Wallace Wattles - The Obscure Author Of The Science Of Getting Rich

By Gerda J. Worth


Wallace Delois Wattles was the author of The Science of Getting Rich. But even though the book became famous and is recognized as one of the greatest self-improvement works ever written, Wattles remained obscure and is unknown to most people.Wattles was born in 1860 in Illinois and grew up with little formal education. In 1880 he was working as a laborer on the family farm in McHenry County, Illinois, northwest of Chicago.

If in the future there is a Hall of Fame dedicated to success self help books, then "The Science of Getting Rich" will definitely be in the list of those books. This book is extremely catchy and it is exciting because it is short to the point and this makes it quite appealing and readable. Wallace wrote this book a hundred year ago from now and it deals with the concept of acquisition of wealth faster. This book will not tell you how to raise your self-esteem or determining goals and having a happy life. It focuses on money making and nothing else apart from that. What I liked about this book is that Wallace very boldly cuts to the chase. In this book he asserts that we all have the right to be wealthy or rich. But, he never promotes selfishness, greed or even trampling over others.

During his life Wattles wrote many books and articles. Among his books were,The Science of Getting Rich,The Science of Being Great,The Science of Being Well,Health Through New Thought and Fasting,Hellfire Harrison(his only novel) His books were published by Elizabeth Towne, who was also the editor of Nautilus magazine. During the years he was writing, the magazine included an article written by Wattles in nearly every issue.

Look, the bottom line is this: only you get to decide who you will be and what you will do with your life unless you decide to listen to those who don't have your best interests at heart. Is that what you really want for your life?I grew up having thoughts and feelings for just about every idea and concept in Wattles' book. But it took several years as a business man, and as a family man, to finally bring them all together in my own mind. Only then did I realize that I had been, since my early teens, using vision, purpose, faith, and gratitude, to help me build wealth, success, and happiness. By the time I was 19, I already believed that in order for me to be a good Christian, I needed to be a good capitalist. And in order to be a good capitalist, I needed to be a good Christian. And in order to be a good family man, I needed to be a good Christian and a good capitalist. But as a young teenager, struggling to help my mother come up with money to pay our home's mortgage and utilities, these were not ideas and concepts that I could easily grasp. It was difficult to see the 'big picture' when bills needed to be paid before we could eat.

But now, looking back at my family life, I have since come to realize that my mother, with almost no formal education, no career skills, no money, and three small children to feed, inherently understood many of the basic concepts in this book. My mother was not as eloquent as Wattles, and she didn't have much of an opportunity to put Wattles' principles into practice. But me and my brothers were inadvertently living and learning Wattles' concepts every day - through the actions of our mother. She taught us that even in the worst of times, that by sticking to our single-minded vision to grow and thrive, that we will survive; and acting everyday with purpose to achieve our goals, that our faith in each other and in our dream of creating a successful life will help us succeed; and our gratitude to God for keeping us healthy so that we could keep working and studying, we would eventually be successful. And eventually, we were.

The Science of Getting Rich begins on the right note by explaining how money is important to achieve whatever goals you might have. You might think your goals transcend all that and are above something petty like money, but the truth is that you need certain things - practical everyday things and objects to get there and only money can get you those. To understand how sensible the advice in The Science of Getting Rich is, think about it this way. If you aspire to be a writer and are living in a little apartment doing all your chores yourself, then you can't devote as much time to writing as a person who is rich, lives in a nice big house and has maids to do all the messy chores so that he/she can focus on the thing he/she does best - write some great books!

Wattles' message was an important one for me. And it is one that can help you change and improve your life too. But I'm here to tell you that there is no big 'secret' hidden in this book. Wattles' book does not contain any great earth-shattering, life-changing secret. Everything in this book you already know about or have already thought about at one time or another. What it does do is bring together and discuss several ideas and concepts about achieving and living a balanced and successful life. It presents it to you in a little book, in a structured and easy-to-understand format. Maybe you haven't been able to bring all of these ideas and concepts together in your own head. Maybe you didn't know how to apply these ideas and concepts to your life, business, and career. This book will help you see and understand these ideas and concepts - and shows you how they can apply to your life, business, and career.

Wattles uses short, interesting statements to show you how these principles can and should apply to your life. Chapter 5, titled "Increasing Life" is probably my favorite chapter in the book. Here is a quote from that chapter that sums up the theme of the entire book: "What God wants is that you should make the most of yourself, for yourself, and for others; and you can help others more by making the most of yourself than in any other way. You can make the most of yourself only by getting rich; so it is right and praiseworthy that you should give your first and best thought to the work of acquiring wealth."Another recurring theme throughout his book is about becoming rich and successful on the creative (creating wealth) plain, not on the competitive (me vs. you) plain: "You are to become a creator, not a competitor; you are going to get what you want, but in such a way that when you get it every other man will have more than he has now." Wattles' statements are practical, insightful, and inspirational all at the same time.

It is a book that Wallace wrote hundred years ago to make people understand the concept of wealth acquisition faster. This is a book that will only tell you about how to make money and it has nothing to do with raising your self-esteem or identifying goals to lead a happy life. Wallace is direct to the point and makes it clear that everyone has the right to be rich and wealthy. However, he never ever promotes negativity like greed or selfishness.

Another tool I have used to see things I would otherwise not see is photos. Take a series of pictures where you work or spend most of your time. Do you see things in those still photos that you don't see while you are walking through? Study them for a while, a new opportunity, you could not see before, just might pop out at you.Have you ever thought about what things you do the best and/or love to do the most? Is there a way to use your talents and abilities in your current position? Or a way to grow into another line of work that you can focus on doing what you love?Wallace Wattles also says: " If you are ever to begin to make ready for the reception of what you want, you must begin now."So what if you do not have the training or education to have the business you would love? Take action now and "begin to make ready for the reception of what you want". Get the training you need, learn what you need to know, start making connections with people who are doing what you want to do.You can not sit back and think it into being. You must take steps toward what you desire - you must take action.




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