The Science of Getting Rich By Wallace Delois Wattles --- 02 CHAPTER 2. THERE IS A SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH

CHAPTER 2. THERE IS A SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH

THERE is a Science of getting rich, and it is an exact science, like algebra
or arithmetic. There are certain laws which govern the process of
acquiring riches; once these laws are learned and obeyed by any man, he
will get rich with mathematical certainty.
The ownership of money and property comes as a result of doing things
in a certain way; those who do things in this Certain Way, whether on
purpose or accidentally, get rich; while those who do not do things in this
Certain Way, no matter how hard they work or how able they are, remain
poor.
It is a natural law that like causes always produce like effects; and,
therefore, any man or woman who learns to do things in this certain way
will infallibly get rich.
That the above statement is true is shown by the following facts:
Getting rich is not a matter of environment, for, if it were, all the people
in certain neighborhoods would become wealthy; the people of one city
would all be rich, while those of other towns would all be poor; or the
inhabitants of one state would roll in wealth, while those of an adjoining
state would be in poverty.
But everywhere we see rich and poor living side by side, in the same
environment, and often engaged in the same vocations. When two men
are in the same locality, and in the same business, and one gets rich
while the other remains poor, it shows that getting rich is not, primarily,
a matter of environment. Some environments may be more favorable
than others, but when two men in the same business are in the same
neighborhood, and one gets rich while the other fails, it indicates that
getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way.
And further, the ability to do things in this certain way is not due solely
to the possession of talent, for many people who have great talent remain
poor, while other who have very little talent get rich.
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Studying the people who have got rich, we find that they are an average
lot in all respects, having no greater talents and abilities than other men.
It is evident that they do not get rich because they possess talents and
abilities that other men have not, but because they happen to do things
in a Certain Way.
Getting rich is not the result of saving, or "thrift"; many very penurious
people are poor, while free spenders often get rich.
Nor is getting rich due to doing things which others fail to do; for two
men in the same business often do almost exactly the same things, and
one gets rich while the other remains poor or becomes bankrupt.
From all these things, we must come to the conclusion that getting rich is
the result of doing things in a Certain Way.
If getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way, and if like
causes always produce like effects, then any man or woman who can do
things in that way can become rich, and the whole matter is brought
within the domain of exact science.
The question arises here, whether this Certain Way may not be so
difficult that only a few may follow it. This cannot be true, as we have
seen, so far as natural ability is concerned. Talented people get rich, and
blockheads get rich; intellectually brilliant people get rich, and very
stupid people get rich; physically strong people get rich, and weak and
sickly people get rich.
Some degree of ability to think and understand is, of course, essential;
but in so far natural ability is concerned, any man or woman who has
sense enough to read and understand these words can certainly get rich.
Also, we have seen that it is not a matter of environment. Location
counts for something; one would not go to the heart of the Sahara and
expect to do successful business.
Getting rich involves the necessity of dealing with men, and of being
where there are people to deal with; and if these people are inclined to
deal in the way you want to deal, so much the better. But that is about as
far as environment goes.
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If anybody else in your town can get rich, so can you; and if anybody else
in your state can get rich, so can you.
Again, it is not a matter of choosing some particular business or
profession. People get rich in every business, and in every profession;
while their next door neighbors in the same vocation remain in poverty.
It is true that you will do best in a business which you like, and which is
congenial to you; and if you have certain talents which are well
developed, you will do best in a business which calls for the exercise of
those talents.
Also, you will do best in a business which is suited to your locality; an
ice-cream parlor would do better in a warm climate than in Greenland,
and a salmon fishery will succeed better in the Northwest than in
Florida, where there are no salmon.
But, aside from these general limitations, getting rich is not dependent
upon your engaging in some particular business, but upon your learning
to do things in a Certain Way. If you are now in business, and anybody
else in your locality is getting rich in the same business, while you are not
getting rich, it is because you are not doing things in the same Way that
the other person is doing them.
No one is prevented from getting rich by lack of capital. True, as you get
capital the increase becomes more easy and rapid; but one who has
capital is already rich, and does not need to consider how to become so.
No matter how poor you may be, if you begin to do things in the Certain
Way you will begin to get rich; and you will begin to have capital. The
getting of capital is a part of the process of getting rich; and it is a part of
the result which invariably follows the doing of things in the Certain
Way.
You may be the poorest man on the continent, and be deeply in debt; you
may have neither friends, influence, nor resources; but if you begin to do
things in this way, you must infallibly begin to get rich, for like causes
must produce like effects.
If you have no capital, you can get capital; if you are in the wrong
business, you can get into the right business; if you are in the wrong
location, you can go to the right location; and you can do so by beginning in your present business and in your present location to do
things in the Certain Way which causes success.