"You Can Do It if You Believe You Can!”
CO-OPERATION is the beginning of all organized effort. As was stated in the second lesson of this course, Andrew Carnegie accumulated a gigantic fortune through the co-operative efforts of a small group of men numbering not more than a score.
You, too, can learn how to use this principle.
There are two forms of Co-operation to which your attention will be directed in this lesson; namely:
First, the Co-operation between people who group themselves together or form alliances for the purpose of attaining a given end, under the principles known as the Law of the Master Mind.
Second, the Co-operation between the conscious and the subconscious minds, which forms a reasonable hypothesis of man's ability to contact, communicate with and draw upon infinite intelligence.
To one who has not given serious thought to this subject, the foregoing hypothesis may seem unreasonable; but follow the evidence of its soundness, and study the facts upon which the hypothesis is based, and then draw your own conclusions.
Let us begin with a brief review of the physical construction of the body:
"We know that the whole body is traversed by a network of nerves which serve as the channels of communication between the indwelling spiritual ego, which we call mind, and the functions of the external organism.
"This nervous system is dual. One system, known as the Sympathetic, is the channel for all those activities which are not consciously directed by our volition, such as the operation of the digestive organs, the repair of the daily wear and tear of the tissues, and the like.
"The other system, known as the Voluntary or Cerebro-spinal system, is the channel through which we receive conscious perception from the physical senses and exercise control over the movements of the body. This system has its center in the brain, while the other has its center in the ganglionic mass at the back of the stomach known as the solar plexus, and sometimes spoken of as the abdominal brain. The cerebro-spinal system is the channel of our volitional or conscious mental action, and the sympathetic system is the channel of that mental action which unconsciously supports the vital functions of the body.
"Thus the cerebro-spinal system is the organ of the conscious mind and the sympathetic is that of the subconscious mind.
"But the interaction of conscious and sub-conscious minds requires a similar interaction between the corresponding systems of nerves, and one conspicuous connection by which this is provided is the "vagus" nerve. This nerve passes out of the cerebral region as a portion of the voluntary system, and through it we control the vocal organs; then it passes onward to the thorax, sending out branches to the heart and lungs; and finally, passing through the diaphragm, it loses the outer coating which distinguishes the nerves of the voluntary system and becomes identified with those of the sympathetic system, so forming a connecting link between the two and making the man physically a single entity.
"Similarly different areas of the brain indicate their connection with the objective and subjective activities of the mind respectively, and, speaking in a general way, we may assign the frontal portion of the brain to the former, and the posterior portion to the latter, while the intermediate portion partakes of the character of both.
"The intuitional faculty has its correspondence in the upper area of the brain, situated between the frontal and the posterior portions, and, physiologically speaking, it is here that intuitive ideas find entrance. These, at first, are more or less unformed and generalized in character, but are, nevertheless, perceived by the conscious mind; otherwise, we should not be aware of them at all. Then the effort of Nature is to bring these ideas into more definite and usable shape, so the conscious mind lays hold on them and induces a corresponding vibratory current in the voluntary system of nerves, and this in turn induces a similar current in the involuntary system, thus handing the idea over to the subjective mind. The vibratory current which had first descended from the apex of the brain to the frontal brain and thus through the voluntary system to the solar plexus is now reversed and ascends from the solar plexus through the sympathetic system to the posterior brain, this return current indicating the action of the subjective mind."
If we were to remove the surface portion of the apex of the brain we should find immediately below it the shining belt of brain substance called the "corpus callous." This is the point of union between the subjective and objective, and, as the current returns from the solar plexus to this point, it is restored to the objective portion of the brain in a fresh form which it has acquired by the silent alchemy of the subjective mind. Thus the conception which was at first only vaguely recognized is restored to the objective mind in a definite and workable form, and then the objective mind, acting through the frontal brain - the area of comparison and analysis - proceeds to work upon a clearly perceived idea and to bring out the potentialities that are latent in it.*
The term "subjective mind" is the same as the term "sub-conscious mind," and the term "objective mind" is the same as the term "conscious mind."
Please understand these different terms.
By studying this dual system through which the body transmits energy, we discover the exact points at which the two systems are connected, and the manner in which we may transmit a thought from the conscious to the subconscious mind.
This Co-operative dual nervous system is the most important form of co-operation known to man; for it is through the aid of this system that the principle of evolution carries on its work of developing accurate thought, as described in Lesson Eleven.
When you impress any idea on your sub-conscious mind, through the principle of Auto-suggestion, you do so with the aid of this dual nervous system: and when your sub-conscious mind works out a definite plan of any desire with which you impress it, the plan is delivered back to your conscious mind through this same dual nervous system.
This Co-operative system of nerves literally constitutes a direct line of communication between your ordinary conscious mind and infinite intelligence.
Knowing, from my own previous experience as a beginner in the study of this subject, how difficult it is to accept the hypothesis here described, I will illustrate the soundness of the hypothesis in a simple way that you can both understand and demonstrate for yourself.
Before going to sleep at night impress upon your mind the desire to arise the next morning at a given hour, say at four A.M., and if your impression is accompanied by a positive determination to arise at that hour, your sub-conscious mind will register the impression and awaken you at precisely that time.
Now the question might well be asked:
"If I ran impress my sub-conscious mind with the desire to arise at a specified time and it will awaken me at that time, why do I not form the habit of impressing it with other and more important desires?"
If you will ask yourself this question, and insist upon an answer, you will find yourself very near, if not on the pathway that leads to the secret door to knowledge, as described in Lesson Eleven.
· · · · · · · ·
We will now take up the subject of Co-operation between men who unite, or group themselves together for the purpose of attaining a given end. In the second lesson of this course we referred to this sort of cooperation as organized effort.
This course touches some phase of co-operation in practically every lesson. This result was inevitable for the reason that the object of the course is to help the student develop power, and power is developed only through organized effort.
We are living in an age of co-operative effort. Nearly all successful businesses are conducted under some form of co-operation. The same is true in the field of industry and finance, as well as in the professional field.
Doctors and lawyers have their alliances for mutual aid and protection in the form of Bar Associations and Medical Associations.
The bankers have both local and national Associations for their mutual aid and advancement.
The retail merchants have their Associations for the same purpose.
The automobile owners have grouped themselves into Clubs and Associations.
The Printers have their Associations; the plumbers have theirs and the coal dealers have theirs.
Co-operation is the object of all these Associations.
The laboring men have their unions and those who supply the working capital and superintend the efforts of laboring men have their alliances, under various names.
Nations have their co-operative alliances, although they do not appear to have yet discovered the full meaning of “co-operation.” The attempt of the late President Wilson to perfect the League of Nations, followed by the efforts of the late President Harding to perfect the same idea under the name of the World Court, indicates the trend of the times in the direction of co-operation.
It is slowly becoming obvious to man that those who most efficiently apply the principle of co-operative effort survive longest, and, that this principle applies from the lowest form of animal life to the highest form of human endeavor.
Mr. Carnegie, and Mr. Rockefeller, and Mr. Ford have taught the business man the value of co-operative effort; that is, they have taught all who cared to observe, the principle through which they accumulated vast fortunes.
Co-operation is the very foundation of all successful leadership. Henry Ford’s most tangible asset is the well organized agency force that he has established. This organization not only provides him with an outlet for all the automobiles he can manufacture, but, of greater importance still, it provides him with financial power sufficient to meet any emergency that may arise, a fact which he has already demonstrated on at least one occasion.
As a result of his understanding of the value of the co-operative principle Ford has removed himself from the usual position of dependence upon financial institutions and at the same time provided himself with more commercial power than he can possibly use.
The Federal Reserve Bank System is another example of co-operative effort which practically insures the United States against a money panic.
The chain-store systems constitute another form of commercial co-operation that provides advantage through both the purchasing and the distributing end of the business.
The modern department store, which is the equivalent of a group of small stores operating under one roof, one management and one overhead expense, is another illustration of the advantage of co-operative effort in the commercial field.
In Lesson Fifteen you will observe the possibilities of co-operative effort in its highest form and at the same time you will see the important part that it plays in the development of power.
As you have already learned, power is organized effort. The three most important factors that enter into the process of organizing effort are:
Concentration,
Co-operation and
Co-ordination.
Lesson 15 on Co Operation by Napoleon Hill
The Law of Success
1928
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