(An excerpt from If You Can Count to Four available on Amazon)
Questions and Answers
Question: “Is it possible for everyone, not just a few, to be what they want to be and have what they want to have?”
Answer: Yes, it is possible for everyone, not just a few, to be what they want to be and have what they want to have. Every person on earth has a conscious mind and a subconscious mind. Our mental processes operate on the premise of a system of rules or laws, just like electricity, chemistry and mathematics. When any person controls his mental processes, according to the Count to Four Formula, these laws are brought into operation and he will realize his desires. These laws do not work for one and not for another.
Some know more about how to work them than others, that is the only difference. It would be nice, theoretically, if every person could study all about how to operate these laws, so he would become an expert. The plan will work even for those who do not know about them and probably never will take the time and trouble to study them. It is not necessary to have a so-called formal education to obtain your desires. All you need is the faith of a child and the will to work the formula. Electricity will work for anyone, not just a few, so will the Count to Four Formula. The laws of mathematics will work for anyone, not just a few, so will the Count to Four Formula. The laws of chemistry will work for anyone, not just a few, so will the Count to Four Formula.
Question: “Is it possible for just anyone to work the Count to Four Formula and become a millionaire?”
Answer: I would like to answer the question by stating that each person is an especially designed individual. Each person is different from every other person on earth. We all know that each person has a different thumbprint, a different number of hairs on his head, a different shaped face, head, body, etc. also, we now know, after many years of psychological research, that each person has a different purpose, a different mental outlook, a different taste, a different mental center, from which one’s desires spring. Different people want different things. Different people want to be different things in life. It has been reported that in the United States there are over 10,000 different vocations, or types of jobs or services to humanity. We all know that there is always some person who wants to do each job. In fact, we have a person who is a specialist in each job. For example, prior to 1945 or 1946, we had very few men and women who wanted to be or had become television experts in the repair line. As soon as we needed expert television repair people, tens of thousands of people became specialists in that field. That has always been true and will always be true.
So, you see that each person, by his very nature, expresses desires peculiar to his individuality. There will be as many different sizes and colors of desires as there are people. So, if Mr. A. is the type of person, who says deep down inside himself, “I just want a quiet little farm of about 68 acres in the hills of middle Tennessee.” He worked the Count to Four Formula either knowingly or unknowingly and became just what he wanted to become.
Some people, by their very natures, express larger thoughts that other people. The ultimate state of happiness of a person is the gauge by which he can measure whether he is expressing thoughts in relationship to his nature. Every person wants happiness.
Happiness does not depend on how much one expresses as far as size and color are concerned. It does depend upon how much one expresses of what he is designed to express as an individual expressing his nature. In other words, if Mr. and Mrs. A. who are designed to express true happiness rendering a service that is worth $10,000 per year, are forced to try to express in a $25,000 category, you would be destroying their happiness. Using the same analogy, if a person who is designed to express at a $10,000 per year category is forced to express as a $4000 level, he would be forced to violate his natural expression. Now, this does not mean that a person is born to express in a certain category all his life and that he cannot grow into a larger scope of expression. We live in a certain “state” which is the sum total of all our thought habits. We can be happy and comfortable in our present “state” for a period of time, according to our individuality. As we progress, we become discontented with living in the same “state” and that state of discontent is a sign that we should design a new “state.” By using the Count to Four Formula, we move into a new “state” and learn to express ourselves comfortably there. So, life is an infinite process of arriving, becoming discontented, and then designing new dreams and having the fun of expressing in the attainment of the new dreams. Then, we live in the new dreams until the feeling of discontent comes again, etc. Life is dynamic! Life is expression! Life is a game! Life is activity! Life is endless! Life is in the living!
If you find that you are the type of individual, who by your very nature, is always thinking of rendering a large quality and quantity of service to humanity, and you like to express largely, one day you will find that you are rendering one million units of service to humanity, and in spite of yourself, you will be a millionaire. How much money you make is based upon how much service you render. If you are happy rendering 2500 units of service per year, you are just as happy as the man who renders a million. Your degree of happiness depends on how much you are rendering proportionately to how much you should be rendering according to your individuality.
No, you cannot become a millionaire, just by saying that you want to become a millionaire. But, in a sincere desire which comes from the depths of your nature and the center of your individuality, you can realize by using the Count to Four Formula.
You should ask yourself, or your subconscious mind, what you really want to be, what you really want to have. Then, as the answers come from a sincere heart, write them down in your notebook. Change them as you feel they should be changed. Gradually, you will know what you really want to be and what you really want to have.
Question: “How long does it take to be what you want to be instead of what you are now?”
Answer: In order to be what you want to be instead of what you are now, “It will take whatever time is necessary for you to feel natural living in your dream fulfilled.” I decided, in 1942, that I wanted to be a pilot instructor. I felt most unnatural in the cockpit of an airplane. In fact, I had been up for airplane rides with a friend of mine a few times previously and each time I was sick to my stomach for three or four days afterward. So, when I decided to become a pilot instructor, I became sick at the thought of flying. But, the question is “How long did it take me to become a pilot instructor?” I had a burning desire to become a pilot. I learned that normally it took two years to obtain the training necessary to become an instructor. But at the same time I was 1-A in the draft classification and could be “called” in 30 days or so. In fact, it was almost certain that I would be drafted in 90 days. I learned it would cost me several thousand dollars to take private instruction, and I had just $150 in the bank. Yet, I wanted with all of my being to overcome all those factors and become a pilot instructor.
I did not understand the Count to Four Formula at the time, but looking back on the experience, I now know that I used it without knowing it. In six months, not two years, I was a pilot instructor and to make it sound more ridiculous, I was instructing instructors in an “instructor refresher course” in flying.
Yes, I was 24 years of age, in the summer of 1942, which was the first year of World War II. I was 1-A in the draft! I had no money and the thought of flying made me sick.
My boss told me it was impossible, my friends told me it was impossible and my acquaintances told me it was impossible. But, in the face of all those seeming “impossibilities” I, with a simple, childlike faith, One, identified my desire of being a pilot instructor.
Two, I pretended that I was already an instructor. I pictured myself as an instructor. I saw myself along the flight lines at the airport. I felt that I knew all the other instructors and the flight director of the school. I lived in this area until I became comfortable in it, then I went out to the school where I would be instructing if I were an instructor and introduced myself to my boss. I told him of my plan and my whole story. At first, he did not understand and seemed to think that I was a fool. But, as I called on him from time to time, he began to respect me and to help me.
In exactly 3 months after I started my flight training, I called on him and he gave me a break and put me on as a student instructor. In three more months, I was a full-fledged instructor and teaching instructors. I was able to raise the money and overcome my air sicknesses and I received a letter from the draft board that they would not draft me for at least 90 days. So, my assumed boss in the number Two phase, became my real boss in 90 days. I was able to realize my “dream fulfilled” in six months instead of two years. So, if you have a “burning desire” and express it in an “all out” fashion, you can cut the time down a lot. The point is, “Do something about it” and you can accomplish wonders.
Another factor in “timing” of accomplishing your “dream” is that each idea has a season. Just like each seed the farmer plants has a season. We know that it takes so much time from the time a crop of corn is planted for it to mature into the harvest. The same with wheat, oats, potatoes, etc. We know that it takes three weeks to hatch hen eggs and four weeks to hatch goose eggs, etc. It takes so long for a baby to be born, and so long for a baby colt to be born, etc.
Ideas or desires are similar. Each idea has a season. But the season of an idea or desire can be sped up by the heat of your desire. If you plant certain vegetables in your garden, it takes so long for them to be ready to eat. But, if you put them in what we call a “hot house” they grow to maturity much faster. You can put your desires through the “Hot House” treatment, if you wish.
There is another time factor also. That factor is the relationship of your desire to where you are now with respect to where you have to go to attain your desire. For example, suppose you are in the habit of paying $20 for a nice dress and you go shopping for a new dress. If you find what you want for $20, you buy it right on the spot. You do not have to argue with your subconscious because it is already accustomed to letting you pay $20 for a dress. But, suppose you saw a dress for $45, and you really felt a strong desire for the $45 dress. You might pass it up that day and go home to talk with your husband about it. You might go for several days or weeks or months and maybe even years without it because you could not bridge the gap. But, at various times, you would be thinking how you wish you could have that $45 dress. You look and picture how wonderful you would feel if you had it. You live in your dream as often as you can.
One day, you will walk into the store and you will buy the $45 dress. You will have the capacity to make the decision the day you buy it. The first time you saw it and wanted it, you could not buy it. Maybe you had enough money in the bank or someplace to buy it but you did not have the ability to comfortably make the decision until you went through a certain interval of time, during which you experienced certain mental processes, which I will call exercises. You developed the ability to feel natural buying $45 dresses.
Generally speaking, the length of time it takes to become what you want to be depends on how far you have to grow and how strongly you feel about it. But regardless of how far you have to grow, and how weak you feel at the moment, if you are sincere in your desire, and will follow the Count to Four Formula, one day you will realize your dream. So, keep on keeping on, and then keep on some more and know at all times that the “dream fulfilled” is a sure thing.
Question: “How long does it take to get what you want, once you have decided exactly what it is?”
Answer: The answer to this question is the same as the answer to question 3. I just wanted to cover both phases of the idea, what you want to be and what you want to have. I told you of the fine lady who changed from a 1949 Nash 600 to a late model Cadillac in 5 1/2 weeks. Remember, I was coaching her personally at the time and it was possible for her to get pretty excited and to develop a burning desire, thereby cutting the time down considerably. On the other hand, I know several men and women who have attended my lectures over a period of two or three years, and they still don’t have a late model Cadillac. They say they want one and they are working on it, but the heat of enthusiasm is so weak that it will give General Motors time to develop several new models before they will complete the process and get to where they have the “natural feeling,” to the point when they can actually make the big step and purchase one and enjoy driving it.
Again, each individual has a certain capacity to turn on the heat and express a strong desire peculiar to their individuality. Anything that you can develop into any “burning desire,” on a basis of sincerity, you can have sooner or later, according to how big it is in comparison to your present habit of life. Anything you are sure you really want, but now don’t feel too strongly about, you can wait a while and slowly develop a strong desire for it or you can go through certain mental exercises and hurry up the process of feeling strongly. Call in several friends whom you trust completely and discuss your desires with them. Explain that you want so-and-so, but you wish they would help you develop a strong feeling about it. When you go through such a process, you are “masterminding” it. You can develop a strong feeling faster by masterminding it.
The main point is to start where you are with what you have and do everything you are asked to do in the Count to Four Formula. You will realize your every desire at exactly the right time when it will be best for you at all concerned. There is a great big intelligence in the is the and this great big universe in which we live and this intelligence works through your subconscious mind and helps you to work all the laws in the universe, to bring about the fulfillment of your dreams at the right time for you and all concerned.
Question: What do you do when you don’t really believe that the Count to Four Formula works, but you would like to try it on an honest basis?
Answer: The purpose of question 5 is to share with you a very important discovery. It is what I call the “Law of Assumption.” Let’s suppose that you come home late some night and you are very tired. It is cold outside and you have lost your house key. You are indeed very eager to get inside where it is warm and get to bed as you are tired.
Now, here are the factors I want to call to your attention. First of all, you have a burning desire and the second is that the usual, customary, tried and proven ways of obtaining or not available. You want very much to get in your own house, but the usual way of getting in, which is to use the key, is not available. What do you do? You begin to try to “think up” a new way of getting in, don’t you? You improvise. You assume that you have a way and try it. If it doesn’t work, you just assume another way and try it and you keep on assuming new ways, until you stumble onto a way that gets you into the house, to your warm bed.
That certainly is a familiar experience to most of us, isn’t it?
Now, let’s consider the same situation from just a little different point of view. Let us assume that this time, you remember that you read a book about a fellow who was caught in the same situation and he used a certain little technique and got into his house quite simply. Let us assume that he took a hairpin and bent it in a certain way and pushed it in through the screen door on the back of the house and opened the screen door and then the regular door opened right up and he was in the house. What would you do? Why, you would ask your wife for a hairpin and you would bend it, just like the man in the book. You would do everything he did on the “assumption” that it would work. You would do this primarily because of your burning, strong, obsessional desire to get in out of the cold and get to bed. Yes, we all use the tremendous “law of assumption” every day of our lives, whether we realize it or not.
Now, the question, “what do you do when you don’t really believe that the Count to Four Formula works, but you would like to test it on an honest basis?” Use the “law of assumption!” I have used the Count to Four Formula and it worked for me in many hundreds of cases.
Thousands of my students have had unusual experiences with it. You certainly want to be something in particular, and you certainly want to have several things which you do not have, so stir up a burning desire and follow these suggestions to the letter on the “assumption” that the Count to Four Formula will work. When it works for you, you will not only know that it works, that you will have become what you want to be a you will have what you want to have.
If it doesn’t work, you haven’t lost anything, but you have exposed yourself to the possibility of having it work. But, if you do not try it on the assumption that it will work for you, you have forever lost the possibility of finding out that it might have worked.
So, I urge you to try it out on the assumption that it will work for you. I know it will work.
Question: “What do you suggest for someone interested in reading some material which goes into the ideas and principles behind the Count to Four Formula a little more thoroughly?”
Answer: I hope you are vitally interested in this question. If you are, you surely have a great future. I have found that reading and studying in the field of research is a continuous joy, and I have found that if one should live a million years, he could always find interesting areas of further research in the field of our mental processes.
I would like to share with you, a suggestion, which is one of the most effective I know in helping you to really learn the basic principles of success. In the second division of this book there are 13 chapters. I want you to read the first chapter each night, just before you turn out the light, for seven nights. Then read the second chapter for seven nights, then the third, then the fourth, etc., until you have completed the 13 chapters over a period of 13 weeks. Then start right over again for 13 more weeks, etc., for 52 weeks.
Then, do it again for the second year and the third, continuously, until you are saturated with every principle of this success philosophy. This book, “If You Can Count to Four…,” is enough for everyone to study for years. The purpose of studying philosophy is not to entertain yourself but rather to further develop your awareness.
“Awareness is the key to attainment.” The law of repetition is one of the greatest laws of learning. If one will read this book over and over and over and over again, year after year, he can be immeasurably happy, healthy and prosperous. What else do you want?
But for those who really want to read other books and do some more exploring in this wonderful field, may I suggest a few books which have meant much to me:
- Collier, The Secret of the Ages.
- Troward, The Law and the Word.
- Hill, Think and Grow Rich.
- Grafe, Get Rich in Spite of Yourself.
- Murphy, The Miracle of Your Mind.
- Neville, Awakened Imagination.
- Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich.
Question: “What will be some of the noticeable things that will happen to me, if I completely accept the Count to Four Formula and get into the middle of becoming what I want to be and obtaining what I want to have?”
Answer: If you will completely accept the Count to Four Formula and start wholeheartedly appropriating it in your life right away, the following are some of the things you will notice as activities and changes in your life.
The average person has certain habits of thought which are like railroad tracks. The train has to have a track to run on, so does a thought. Our habits are the tracks on which our thoughts run. Of course, we can think new thoughts and establish new tracks if we wish to put forth the effort, but the thoughts that most people think are old thoughts, which they have used for years and years to the point that the tracks are well established, and they think the thoughts without effort.
Because of this, they think these old thoughts constantly. Pretty soon, they develop these old tracks so deep and strong that they resist new ideas because it causes them to feel uncomfortable. We all like to feel comfortable. We resist anything which will cause us to feel uncomfortable.
So, when you go through the Count to Four Formula, you accept new goals for yourself and go through the process of building new tracks and sometimes upsetting some of the old tracks. This process is an uncomfortable one, unless we feel very strongly about our new goals. This process is easier to accept, when we know what is happening, and are keenly aware that it is just a short process and will soon reach a new stage of comfort and the newly established track.
For example, I played football back in my school days. I remember very well each year when we would go out for spring practice, for 4 or 5 days my leg muscles would become sore. This soreness became so severe that I seriously considered giving up football many times. But, the coach would kid me and tell me that in a few days, the soreness would be gone and I would feel fine. Yes, that is exactly what happened.
After a few days, I could run all afternoon playing football and my leg muscles would never complain for a moment.
Our mental processes are very much like our leg muscles. When we decide to establish new tracks upon which our thoughts habitually function, we experience emotional pain or discomfort, similar to the soreness in our leg muscles the first few days of football practice.
But we know that in a few days, the new tracks will have been established, and the old tracks neutralized or he erased, and our new found life in the new tracks will not only be comfortable, but vibrating with joy because we will have reached our new objectives. We experience peace of mind when we’re able to live in the actual dream having already been fulfilled. All men are seeking this feeling but few have found it.
Yes, you will have not only new “feelings,” new emotional experiences, new habit patterns, but you will have new poise, faith, joy, love and expression. You will live in that new dream home in that new location. You will drive that new car, wear that new dress or suit, take that trip, sing that song, make that speech, marry that man or woman, etc. Yes, you will literally begin to go through a process of becoming the person you have always secretly wanted to be and you will begin to obtain all the things you have secretly always wanted to have.
I discovered this formula a few years ago. At that time, I was afraid, felt inferior, unhappy, poor and ill. In just a few years, this formula has, and I say this with the deepest humility and gratitude, brought me the fulfillment of many of my dreams. I am now able to express life without fear. Because of this, I have enjoyed abundance in every area of living, including personal expression and a very satisfactory amount of material things.
I feel strongly that the purpose of material things is to help us express life, according to our nature, not to impress others. I not only appropriate this great formula in order to live abundantly, but I do everything I can to share it with others, as I believe with all of my being that everyone can live abundantly if they will follow the formula with simple childlike faith.
When you follow the Count to Four Formula, I say that there will gradually be a complete change in your life. Your habits of thought are the cause of everything you are, and now have.
You will change your habits of thought, therefore you will change into the person you want to be and you will have the things which will help you to express your new personality.
Question: “Should I list all the things I want to be and work on all of them at once, or just pick out one or two things and focus on them?”
Answer: First, you should list all the things you want to be next and all the things you want to have next. Do not be concerned (overly) about what you want to be or the things you want next year, five years from now or as a life’s goal. After you list all the things you want to be and have next, then you will notice that you have a feeling for the one or the few that you want most.
Sometimes we say we vibrate more to this or that now, more than to something else. Some of the things can wait until you can give attention to them. But when it is right for you to feel strongly about something in particular, which you have on your list, you will give your attention to it and for the time being, that shuts out all other things. Of course, you might for example, have several irons in the fire and you find you can only give exclusive attention to one at a time.
However, with training, you can switch your attention from one to the other and not let any of them burn. You can list all the things that you want to be next, and have next, and then, if you feel like adding new items to the list, at any time, do so. You are the only person in the whole world, who knows when and what to add or take from your list. Do not depend on any other person to tell you about this matter. Your Creator gave you the power, the intelligence and the privilege to decide these things for yourself.
Accept this honor and exercise it. Change your mind as often as you wish and apologize to no one. You are an individual and you are therefore different. You should not compare yourself with others. Compare yourself only with your idea or goal or dream. You can decide what you want to be. If you have a feeling that you want to be a great singer, and you happen to be at a station in life were the mere mention of it to your friends or relatives would cause them to discourage you, do not let that disturb you in the least. Your background, your education, your friends, your financial position, has nothing to do with it.
The only thing that you need ask yourself is “Do I really want to be it, do it or have it?” That is the most important thing. If you are absolutely sure that you want it, that is sufficient. Every desire, or idea, has within it, the power, the knowledge, the wisdom, the substance and the ingredients necessary to fulfill it.
Remember that! I know it is true because I have tested it a thousand times. Things are not true because they are written in a book, they are written in a book because they are true.
Question: “Should I list all the things I want to obtain or just one or two or three and focus on them?”
Answer: The answer to this question is very much like the answer to question 8. List all the things that you really want to be and the things you want to have now. Then, work on all of them for which you feel a strong urge. Some of them you will want to do something about right now. Others, you will keep on list from months and sometimes years before you get around to doing something about them. Relax, and live one day at a time, but keep looking forward.
Question: “Whom, and how many others, should I tell of my objectives?”
Answer: The answer to this question depends on many factors. Generally speaking, you should tell only those who you feel would wish you well and who would not discourage you. This is based on the assumption that you have already decided that you want something strongly, and that no one can talk you out of it. If you are not sure that you know what you want, then possibly it would be well for someone to talk you completely out of it. When you decide that you want to be or have something strongly, then tell only those who you feel will help you to obtain your desire. They can help you maintain or increase your feelings or enthusiasm. They can help you to dream of ways and means of reaching your objectives.
We call that Masterminding. Do not tell your dreams to the world, for the world, generally, will try to discourage you.
Question: “Should I have a certain time each day when I read and reread my list, and think about how would feel if I already had attained them?”
Answer: Yes, you should have a certain time each day to read your list. The ideal time is just before you go to bed and upon awakening. A good plan is to take about 15 or more minutes, just before turning out the lights to review your notebook and create a mood of having already attained your desires, then go to sleep in that mood. You will sleep in that mood, and upon awakening in the morning, the mood will persist. Then, review your notebook again upon awakening.
During the day, at odd moments, consciously think about your dreams, too. In other words, occupy your dreams as often as possible, so you can learn to feel natural in your new dreams. When you feel completely natural in your new dreams, they are actually yours.
Question: “What do I do when I list something in my notebook and then cool off and decide that I do not want it?”
Answer: Remove it from the list. Do not feel hesitant or apologetic about this. Everyone does it and it is a process of finally arriving at a strong feeling about what we really want to be and have. Change the list as often as you wish. When the process has expressed its nature, there will be items on your list that no one could influence you to remove.
Question: “Is it satisfactory to make my list, and at the time think it is complete, yet a few days or a few weeks later, decide that I should like to add to it?”
Answer: Yes, add to your list as often as you identify something else which you feel you want to be or have, which will help you to express life more harmoniously with your individuality. There is an infinite, unlimited abundance in this universe. You can express it as largely as you sincerely desire. Background, environment, education need not limit you.
Question: “Suppose I list a certain thing, and after a long time, it still has not come to pass. Should I assume that the Count to Four Formula is no good and forget the whole thing?”
Answer: Of course you should not forget the whole thing. Every idea, or plan, has a season through which it passes before it becomes mature and bears fruit in the form of the physical expression of the idea or plan. There are factors which I would like to mention that have some bearing on how long it will take to realize your dream as a physical reality: The size of your dream.
The size of your thinking at the time you start on your dream. The frequency of occupancy of your dream.
In other words, the time depends on how big you are compared to your dreams and how strongly you feel about it and how much attention you give to it. All of these are under your control, so you can give it the “Hot House” treatment if you wish to hurry up the process.
So, when you continue to want something, never stop. The laws behind the Count to Four Formula are absolute and always work. If you have not realized your dreams, and you have had the dream for a long time, do not give it up, for I can assure you that the fault lies not in the formula but in your failing to adhere to it. The formula will not fail you. If you want your goals sooner than it appears to be coming, turn on the heat of your enthusiasm, give your attention to it and it will surely be yours.
If you can convince yourself that you really want it, you can have it through this Count to Four Formula. It may take you years, but one day it will be yours if you never give up and you keep on keeping on, giving your attention to it on the “assumption” that it is yours.
By the way, some people say that they want something, and apparently work on it from time to time, but inwardly, they think from the feeling that it is impossible to really get it.
In that case, it is impossible. As long as your inner feeling is on one premise and your word is on another, you’re feeling wins. So, be sure that your secret inner feeling is on the same belief as your outer word.
Question: “Should I compare my dreams with other people’s dreams?”
Answer: In a general sense, do not compare your dreams with the dreams of others.
Do not compare them in a competitive way. You are different and especially designed.
You are an individual. You are designed to be and do special things. There is no other person in the world just like you and designed to do exactly the things you are supposed to do. So dare to be yourself. Oh, yes, you can study the deeper character of other persons and emulate those, but not the outer or externals of that person. Trying to compare and compete with other people is the basis of all the feelings of inferiority and many of the complexes people experience in their emotional realm. You are the standard as far as you are concerned. So choose your goal, the one you like.
Dare to be yourself!
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