COOPERATION 823every time you have, or imagine you have, an ache or a pain. I have not
touched a drug in more than five years, and I have not been either sick
or ailing during that time, in spite of the fact that I perform more
work each day than most men of my profession. I have Enthusiasm,
endurance, and action because I eat the simple foods that contain the
body-building elements that I require.
There is another enemy you must conquer before you can become
a person of action, and that is the worry habit.
Worry, envy, jealousy, hatred, doubt, and fear are all states of
mind that are fatal to action. These negative states of mind destroy
the most essential factor in the achievement of success-the desire
to achieve.
In A Definite Chief Aim, the second lesson of this course, you
learned that your chief aim in life should be supported by a burn-
ing desire for its realization. You can have no burning desire for
achievement when you are in a negative state of mind, no matter
what the cause may be.
I have discovered a very effective way to keep myself in a positive
frame of mind. When I feel out of sorts or inclined to argue with
somebody over something that is not worthy of discussion, I get away
to where I will disturb no one and I have a good hearty laugh. If I
can find nothing really funny to laugh about, I simply have a forced
laugh. The effect is the same in both cases. Five minutes of this sort
of mental and physical exercise-for it is both-will stimulate action
that is free from negativity. Do not just take my word for this. Try it!
Not long ago I heard a record entitled, as I recall, "The Laughing
Foo!:' It was all that its name implies. The record was made by a man
and a woman; the man was trying to playa cornet and the woman
was laughing at him. She laughed so effectively that she finally made
the man laugh, and the suggestion was so pronounced that all who
heard it usually joined in, whether they felt like it or not.