Following is the contents of Chapter 17 of The Science of Getting Rich, by Wallace D. Wattles. Through the course of the book, Wattles develops and amplifies on these statements and considers them to be the essential points that anyone practicing the art of conscious creation must master. Without further ado:

There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.

A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.

Man can form things in his thought, and by impressing his thought upon formless substance can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.

In order to do this, man must pass from the competitive to the creative mind; otherwise he cannot be in harmony with the Formless Intelligence, which is always creative and never competitive in spirit.

Man may come into full harmony with the Formless Substance by entertaining a lively and sincere gratitude for the blessings it bestows upon him. Gratitude unifies the mind of man with the intelligence of Substance, so that man’s thoughts are received by the Formless. Man can remain upon the creative plane only by uniting himself with the Formless Intelligence through a deep and continuous feeling of gratitude.

Man must form a clear and definite mental image of the things he wishes to have, to do, or to become; and he must hold this mental image in his thoughts, while being deeply grateful to the Supreme that all his desires are granted to him. The man who wishes to get rich must spend his leisure hours in contemplating his Vision, and in earnest thanksgiving that the reality is being given to him. Too much stress cannot be laid on the importance of frequent contemplation of the mental image, coupled with unwavering faith and devout gratitude. This is the process by which the impression is given to the Formless, and the creative forces set in motion.

The creative energy works through the established channels of natural growth, and of the industrial and social order. All that is included in his mental image will surely be brought to the man who follows the instructions given above, and whose faith does not waver. What he wants will come to him through the ways of established trade and commerce.

In order to receive his own when it shall come to him, man must be active; and this activity can only consist in more than filling his present place. He must keep in mind the Purpose to get rich through the realization of his mental image. And he must do, every day, all that can be done that day, taking care to do each act in a successful manner. He must give to every man a use value in excess of the cash value he receives, so that each transaction makes for more life; and he must so hold the Advancing Thought that the impression of increase will be communicated to all with whom he comes in contact.

The men and women who practice the foregoing instructions will certainly get rich; and the riches they receive will be in exact proportion to the definiteness of their vision, the fixity of their purpose, the steadiness of their faith, and the depth of their gratitude.

Those of us who know the basics of the Law of Attraction know that “thoughts become things”. So we embark on our life-changing journey, excited about the wonderful way life will be. Some people have more success at it than others. Those people keep building on what they’ve learned, attracting more of what they want, expanding the horizons of their imagination and belief, seemingly growing by leaps and bounds.

Then there are the rest of us.

‘The rest of us’ is, by most accounts, a rather large group. We’re not in the ‘non-believer’ group, but we just haven’t, for whatever reasons, been able to consciously create our lives as well as we would like to.

So the question is, “Why not?” Thankfully, we have kept the faith in the Law–we know it works. We haven’t become members of the group that say, “This stuff doesn’t work.” We haven’t given up. But what to do?

My answer? Study, examine what you’re doing, how you’re thinking, adjust, do it again. The basic Ultimate Success Formula. Realize that just because it’s not working like you think it should, you’re not a failure. You haven’t bombed the course. You get as many do-overs as you need.

For my part, here are the mistakes I’ve made in the wealth-attraction arena. Maybe you can learn from them to make your journey a little less curvy than mine.

So, like I have, do you make these mistakes in attracting wealth?

Mistake #1: Closing the door of your mind to money-making opportunities.

Open your eyes to the fact that wealth is all around you. There is an abundance of money. It’s everywhere you look, if you’ll only see it. When an opportunity to make money comes your way, don’t pooh-pooh it. It came your way for a reason–because you wanted it to. Recognize that and step into it. It may be an opportunity that you don’t think would suit you. “I don’t want to sell soap.” Maybe not, but could you learn from some people who’ve been successful at it? Can you apply their ideas and habits to something else? Keep your eyes–and your mind–open.

Mistake #2: Hanging on to the ‘poor’ mentality.

This, I think, is one of the hardest habits to kick. It shows up when you say to yourself, “I can’t afford that.” And you know what? Your thought becomes the thing. If you just can’t wrap your head around the idea that it’s yours if you want it, then at least practice reducing your resistance to the thought. Do the “wouldn’t it be nice” exercise from Ask and It Is Given. Get your thoughts away from the despair of not having, to the hopefulness and joy of maybe having. You might not think that is much of an improvement, but it is. It’s training your mind to question the permanence of your present situation.

Mistake #3: Practicing despair instead of gratitude.

This is what you are doing when your focus is on lack, when you’re thinking things like, “When is this going to get better?”, or “My life sucks.”

Begin to focus on, and be grateful for, what you do have. “Not much,” you say? I suggest you look around you again. If you’re reading this, you likely have something that only a small percentage of people in the world have: a computer and an internet connection. It follows from there that it’s likely that you have a roof over your head, and that you’re not starving. You probably don’t have to go to sleep listening to the sounds of mortar rounds and rifle fire, and you probably don’t have to worry about being the victim of a kidnapping or suicide bomber.

Do you have the faintest conception of how many people in the world don’t have what you have? Possibly, contemplating that will enable you to whisper a little “thank you”, eh?

There’re more common mistakes, but if you’re like me, rectifying these will keep you busy for a while.

In talking with people, I’m bombarded by variations of ‘how bad it is’. The economy sucks, the job sucks, the wife sucks ^oops, life sucks. Everything sucks.

I have to admit that it’s easy to get pulled down into that pit. Thankfully, I am beginning to recognize my whereabouts and change my view of the world.

When you change your focus, your attention, opportunities seem to materialize out of thin air where none had been before. But were they really not there? Or were they just hidden from view because of the direction you were looking?

My focus changed recently. I made the decision to become more aware of financial opportunity, because in the past that has been one of my problem areas. I am exposed to an idea or opportunity and immediately go over to the dark side. I dissect. I think of all of the reasons why it, whatever it is, won’t work. About the temporary difficulties it may entail.

One example: in the early 90’s, I was the store manager of one of a growing chain of auto parts stores. The decision was made to take the company public, and members of management that had been with the company a certain period of time had the opportunity to purchase a block of stock prior to the IPO. I had passed the time requirement the week before, so I was eligible. The only kicker was that I would have to borrow the $5,000 from a credit card because I had no cash.

I decided not to. Think of the interest on a credit card for a $5,000 cash advance! Besides, I really didn’t like the company. Yes, they were growing and took care of customers well, but treated management like dirt, at least at the store level. So, no thanks.

Now, 16 years later, the stock that I could have purchased for $5,000 is worth over $250,000.

What has happened in the couple of short weeks that I have changed my attention from lack to opportunity?

• I had, and followed up on, the inspiration to launch another website focused on weight loss, health and wellness, and anti-aging. A crowded arena, to be sure, but I have chosen not to compete, but to create. It is taking shape, and my goal is to launch before the end of May.
• I decided that I wanted my main source of income, Sawtooth Internet Development, to be more productive. I want to take a more active approach to business-building, networking, etc. Within a few days of making that decision, more opportunities for business made their way to me. My specialty is turning to problem-solving for existing sites, and I’m seeing more chances to do that. It is a fit for my analytical mind.
• My wife and a friend of hers had begun a business a few years ago that languished because of a lack of focus. They’ve decided to revive the business and it has started to take off. They’ve participated in trade shows, made new acquaintances and revived old ones that are already beginning to show signs of promise.
• My wife’s activities caused me to reconnect with an old and dear friend. I had, because of my level of thought, let our relationship languish over the past few months. Through her,…
• …I have been offered the opportunity to become part of a research group for the ongoing development of a personal development course to be offered nationwide in the near future. The close association with people of this caliber has already inspired me.
• I was offered the opportunity to partner with a small group of people developing some fantastic concepts in the areas of real estate, mortgage and commercial lending, and financial management. The outlook for this is mind-boggling.

What is especially mind-boggling is that every one of those opportunities, and more, have been right in front of me for a long time. Years, in fact. They’re nothing new. They’ve been right out in front of me, waiting to be seen.

How much is right in front of you if you’d only change your focus a little?

Are you closing the door when opportunity knocks?