to like volatility. I don't like the idea that it went down so fast because, of course, people lose money, but volatility is a trade, it's friends. So what I'd like to talk about today, and folks, okay, if you can go to Direction.com, it's D-I-R-E-X-I-O-N.com, what are you going to see on that front page? First off, you're going to see some products they have. But what I'd like you to get down to is a security exchange commission has proposed new regulations that may limit our ability to trade leveraged and inverse funds. So can you just go over first what the security exchange commission is proposing at this point, Dave? Yeah, let's start there. So as you said, recently the SEC has proposed new regulations that, if put in place as proposed, that would have the potential of potentially severely limiting the ability for many investors to be able to access leveraged and inverse ETFs. Now, they're doing so under the guise of investor protection and at Direction, along with all of our peers in the ETF industry, and especially leveraged and inverse ETFs, we want to ensure people know how to use the products appropriately, as they are intended to be daily trading vehicles. With that being said, it's a bit unprecedented to be put into place where, on effectively a wholesale level, investors can't use products that they had historically used as part of their day-to-day investment strategies. And folks, when you go over here, I'd like to go through a couple things with Dave. One of them in particular is that the proposed regulation is requiring you to provide extensive financial and personal information. The thing that's intriguing about that one, Dave, is that years ago, folks, it used to be a lot harder trading options.  Bottom line, you could see that you defined risk. You're putting a lot less in options.  You didn't have to go send them your financials, okay? What you had to do is basically check off the boxes that you were basically, you've been in the market for a while and you understood the risk that you were taking. I'm really curious. It's amazing that it's like, okay, they want my financials. Am I going to go hire an auto to send them in financials? I mean, I guess it's, we don't know exactly what they're going to ask for, right? Well, that's a good point. But I think what the intention is to try to understand some level of sophistication or some level of wealth where an investor, should they lose part of their money in their trade, might not be completely wiped out. But I think what you're getting at is the right one. Is that really the right measure of sophistication from the ability to use the products appropriately? I recommend, regardless of this proposal was put in place, we have extensive disclosures in our prospectuses on our website. Then investors do need to read and understand because these products do provide amplified exposures. But to date, there hasn't been extensive evidence showed that investors are using them inappropriately. In fact, if you look at the average holding period of our ETFs, it's quite modest. I mean, really in the one or two day period. So that means investors are not holding on to these for the long time. For a buyer, there's a seller and that's what makes the market. Investors are taking different opinions on whether XBXL will go up or down on any particular given day, for example. You know what's going to be intriguing? If this actually went through, this is going to hit a lot of traders. What we've seen here is that you've seen a couple of different things. Number one, the traders have definitely know like 8,000 times more than they did 10 years ago. That's for sure, right? In the aspect, the broker dealer community has brought down the leverages. If you remember when they first started, folks, when these first started, I mean, I love them because what ended up happening is that they would actually give you margin on the full margin on it. But that stopped years ago. As you said, the daily aspect of it has been hammered home on a continual basis. And then the deal, what I've seen is a lot of futures traders, Dave, coming into these, well, just like last week. So the bottom line is that it was so volatile, if you really wanted a little less risk, I saw futures traders going from the futures into these. Because it's a higher risk in futures, leverage. But that's going to stop a lot of folks that have been in the market for a long period of time.  But sometimes I ask, well, why? And how do you prove that you're educated? I guess there's a lot of things in there that I'm trying to figure out. How can you prove this? Well, yeah, you're raising a really good point. I think in any market, historically, today's market, there's ways that people can find leverage, find ways to amplify exposures, maybe even more so than in a transparent daily way that we provide with our leverage in our CTS. And that's why we're really encouraging traders, those who are using products, to submit a comment letter. You can do that right through via our site where you directed folks earlier to go. It's very easy where you provide your comment and you provide a bit of your name and email address and the like, to put it on public record that you use these products appropriately. You want to see them continue to be offered because you understand the disclosures, understand the risks, and you've done the homework yourself. Because it would be unprecedented if these products were not allowed to be accessed by investors and other things, like futures or options where there is actually higher amounts of leverage that can be embedded, could still be bought and sold. Yes. So, folks, okay, you go to Direction.com and Directions, D-I-R-E-X-I-O-N. You're going to see, it's an important notice, Security Exchange Commission has proposed new regulations. Now you can do two different things.  Then you're going to submit your comments here to the SEC. Bottom line is that you'll see that you're going to basically put your full name, your email, and once you read what this is about, folks, you can make your own choice of what words you want out there, but I would encourage you to basically let them know that, you know, number one, we're self-directed traders. Number two, we know what we're doing. And number three, okay, we don't want this rule. That's the real bottom line. Dave, thank you.


All right, well, the Falcons didn't have a fifth or a sixth round pick, but they had two back-to-back picks in the seventh round. And I'm here with the first of those back-to-back picks to Marco Helms from the University of Alabama. How does it feel to be a Falcon? It feels great. You know, Atlanta is, you know, it's a great team. You know, it's a great city. And you know, it's definitely a team that I would just, you know, start building with. So it seems like you're at home right now. Who are you celebrating with right now? I'm celebrating with my family and close friends. You know, there's some people who've been supporting me for a long time. So when you got the phone call, you felt the vibration? Were you around all of your family? What were you doing when you got the call? Oh, yeah, I was around my family. You know, my phone started vibrating and, you know, everybody started looking at me. You know, I thought my family didn't know who I was and, you know, I answered the phone. So when you answered the phone and you knew it was an Atlanta area code, what did Terry Faunton know and Arthur Smith say to you on the phone?   You know, that they couldn't wait to have me ready when I come in the building.  I mean, I'll say that too. You're the leading tackler coming from the University of Alabama. Playing for the Crimson Tide, what was that experience like for you? It was great.  You know, I had the opportunity to be coached by a great coach like Coach Saban. You know, I won a lot of games, won some championships. You know, you know, I definitely made a lot of lifetime memories there. You know, I was also able to get my degree. So I definitely love Alabama. You mentioned Nick Saban. And I mean, he is one of the most, if not the most legendary coach in college football. Is there any kind of funny stories or interesting story that you have about him?  You know, so I got yelled at a lot, you know, my freshman year.  You know, I definitely love him. All right, so let's switch from college football to national football league. What are you going to be able to bring to the Atlanta Falcons?  I'm, you know, play it and play out. I'm, you know, versatility. You know, a guy, you know, that's a tremendous leader on the field and off the field as well. You're going to be joining a secondary unit with guys like Richie Grant and Jesse Bates, the third. What excites you about playing with these two guys in particular?  You know, they have a great secondary. You know, a great team that they're building over there.  All right, last question for you now. You get back to celebrating with your family, because this is a really big moment for you. What is something off of the football field that many Falcons fans might not know about you? I say, you know, I always spend a lot of time on my dog.   All right, what's the, what kind of dog is it and what's their name? He's an Excel American bully. His name is Nino. Nino? Yeah, Nino. All right, well, if you bring him to training camp, or when you get here for rookie minicamp, I can't wait to meet Nino. So, thank you for taking the time. Congratulations and welcome to Atlanta. Yes, man. Thank you. Thank you for having me.