Affirmation · “The Subconscious Says Yes”
Wattles' Hold the Vision
Keep the clear picture alive by backing it with two inner forces Wattles names precisely — an unwavering PURPOSE to realize it and an invincible FAITH that it is already yours — using will only on your own mind, never on other people.
Behind the clear picture, set two things: a fixed PURPOSE to realize it and an unwavering FAITH that it is already yours. Keep both steady and continuous. Use your will only on your own mind — to hold attention ON the vision and OFF poverty — never on other people.
What it is
Having formed the clear picture, Wattles says it will not hold itself — it must be backed. He names the two forces precisely: PURPOSE (“the purpose to realize it, to bring it out in tangible expression”) and FAITH (“an invincible and unwavering FAITH that the thing is already yours”).
This entry isolates the discipline of keeping the vision charged — and Wattles’ distinctive direction of the will: you use will-power only on your own mind, to keep attention fixed on the vision and off poverty, never on other people or external things.
That last rule is what separates Wattles’ “use of the will” from cruder manifestation-by-willpower.
The Method
- Set unwavering purpose behind the picture. “Behind your clear vision must be the purpose to realize it; to bring it out in tangible expression.” Purpose is the fixed intention, not a wish.
- Add invincible faith — that it is already yours. “Behind this purpose must be an invincible and unwavering FAITH that the thing is already yours.” Wattles distinguishes the scientist from the dreamer exactly here: “it is faith and purpose in the use of the imagination which make the difference.”
- Make faith and purpose continuous. “The more steady and continuous your faith and purpose, the more rapidly you will get rich.” Steadiness, not intensity, is the lever.
- Use will only on yourself. “To get rich, you need only to use your will power upon yourself.” “It is wrong to apply your will to other men and women.” Direct the will inward.
- Aim the will at attention. “It is by your will that you determine upon what things your attention shall be fixed.” Keep the mind “OFF the subject of poverty, and… fixed with faith and purpose ON the vision of what you want.”
- Feed faith deliberately. When faith wavers, Wattles has you re-read and re-affirm the principles until expectancy returns (he treats faith as something you maintain, not merely feel). (Sourcing note: quoted phrases are verbatim from The Science of Getting Rich, Chapters 8 & 9; the numbered structure is an attributed paraphrase.)
Source & Lineage
Wallace Delois Wattles (1860–1911), American New Thought writer. “How to Use the Will” (Ch. 9) is among the most distinctive chapters in The Science of Getting Rich (1910) precisely for its prohibition on willing other people — a corrective Wattles shared with the more ethical wing of New Thought.
Common refinements
Straining the will. Wattles wants steady faith and purpose, not white-knuckle effort; trying to force outcomes by will produces tension, not results.
- Willing other people. Explicitly forbidden — manipulating others re-installs the competitive, fearful mind.
- Mistaking faith for certainty-on-demand. Faith here is maintained by attention and refusal to dwell on poverty, not a feeling you can switch on.
- Faith without purpose (or vice versa). Both are required; faith without purpose drifts, purpose without faith strains.