by Napoleon Hill
Available in 122 free installments
Owner:
Equally important, he learned to break big goals down into little ones. Roger Bannister reasoned that a man ran a single quarter-mile faster than he ran the four quarters of a full mile. So he trained himself to think of the four quarters in the mile separately. In his training, he would dash a quarter mile, then jog a lap around the track to rest Then he would dash another quarter mile. Each time, he aimed to run the quarter in 58 seconds or less. Fifty-eight times four equals 232 seconds, or three minutes and 52 seconds. He ran to the point of collapse. Then he would rest. Each time, the point of collapse was pushed back a little. When he finally ran his great race, it was in three minutes, 59.6 seconds!
Dr. Cureton taught Roger Bannister that "the more the body endures, the more it will endure." Beliefs about "overtraining" and "staleness," he says, are myths.
But he emphasizes that rest is as important as exercise activity. The body needs to rebuild in even larger quantities what has been torn down in exercise. That's how strength, vitality, energy are developed. The body and mind both recharge themselves during
periods of rest and relaxation. If you don't give them a chance to do so, severe damage ? and even death ? can result.
Is it time to recharge your battery? There's no glory in being the richest man in the graveyard. You don't want to be the best scientist, doctor, executive, salesman, or employee lying ? prematurely ? under the most ornate headstone. A loved mother, wife, father, son, or daughter can bring happiness. Why then, bring grief, instead? Why be confined to a mental sanitarium or lie embalmed six feet under a blanket of beautiful green grass ? simply because a needless drain damaged a battery that wasn't recharged?
The small child doesn't know when he is excessively tired. But he surely shows it in his behavior and actions. The adolescent may realize he is over-fatigued, but refuse to admit it ? even to himself. Then sexual, family, scholastic, and social problems may seem unsolvable and unbearable. They may motivate him to temporary or permanent destructive acts ? acts that injure himself and others.
When your energy level is low, your health and your desirable characteristics may be subdued by the negative. You, like a storage battery, are dead when your energy level is zero. What is the solution? Recharge your battery? How? Relax, play, rest, and sleep!
How to tell when your battery needs recharging. Here is a checklist to help you determine your present energy level. You can use it whenever you feel that your energy level is slipping. If you are a well-balanced person, your battery may need recharging when you act and feel:
Unduly sleepy or tired Tactless, unfriendly, suspicious
Querulous, insulting, hostile
Irritable, sarcastic, mean
Nervous, excitable, hysterical
Worrisome, fearful, jealous
Rash, ruthless, excessively selfish
Excessively emotional, depressed, or frustrated
PMA demands a good energy level ? and vice versa! When you are fatigued, your usually positive, desirable feelings, emotions, thoughts, and actions have a tendency to turn negative. When you are rested and in good health, the direction is changed back to positive. Fatigue often brings out the worst within you. When your battery is charged and your energy and activity level is up to standard, you are at your best! That is when you think and act with PMA!
If your feelings and actions indicate that your better qualities are being subdued by those which are undesirable and negative, it's time to recharge your battery!
Yes, to maintain your level of both physical and mental energy you need to exercise both your body and mind. But there is a third factor. Your body and mind both! need to be fed properly. You help to maintain your physical body by taking in quantities of wholesome, nutritious foods. You maintain your mental and spiritual vigor by absorbing mental and spiritual vitamins from inspirational and religious books.
Vitamins ? necessary for a healthy mind and body! George Scarseth, Ph.D., former Director of Research for the American Farm Research Association in Lafayette, Indiana, told about a village on the seacoast of Africa. The village is more advanced than a community of similar tribes in the interior. Why? Because its inhabitants are physically stronger and more mentally alert ? they have more bodily energy ? than the ulterior tribesmen. The
difference between the tribesmen on the coast and those living inland stems from a difference in diet. The village tribesmen in the ulterior do not have a sufficient amount of protein whereas those on the coast obtain quantities from the fish they eat.
