This is the ninth in a series of articles based on the teachings found in the success classic "The Science of Getting Rich", written in 1910 by Wallace D. Wattles. This book—now in the public domain--is essential reading for anyone who wants to become wealthy. It served as inspiration for the hit film, "The Secret".

In chapter 11 of "The Science of Getting Rich", Mr. Wattles points out that while it’s true that thought is the creative power which sets the creative force in motion, a person must not rely on thought alone and pay no attention to personal action.

As Mr. Wattles states, "A person must not only think, but his personal action must supplement his thought." You must act in such a way that you can receive what you want when it gets to you. That is, your thoughts bring what you’re thinking about toward you, and by action you receive them.

Your thoughts make everything in the universe, including inanimate things and people, work to bring you what you want. However, when things come to you, you’re not to take them as charity or steal them. Things will reach you in the hands of others, and you must give that person an equivalent for them. To quote "The Science of Getting Rich":

"[Y]ou must act in a certain way, so that you can appropriate what is yours when it comes to you and so that you can meet the things you have in your picture and put them in their proper places as they arrive."

You must act, and you must act now. You cannot act in the past, for the past is gone. To dwell on the past is to cloud your vision. You cannot act in the future, since the future is not here yet. Be confident that you will be able to meet any future contingencies when you get to them. Mr. Wattles advises to "Put your whole mind into present action."

Do not wait to be in the right business or to be in the right environment to begin. Begin where you are: you move to the right business by acting, and you get a change of environment by acting. This is well illustrated in the following quote:

"Hold the vision of yourself in the right business, with the purpose to get into it and the faith that you will get into it and are getting into it, but ACT in your present business. Use your present business as a means of getting into a better one. Your vision of the right business, if held with faith and purpose, will cause the supreme power to move the right business toward you. And your action, if performed in the certain way, will cause you to move toward the business."

It is likely that in the beginning your actions will be the same that you’ve been performing up to now, but you will begin to perform these actions in "a certain way" which will make you rich. By thinking and acting in a certain way you will set in motion forces that will move you toward where you want to be.

In conclusion, "so that he may receive what he wants when it comes, a person must act NOW upon the people and things in his present environment."