For those of you who are just now joining us, I am evaluating Wallace D. Wattles’ “The Science of Getting Rich,” now owned by Rebecca Fine. So far, we have identified the first four steps to getting rich as:
And now, without further ado, step number five:
“The answer to prayer is not according to your faith while you are talking, but according to your faith while you are working.”
I don’t think anyone could put it any clearer than that. So the fifth step to getting rich is ACTION. But not just any action, or just any work. We receive our blessings through inspired actions. Let me explain.
Have you ever had an inspired thought? Something just hit you “out of the blue?” Perhaps it was the best idea you ever had. Did you act on it? If so, then you are acting in what Wattles calls “The Certain Way,” (Chapter 11 for those who are reading along.) If you did not act on that thought, and if you make a habit of dismissing or discounting such thoughts, you are missing out on all the good stuff the universe is trying to send you. When you focus on something you want and hold the faith that it is on its way to you, those little moments of inspiration are God’s way of sending it to you. “Do this,” He says. Your job, is to do it, and do it now.
See, some people, like Oprah Winfrey, Martha Steward, Bill Gates, and many other successful people have always, naturally followed those instincts. Perhaps they had someone modeling that behavior to them when they were younger, or perhaps they had an adult who encouraged their creativity, or maybe they just figured it out on their own, but somehow, they learned to stay “in tune” with their “creative voice.” They dreamed, just like the rest of us, and their wishes came true for them, because they acted on the “advice” they were given, they believed in those inspired thoughts.
Others of us, myself included, learned somewhere along the line that any thought is to be evaluated before acted on. We learned that our actions should be logical, and that we need to “think our decisions through before making a big mistake.”
Now, don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying that you should never think things through or contemplate an idea. Here’s what Wattles says.
“ . . .you must so arrange your own business affairs that you may be able to receive it when it comes to you. Your thought makes all things, animate and inanimate, work to bring you what you want, but your personal activity must be such that you can rightly receive what you want when it reaches you.”
Okay, let’s bring this into the 21st century, shall we? I would really like to have a new car. I visualize it every day. I’ve been tempted, after watching “The Secret,” to go to a dealership and test drive some BMW’s. However, I have a brother-in-law who sells Toyota’s, and a new Avalon would be nice, not to mention the fact that I would probably get a better deal. So, first of all, I am having trouble making up my mind what I want. I’ve thought about getting the Avalon first, then stepping up to a BMW later. But the Avalon doesn’t come with the options I want in the style I want. Bummer! In the meantime, there’s a part of me that refuses to go to the dealership of either maker because I know that I would qualify for financing either vehicle. I don’t want to finance this car, I want to pay cash for it. In that regard, I am not ready to receive it, “rightly”. So I don’t have it. In the meantime, I shake, rattle, and roll down the road in my 1999 Nissan Altima. Don’t worry about me though – I’ll get a new car when I’m ready.
I hope this example makes sense to you, because I want to point out something else. I could sit here and make up all kinds of excuses as to why I don’t have my new car. I could even blame other people for it. I could say things like, “If my husband really loved me, he’d buy me a new car.” “If it weren’t for this [unexpected expense] I’d have the money already.” “If I could just catch a break, if only the universe were on my side.” Or, lastly, “Why not just go in debt for this car – I’ll pay it off, eventually. Life’s too short to not enjoy it.”
But none of those statements would be true. If I really wanted and needed a new car, my husband would buy it for me, and I know that. That’s why I haven’t asked him. There’s no such thing as an unexpected expense, at least, not if you believe in the law of attraction. My husband has had some medical bills recently, but you know what, they haven’t amounted to that much and it has not been the deterrent for acquiring my car – not at all. The universe is on my side, always, just as God is always on our side, and my “break” will come when I’m ready for it. After all, I receive blessings in other ways and in other areas of my life every single day. I could go in debt for the car, but that’s not me. I would not enjoy my life because going in debt for a car right now does not fit with my value system. I am simply not a vibrational match for a new car right now.
So we’ve evaluated this pretty well, but here’s the tricky part; most of the time, we don’t know what’s holding us back from receiving what we’re asking for. Yes, I heard all of you when you said, “That’s all well and good, Debra. But what’s holding me back? I don’t get it. I am ready to receive a new car, new house, new job, new promotion, more money, and the list goes on and on.” Okay, here’s what you do.
“Put your whole mind into present action. . . . Do, every day, ALL that can be done that day. Every day is either a successful day or a day of failure, and it is the successful days which get you what you want.”
In other words, focus on action. Focus on your work. Wattles says that you should put your entire mind into your present work, even if you feel you are not in the right job. No one is so misplaced that you cannot reap the rewards you desire until you can get into the right line of work. So give everything you’ve got to your current employer.
Les Brown, one of my favorite motivational speakers, talks about how his turning point came when he was working for someone else. He knew he had chosen the wrong career and was miserable. As a result, he “held back” at work. He did only what he had to do. Once he realized that by holding back what he was truly capable of doing for his employer he was really holding back what he was capable of accomplishing for himself, his attitude turned around immediately, and so did his success. He didn’t stay with that employer, obviously, and now makes his living joyfully helping others find their passion.
When you make every day a success, doing everything you can in that day, success will come to you in other ways. Try it and see for yourself.
The last point I want to draw out of Wattles’ philosophy on action and how we are to work is this:
“You are not to overwork, nor to rush blindly into your business in the effort to do the greatest possible number of things in the shortest possible time. You are not to try to do tomorrow’s work today, nor to do a week’s work in a day. It is really not the number of things you do, but the EFFICIENCY of each separate action that counts.”
When I first left my husband’s dental practice and started working on my own again, I expected to, for the most part, solve all of the world’s problems in one day. At the very least, I expected to have my business up and running, and be a motivational success story, on day one. I expected to speak to everyone, everywhere, have several websites up and running, and, well, you get the picture, all on day one. I put myself under so much stress. It finally occurred to me, while reflecting on why all of that hadn’t happened yet, that it was like my husband expecting to serve everyone in the 3-county area we live on his first day of business; filling all of their cavities, placing crowns and bridgework as necessary, etc. I realized that if I were his mentor and he had come to me with all the expectations I had for myself, I would have explained to him that there was no way he could do all of that in one day, and that even if he did, what would he do on his second day in business!
I learned to slow down not only because I couldn’t do it all, but also because I did several things that I really didn’t need to do. I wasn’t using my time efficiently because I didn’t stop to think about what I was doing. I didn’t have a strategic plan.
Later on, I learned how to listen to my inner voice and pay attention to inspired action. That’s when things really started to cook for me. I had some gaps in my strategic plan when I created it and I knew that. So I had to learn to listen to my intuition and when it gave me something to do, I did it – immediately. My website traffic increased, I started getting more speaking engagements, my blog articles even started to write themselves almost. My Career Development Seminar, which I had been planning for about two years, suddenly had a sponsor, and an audience. That came about due to waking up one morning and “being told” to go talk to one person. She led me to another person, who led me to two more people, and my seminar was launched in just a few hours. I had been trying for months, but on that day, I was a vibrational match with my desire.
Wattles would say that because I followed through on my inspired thought that day with power, in other words, I knew this was my purpose, so I followed it through until I achieved my goal, that this was efficient action. So it’s not only important to work, but to know the ultimate reason for why you’re doing the work. What is your purpose behind it? What are you really trying to accomplish?
I’m reminded of a story about a school bus driver who wanted to quit his job. He felt he had served his purpose and that it was time for him to move on. When he informed his supervisor that he would be quitting after the current school year, his supervisor begged him to stay on.
“Why do you want to leave? You’re the best, most experienced driver I’ve got,” said his manager.
“All I do is pick kids up and drop them off every day,” said the driver. “I just feel like there’s more to life than this.”
“Is that what you think you’re doing?” asked the supervisor. “Do you think that’s all there is to your job?”
“Well, no. I also make sure that other vehicles stop when they’re supposed to and that the children get across the road safely. If a situation seems dangerous, I keep the doors closed until I know it’s okay to open them,” replied the bus driver.
“Have you ever had a situation where you kept the doors closed until you knew it was safe to let the children off the bus?” asked the supervisor.
“Oh, sure,” replied the bus driver. “It happens often enough.”
“What do think would happen if I had to hire a less experienced driver for your route?” asked the super.
“Well, I suppose the children would be at risk until the new driver learned how to handle those situations. You know, I’ve never thought about it before, but I guess I could potentially be saving the lives of those children every day and just not realize it because I’m so cautious.”
“That’s right!” exclaimed the manager. “Great bus drivers are hard to find because it takes a loving heart for children, a cautious eye for potential disaster, and an ability to remain calm under possibly dangerous situations to be really good at this job. But you, sir, are one of the great ones. Please reconsider staying on.”
The bus driver did keep his job – for another 15 years. Instead of seeing his job as just picking up and dropping off kids, he saw his job as keeping children safe to and from school. He found his purpose for doing the work.
Are you working efficiently? Are you working with your purpose in mind? Are you working? Are you inspired? The fifth step to getting rich is inspired action.










