PART I
How to Understand Yourself

10. BUILDING A POWERFUL PERSONALITY WHILE YOU REST AND RELAX

Personality is a broad term and reflects one's attitude toward life. It might also be termed the reflection of one's philosophy. In studying the personality of an individual you discover the reasons for his actions. A person who is shy, uncertain of his ability, and prone to worry reflects his attitudes and beliefs. Each of us has particular attitudes relative to an infinity of things, situ­ations, and channels of expression and action. No two of us think alike on all subjects, so our attitudes vary as do our personalities. Our yardstick for judging the so-called normal personality must be determined then by an agreement of the majority regarding specific attitudes. In our society, if the acceptable masculine headgear were a long, flowing red wig, the man who appeared in public with a yellow cranial adornment would be flaunting convention. By his action he would be breaking agreement with the majority.

Every culture has a standard common denominator of basic attitudes of the normal, and the personalities of its members are judged by how closely they adhere to the accepted pattern. Attitudes in our present society are changing constantly. The change is slow but quite evident to all. Today, personality is talked about, analyzed, and criticized as never before. The more complex our society grows, the more personality becomes an exhibit to be viewed and evaluated by an ever-increasing critical audience. We are today personality conscious, which is an asset, for it lends continuous impetus to personality improvement and perfection. Everywhere, stress is being placed on good per­sonality. Business demands it and society applauds it. We some­times wonder whether undue importance has been attributed to personality today, until in reflection we recall and compare the attitudes of youngsters today with those of yesteryear. This is the true test and proves we have come a long way, personality-wise, in the right direction. In our reference to personality we al­lude to the inner fabric of true character, its moral fiber, and the basic acceptance of knowing and feeling intuitively regarding our co-relationship to others. As the attractive surface of an in­ferior piece of merchandise cannot obscure its real weaknesses and imperfections, the gaudy surface personality cannot long conceal its shallowness and insincerity. Acquired veneer cannot be labeled personality. We conceive true personality to be deep, real, and enduring, and to reflect accurately the true person and his character and his design for living. It is these things we refer to in our analysis of desirable attributes to be cultivated and developed.

Attitudes, again, are but deep-seated convictions of the sub­conscious mind. We recall the case of a young man that illustrates this point. The young man's problem concerned his inability to relax in the presence of the opposite sex. He was intelligent, he had a college education and he held a responsible position.

But try as he might he could not be natural and at ease with the opposite sex, though he made every effort to do so. Skillfully de­signed suggestions were recorded on tape, which he listened to in the transitional-sleep state. These suggestions were quite readily accepted by the young man's subconscious (they always are, in the transitional-sleep state), and he experienced a com­plete reversal of a basic attitude that had threatened to destroy the entire structure of his personality. Within a short time he felt relaxed in situations where he had previously experienced dis­comfort and nervousness.

This change, as you will notice, came from a change in atti­tude and not from enforced determination of the will. Here is a thought to remember: the emotions cannot be controlled by the will. We may mask them, hide them, and deny them, but, as all therapists agree, this only bottles them up inside and thus pro­duces unwanted physical and emotional problems later on. How much better it is to change the undesirable attitude from within than desperately to fight it from without.

BUILDING THE FOUNDATION FOR A POWERFUL PERSONALITY

An attractive personality opens the door to opportunity. It has contributed more to human relations perhaps than any other quality of man. Few can resist the magic of magnetic personality. All of us are instinctively drawn to that person who has abundant charm and self-confidence. What is this subtle radiance possessed by some that propels them onward to such majestic heights? From whence springs this innate diplomacy, this magic essence, so outstanding in some yet so utterly lacking in others? Is it pos­sible that these profound qualities of personal magnetism have been indiscriminately bestowed on only a few, without rhyme or reason? No, most certainly they have not. Human personality is a mirror of reflected causes and effects, a combination of multiple factors evaluated from experience. Reflected in per­sonalities are the concepts of men, their fears, their beliefs, and their attitudes. We are the sum total of these experiences. Our personalities mirror the current tabulation of attitudes and be­liefs, past and present, that we have accepted from our experi­ences.

Observe how personalities, whether good, bad, or indifferent, reflect the combined operating efficiency of the seven keys to power. The ability to direct attention and concentration leads to good memory and can add much to the personality. Lacking imagination and ambition, the personality suffers, and without the strength of the sixth and seventh keys, self-confidence and will power, it must remain weak. Once confusion, fear, and self-doubt have been reduced, you are ready to build the foundation for a powerful personality.

The Dynamic Personality Course consists of three progressive phases:

Phase 1.   Building the foundation for a powerful personality
Phase 2.   Developing poise, certainty, and inner strength
Phase 3.   Self-realization and personal magnetism

Erasing old habits of thinking as well as subconscious pat­terns of fear and insecurity are the first steps toward the realiza­tion of this goal. Inasmuch as personality flaws occur from the same seven primary causes, the negative patterns are similar and yield readily to suggestions made during transitional sleep.

Phase 1 (Building the foundation for a powerful person­ality).—The first phase lays the foundation for a new personality by erasing the negative, unwanted patterns of the past. A person who is shy, withdrawn, and uncomfortable in the presence of others is unable to change his personality because of established subconscious reactive habits. His emotional response is automatic and beyond conscious control. Another person may exhibit nervousness by fidgeting, blushing, or otherwise showing signs of tension. These are abnormalities, and all such defects are sub­conscious manifestations, normally beyond the power of will to control. You might say Phase 1 of the personality program erases the old and makes way for the new. Phase 1 removes, with pre­cision, the accumulation of unwanted psychological debris. Ego-damaging flaws melt away, and within two or three weeks (on an average) a new calmness and sense of well-being gradually develop and become a permanent part of your personality. Nervousness that you may have come to associate with personal and business contacts in the past will be relieved. You will dis­cover that other nervous manifestations of a personal nature that are peculiar to you have also disappeared.

This purging of the subconscious is methodical, scientific, and effective. Its effects are but the natural results that must occur when "cause" is re­moved. You are not asked or expected to alter your feelings either by the use of faith or will power. The changes just naturally occur during the period that you are listening to your tape. You become increasingly aware of the changes occurring in your per­sonality and soon you are ready to proceed to Phase 2 of the personality-development program.

Phase 2 (Developing poise, certainty, and inner strength).— We used to believe that poise was a special gift. In one sense this was true, for to many people social finesse comes naturally. These people radiate charm, self-mastery, and poise without training. Most of us are not so fortunate. We have watched aspiring young actors, once nervous and ill at ease, train themselves to play leading roles that only the naturally polished and socially poised actor is able to handle.

Social poise in all its phases could be subdivided into an infinity of concepts. Poise is evident in everyday conversation between friends, in the pulpit, and on the stage, and while the channels are different its basic qualities are the same everywhere. When all the many intangibles that con­stitute poise are separated, one common denominator remains-poise represents the interest and attention directed toward those with whom we are in communication. Whether we are in the presence of only one person or addressing an audience of thou­sands, we exude poise when we keep our interest fixed firmly on our audience instead of on ourselves. This seems simple, but what a difficult Lesson to understand and, even more, apply. We lack poise and grace in the presence of others when we squirm, nervously scratch our noses, or make unnecessary motions with our arms and legs. We do these things because we cannot tear our attention from ourselves. When interest and attention is focused away from ourselves, we immediately feel at ease. Poise is not possible unless one is emotionally comfortable.

Why is it a problem to direct our thoughts toward others? Here again we deal with the emotion of fear—fear of making a mistake, fear of being misunderstood, or fear of any one of a thousand things. Fear, by its very nature, contracts and inhibits, suggests with­drawal. Observe an animal when it is frightened; it will slink away, retreating from what frightened it. Man is no different, in some respects. When he fears he is inadequate to a situation, his attention becomes glued to himself and his actions are nerv­ous and self-conscious.

Phase 2 builds poise, certainty, and inner strength by erecting new habits of action and belief. The realization of objectivity, or the employment of attention and concentration toward others and away from self, is accomplished with this recording. Self-confidence is employed to bring force to attainment, and will power is incorporated within the personality to assure certainty of action. Will power directly applied to the personality during transitional sleep brings about alterations on a broad front. It soon becomes easy to converse with authority. You find you have no fear of crowds and can address a group without anxiety or nervousness. Your manner becomes firm and direct, your voice clear, your posture erect. You discover that many things that once disturbed you now seem unimportant and a waste of time. Again, these changes occur without conscious effort. You will be expecting such changes, for they are milestones of progress and indicate that you are ready for the final phase of your per­sonality program.

Phase 3 (Self-realization and personal magnetism).—Those who possess magnetic charm are attractive not for what they do, but for what they think and feel. Their great secret is that they devote more time to being interested than to being interesting. Once you have arrived at this plateau and master the ability to think outward instead of inward, you will have good reason to be proud of your progress. From this point on the entire plan of your existence begins to change, bringing definite improvements, both tangible and intangible, to your life. As long as we focus our attention upon ourselves we are not attractive to others.

Atten­tion is power. Witness the speaker who literally holds his audi­ence with the power of his thoughts and words. Through the power of attention and concentration he projects his personality outward to include everyone within the sound of his voice.

The powerful minds of today are possessed by those persons who understand how to direct their attention, with force, toward any objective. Few have such control, but it can be developed, and unlimited horizons await those who master the ability. The highly evolved person worries less and is far healthier than the average. He has learned not to inhibit the functions of his sub­conscious through worry, fear, and unhealthy habits. In this way, he seems always to have energy to spare, for he does not dissipate his strength on useless fears and worries. The third phase in the development of personality is to consolidate the gains already achieved and to make certain the personality continues to grow. Consciousness expands with the personality, and with this ex­pansion inhibitions, blocks, fears, and other mental garbage are automatically eliminated, bringing ever nearer the power of the subconscious and universal intelligence.

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