Imagination has changed the world. If it has changed such a big world, it can very much change you too. This is an amazing technique in changing your self-image. A conscious effort of visualization of an empowered self can erase all the illusions of limiting self-image that are created by your unaware mind. To do this, simply close your eyes and visualize a mental image of yourself as who you want to be - that is, your true innate self which has been hidden behind the illusions of your limiting self-image. You see yourself being confident, courageous and “in the zone”. And with constant and diligent efforts, you won’t have to try to conjure those feelings because you will have those all of the time.

Let me remind this will be most effective when done every day for even just a few minutes per day. Man is to a great extent the child of opportunity. Estimate as we may the chances of the individual and his achievement of success, there is yet another factor in the equation, the power of circumstances, which we cannot wholly ignore. A village doctor by chance visited the state apartments at a time when his majesty was experiencing a seizure. The chance visitor drew the royal blood and brought the king back to consciousness and by his friendly and quaint humor he made his somewhat despondent ruler laugh aloud. The monarch took a liking to him, and made him his royal physician; so the doctor’s fortune was “made,” as was common to say at the time.

Now we may say what we will in regard to the good doctor; there were multitudes of men in his calling quite as competent as he, who did not “happen” to visit the state apartments at this critical juncture. However, this singular opportunity made the difference between him and the others. At the same time, it is plain enough that the education of the doctor was an essential element; and if he had not been well prepared for his opportunity when it came, his ignorance and incompetence would have been displayed to the highest degree and the opportunity would have been useless to him.This is further illustrated by an often told anecdote. During many years the eminent violinist had been practicing upon his favorite instrument, and this practice had properly equipped him for the fame which later came; but at this time he was still obscure and unknown to the general public as a musician. Yet his opportunity came in this way: The eminent songstress Malibran once passed a window at which Ole Bull, the youth from Norway, was playing; and it seemed to her that she had never heard the violin give forth such exquisite music. She inquired for the name of the unknown young man. And not long after, when she disappointed her audience at a concert, through some sudden argument with her manager, Ole Bull was sent for to entertain the large audience that had gathered; and his playing in that single hour placed him near the head of the musical world. It was to him the hour of opportunity, and he was prepared for it.

This point is further illustrated by the story which has been eloquently told by George Cary Eggleston. It is concerning the servant-boy Antonio, who was not only an occasional stone-cutter, but who had become greatly skilled in the use of his tools. Usually serving as a mere servant-boy in the kitchen, he was absolutely unknown to fame. Once when his master invited many friends to a banquet, the ornamental work, which was to be prepared by the confectioner for the center of the table, was ruined. His master was very concerned that his table would not be properly set. At this juncture the stone-cutter boy offered to supply what was lacking. Calling for a large quantity of butter, he quickly molded an impressive crouching lion, which was placed upon the table. The merchants and princely guests at the party were some of the most skilled critics of art, and when their eyes fell upon the lion made of butter they marveled at this work of “a genius”, and asked their host what eminent sculptor had prepared it. When the confectioner told the story, the host declared that he would pay Antonio’s expenses to pursue artistic studies; and the servantboy, who was prepared for his opportunity when it came, is now known in the history of art by the name of Canova, one of the greatest sculptors of all time. If the boy had not been ready for his opportunity when it came, he would have lived and died a servant-boy.

It should be noted that young hilds, very early on, made up his mind to prepare himself for every opportunity that might come to him in the publishing business. He deliberately chose to do prepare himself, and that he would not allow himself to be diverted from it by giving attention to many of the amusements which diverted so many young men in the big cities. He was young and strong and always displayed a cheerful temperament. While he did not seek out the same kinds of entertainment that so many of his peers desired, he did have an insatiable need to understand about the publishing business and to be faithful to his employer, and to earn and to save money until he was prepared for the greater opportunities which came to him in later life. His wonderful career, his accumulation of a great fortune, his wise use of his resources, his practical benevolence, his warm and friendly and useful life, were all related to these decisions of his very early teens and young adulthood when he was preparing for his opportunity.