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CARNEGIE: Self-discipline and organized thinhjng are almost synonymous terms. There can be no organized thinking without strict self-discipline, for after all, organized thought is nothing but carefully chosen thought. Thought habits can be established only through strict self-discipline. Motive, or obsessional desires, make self-discipline very easy. It is no trouble at all to form thought-habits if one has a definite motive, backed by a strong emotional desire for the attainment of the object of the motive.
HILL: Do you mean that it is easy for one to form thought habits in connection with subjects in which one has a keen personal interest?
CARNEGIE: That’s the idea. The procrastinator drifts through life, a failure, because he has no obsessional motive for doing anything in particular. His thinking is not organized because he has chosen no specific calling for organized planning.
HILL: Will you briefly describe the major benefits of organized thinking, from the viewpoint of the man who wishes to make the best use of his time and ability?
CARNEGIE: The benefits are so numerous that it is difficult to decide where to begin or where to stop, but these are some of the more obvious advantages of this habit:
(a) Organized thinking enables one to become the master of his own mind. This he accomplishes by training his faculty of will to control his emotions, turning them on and off as occasion may require.
Organized thinking forces one to work with definiteness of purpose, thereby enabling him to set up a habit that prohibits procrastination.
(c) It develops the habit of working with definite plans instead of blundering ahead by the hit or miss method.
It enables one to stimulate the subconscious mind to greater action and more ready response, in the attainment of desired ends, instead of allowing the subconscious mind to respond to the “tramp” thoughts and destructive influences of one’s environment.
It develops self-reliance.
It gives one the benefit of the knowledge, experience and education of others, through the medium of the Master Mind alliance, which is an important medium used by all able thinkers.
It enables one to convert his efforts into greater material resources and larger income, since an organized mind can produce more than one that is not organized.
It develops the habit of accurate analysis, through which one may find the solution to his problems instead of worrying over them.
It aids in maintaining sound health, because mind power that is organized and directed toward the attainment of desirable ends has no time to be wasted in connection with self-pity or imaginary ailments. Idle minds tend to develop ailing bodies.
(j) Last, but by no mean least, organized thinking leads to peace of mind and that form of permanent happiness which is known only to the man who keeps his mind fully occupied. No one can be either happy or successful without a planned program for the use of his time. Planned programs are based on organized thinking.
As I have stated before, the brain is something like a rich garden spot in that it will voluntarily grow a fine crop of weeds if it is not organized and kept busy growing a more desirable crop. The weeds are represented by the stray thoughts that take possession of the unorganized, idle mind, as the result of one’s daily environment.
Study this list of benefits carefully and you will reach the conclusion that any one of them offers sufficient reward to justify all the effort one puts into organizing his thinking habits. The sum total of all these benefits represents the difference between success and failure. Success is always the result of an ordered life. An ordered life comes through organized thinking and carefully controlled habits.