g fifteen or
twenty thousand men, but beyond this number he fails disastrously.
Neither Foresight nor any other device can _create_ ability. A gallon
can will hold only a gallon, no matter how carefully its sides are
rounded. But in the case of any given man no one knows his capacity
until he has had a chance to show it. His nature may hold only a pint,
or, as with the men who have mastered great occasions with still
unexhausted powers, it may seem like the horn which the god Thor tried
to drain but could not, for its base was connected with the ocean
itself. Not every man can hope to be called to a responsibility that
shall bring out his latent powers; most of us, if we are ever to get the
call, will first have to show the ability.

How can a man tap the unknown resources, be they great or small, of his
unconscious self? The method here to be suggested has at least the merit
of great simplicity. I have called it Forethought; it might perhaps as
exactly be called Forewilling. The point is that this unconscious part
of a man's nature is not out of his control; he can send word to it and
direct it, even if he has to do so by a kind of wireless telegraphy.
However mysterious this may sound, there is nothing mystical about it,
neither is it something vague and indefinite, but a practice to be
applied to actual cases in hand. Suppose a business man is trying to get
an important contract, and is to have an interview on the morrow that
will decide the question. Let him, before he falls asleep at night, go
over the whole ground in his mind, set before himself clearly the thing
to be done with the particular difficulties to be met, and let him
_will_ himself to meet those difficulties, to carry his case. Let him
will that at that time he shall be cheerful and vigorous; and, having
given these instructions to his unconscious self--which has perhaps
been waiting years for just this chance to do its part in the common
endeavor--let him dismiss the whole matter from his conscious thought
and go to sleep. On awaking in the morning let him review the matter and
again dismiss it from his mind until the occasion arrives. If he will do
this faithfully, he may not succeed the first time in carrying his
point, but he will certainly feel a great increase of power, and
ultimately, if he persists in making his unconscious self an active
partner in his life, he will find himself far more successful than he
could have been while depending on a