The Secret of Success

Each and every individual must be, to a degree, a law unto themselves original: "a law unto himself"; an allusion to Romans 2:14, suggesting that one's internal nature guides their conduct. No two temperaments are exactly alike—Nature delights in variety. No two sets of circumstances are precisely the same—infinite variety is shown here as well. Therefore, it would be foolish to attempt to establish rules of universal application, which would supposedly lead everyone to the great goal of Success. One only has to look around at the different needs of the various individuals making up the crowd to recognize the pointlessness of any attempt to provide universal instruction on this subject.

Every man who has succeeded has done so in a different way—generally along some original lines of action. In fact, the faculty or characteristic known as Individuality seems to have played an important part in the success of the majority of people who have attained it. And Individuality makes those who possess it to a marked degree likely to depart from any set of rules or pre-planned courses of action. Thus, it may be stated as a general principle that each person must work out their own Success along the lines of their own Individuality, rather than by following any fixed rule or line of conduct.

In view of what we have just said, it may seem strange that we have ventured to write a small book entitled "The Secret of Success"—particularly as we have started the book by declaring the impossibility of laying down any set rules on the subject. This may seem like a paradox, but a little examination will show you that it is not. It is true that we believe each and every person must work out their own Success, along the lines of their own Individuality, instead of following some pre-packaged original: "cut-and-dried" plan. And right here is where the "Secret of Success" comes in. "Along the lines of his own individuality," we have just said—it must follow, then, that one must possess Individuality before he may work along its "lines." And in the measure that he possesses Individuality, so will he possess the first requirement original: "prerequisite" for Success. And that is what we mean by "The Secret of Success"—INDIVIDUALITY.

Every person possesses hidden and untapped original: "dormant and latent" Individuality—but only a few allow it to express itself. The majority of us are like human sheep trotting along complacently after some assertive leader original: "bellwether" – the leading sheep of a flock, usually wearing a bell to lead the others, whose tinkling bell serves to guide our footsteps. We have absorbed the notion somehow that these leaders possess the sum and substance of human knowledge, power, and the ability to think. Instead of developing original: "unfolding" our own hidden powers and untapped possibilities, we allow them to remain in obscurity, and we trot along—joggety-joggety-jog an onomatopoeic phrase suggesting a rhythmic, mindless pace—after our favorite leader. People are very much like sheep in this way—they are obedient and imitative animals. Rather than assume the responsibility of directing their own footsteps, they wait until someone takes the lead, and then away they stampede after him. Is it any wonder that the leaders claim the best rewards original: "choicest pickings" for themselves and allow the flock to get only the poor-quality original: "scrubby" grass? Not a bit of it—they have earned the choice bits because of the followers' lack of Individuality and Initiative on