Imagination: the Workshop of the Mind

Imagination is the workshop of the mind that trains it to think and achieve whatever it wants. In our case, it is to think and grow rich. If we compare the past century with the rest of history, we can conclude that the past century was a time of rapid change. It was the time when we humans started stimulating and developing our imagination and then used it for development. Whatever the world is today, it was created by the imagination of people.

Each and every thing around us is the result of someone's imagination.

Imagination functions in two different ways: synthetic imagination and creative imagination. We can also refer to them as the two types of imagination.

In synthetic imagination, we use the information that has already been stored in our mind. This information reflects our old concepts, experiences, observations, ideas, plans, etc. We use this information to imagine and thus come up with a completely new combination. This new combination is based on past data. If the data provided is incorrect, i.e., wrong information, the new combination will be off. Synthetic imagination is most commonly used by people, particularly by inventors.

But what to do when we face a problem in which our past information is useless? Here comes the role of creative imagination. It is more of an advanced field. Here, we have to directly communicate with 'Infinite Intelligence'. It is a mode of giving rise to new ideas and plans through auto-suggestion. In creative imagination, transmitting, processing, and receiving of thoughts are done independently of past information. Great people become great because they developed and thus used the faculty of creative imagination.

Until now, we have understood the importance of imagination in our life. But now, the question arises: how do we develop our imagination? Well, in the book 'Think and Grow Rich', Mr. Hill reveals the secret method for developing imagination - it's practice! Everything that we are capable of has been developed by practicing it. The same rule applies to imagination. Both synthetic and creative imaginations become more alert with their continuous use.

We had discussed the term "desire" in our previous parts of this series. Desire is just a thought. It has no value unless and until it transforms into a physical counterpart. Desire is an intangible impulse, and to convert it into a tangible reality, we require imagination. Using our imagination to achieve our desire (to become rich) is what we call "Think and Grow Rich."

Is imagination enough to achieve success in life? What role does decision making play in our journey to success? The story of Frank W. Gunsaulus best fits to answer these questions. When Dr. Gunsaulus was in college, he witnessed numerous defects in the education system. He then began imagining himself as the head of the institute and considered how he would improve the system. His imagination eventually gave Dr. Gunsaulus the idea to form an institute with a superior education system than the current one. He had a great idea, but he needed a million dollars to create the institute. How would he raise a million dollars? Who could he ask? Where could he go? These questions kept occurring to him. Despite these challenges, Dr. Gunsaulus didn't give up. Each night he went to bed with these thoughts and woke up with the same thoughts. Wherever he went, he kept his idea at the forefront of his mind, which only strengthened his desire. Dr. Gunsaulus was willing to devote his entire life to this idea. After nurturing a firm desire, faith, and imagination, nothing happened for two years.

What was the thing that Dr. Gunsaulus was missing? If you read his story carefully, you will notice that all he had done until now was thinking. He had not taken any physical action to achieve his goal. The moment he realized that, he decided he would secure the necessary million dollars within a week. Now, he had committed to reaching his goal within a fixed period. This was mentioned in the first part of this series (Desire). Providing a deadline for the task improves your efficiency.

Dr. Gunsaulus sat on his bed and made a plan to get a million dollars. He then wrote a sermon on the topic, "What Would I Do if I Had a Million Dollars." He called the newspaper and announced that he would be preaching this sermon. Preparing the sermon was not difficult for him since he had been working on this idea for two years, but now it was time for action. The next morning, before preaching the sermon, Dr. Gunsaulus was confident that he would receive positive feedback. He then delivered his sermon. The presentation was excellent, and everyone appreciated it. Soon a man from the third row stood up and approached Dr. Gunsaulus. He stated that he liked his idea and would give him a million dollars to pursue it further. The man was Mr. Armour, the founder of the Chicago-based firm Armour and Company.

The next day, Dr. Gunsaulus went to Mr. Armour’s office where a million-dollar check was waiting for him. He then took the money and established the Armour Institute of Technology. Dr. Gunsaulus served as the president of this institute for the first 27 years. You may have noticed that when Dr. Gunsaulus made his decision to get money within a week, it took only 36 hours for him to receive it. This happened because he had been imagining his dream for the past 20 years, strengthening the connection between his conscious and subconscious mind. Therefore, when he made up his mind to get the money within a week, the principle of the Law of Attraction started working. Then, as we all know, whatever happens, happens.

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