My Thoughts on The Science of Getting Rich

What “Acting in a Certain Way” Finally Means to Me

I have been reading The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles for such a long time.

And when I say a long time, I mean I have probably spent the last 15 years half-reading this book.

Reading it. Leaving it. Reading other books. Watching other people. Coming back to it. Reading it again.

And I think my lack of focus has caused me to absorb only a small portion of what the book was actually trying to tell me.

Maybe that was part of my journey.

Five years ago, when I started my business, Harper & Hyra, I really didn’t know what I was doing. And looking back, one thing I think I have been lacking is faith.

I kept reading books because I was looking for something. I would jump from one book to another, listen to different people, hear different points of view.

But somehow, I always came back to The Science of Getting Rich.

There is something about this book that gives me hope that what I want is possible.

But I’m starting to realize something else.

It is not enough for the book to give me hope.

I actually have to do what it says.

What Does “Doing Things in a Certain Way” Mean?

One of the main ideas in The Science of Getting Rich is that people become rich by doing things in a “Certain Way.”

I’ve read that phrase so many times.

But I think I am only now starting to absorb what it actually means to me.

Everybody could technically be doing the same things.

Two people can have businesses. They can both make products, post content, build websites, answer emails, photograph products, package orders and do all the ordinary things that running a business requires.

But Wattles’s argument is that the person getting rich is doing those things in a Certain Way.

So what is that Certain Way?

The way I understand it now, it starts with knowing what you want.

You create a vision of what you really want, and then you stay with that vision.

You make the decision.

And you stop constantly undoing that decision in your own mind.

For me, that is already a big lesson.

Because I can make a decision about what I want and then spend the next week questioning it, getting distracted, reading something else, looking at what somebody else is doing, changing direction and basically starting over.

That isn’t staying with the vision.

Faith and Gratitude Are Attached to the Action

The next part, for me, is faith and gratitude.

Wattles talks about holding your vision with faith and purpose while you act. He also devotes an entire chapter to gratitude.

My interpretation of that is that I have to believe that what I am doing is actually moving me toward what I want.

That changes the way I look at very small actions.

If I am doing some tiny task for Harper & Hyra, I don’t want to treat it as though it is meaningless just because it isn’t exciting.

Maybe I’m writing one article.

Maybe I’m editing one product page.

Maybe I’m photographing one bracelet.

Maybe I’m organizing one folder.

Maybe I’m making one piece of content.

Those things can look ridiculously small compared with the size of the business I want to build.

But that is exactly where this idea becomes interesting to me.

The little thing in front of me should be done in a Certain Way too.

Not just the big things.

I Think This Is What Wattles Means by Efficient Action

This is probably the part of the book that is hitting me the hardest right now: efficient action.

Wattles says it isn’t simply the number of things you do that matters. He actually warns against trying to do too many things inefficiently. The important thing is the efficiency of each individual action.

That is starting to mean something very different to me than just “work harder.”

Efficient action, as I am interpreting it, means bringing the power of the vision into what I am doing right now.

This is also where I personally connect Wattles’s ideas with The Power of Now.

The vision might be huge.

But the action is happening now.

So instead of constantly living mentally inside the giant future result, I have to put my attention into the thing directly in front of me.

A completely mundane activity can carry the vision behind it.

That sounds simple, but I don’t think I have actually been doing it.

The Tiny Things Might Be the Whole Point

I think this is where I misunderstood getting rich for a long time.

I kept thinking there must be some grand action.

Some huge move.

Some big opportunity.

Some dramatic thing I finally figure out that changes everything.

But what if it really is the small, tiny steps in front of me?

The difference is how I do them.

If I’m going to write the article, write the article.

If I’m going to photograph the bracelet, photograph the bracelet.

If I’m working on the product page, work on the product page.

Put my attention there.

Put the vision there.

Put the faith there.

Do that action efficiently.

Then move to the next one.

That is becoming my interpretation of “acting in a Certain Way.”

And if I really believe what Wattles is saying, I shouldn’t dismiss an action because it looks too small to create the result I want.

I’ve Been Reading It. I Haven’t Really Been Doing It.

This is probably my biggest realization.

I’ve been reading this book for years.

But reading something and actually living according to it are completely different things.

I can underline things.

I can listen to people explain it.

I can read another book about manifestation or consciousness or business or success.

I can watch another video.

But eventually I have to ask myself:

Am I actually doing it?

And I don’t think I have been.

Not consistently.

I’ve had moments of it. I’ve taken action. I’ve built things. Harper & Hyra exists because obviously I have taken action.

But have I consistently operated with this level of focus, faith, gratitude and efficient action?

No.

And I’m getting sick and tired of being sick and tired of myself not taking action.

I’m reaching this point where I feel like: either you actually do it, or you quit.

That’s where I am.

Not in some dramatic motivational way. I’m just tired of collecting information without fully applying it.

I’m Also Starting to Think for Myself

Something else has changed after reading so many books and watching so many people.

I’m starting to think for myself.

I will still listen to other people’s points of view. I will still read. I will still watch things on the internet.

But I don’t want to constantly borrow somebody else’s interpretation of everything.

I want to read something and ask myself:

What do I think this means?

What does this look like in my actual life?

What does “efficient action” look like when I’m sitting in my studio working on Harper & Hyra?

What does “holding the vision” mean when the thing in front of me is something completely boring?

That’s more interesting to me now than endlessly hearing another person’s explanation.

And right now, if I had to choose one book whose principles I want to actually follow rather than merely read, it would be The Science of Getting Rich.

So this is really my first review of the book, but I don’t think “review” is even the right word.

It’s my first interpretation of what I think it is asking me to do.

I want to come back and write about this again as I actually apply it while building Harper & Hyra, the jewelry of intention.

Because I’ve done enough reading about it.

Now I want to see what happens when I actually do it.