THE STARTING POINT OF
ALL ACHIEVEMENT
The First Step toward Riches
WHEN Edwin C. Barnes climbed down from
the freight train in Orange， N. J.， more than thirtyyears ago， he may have resembled a tramp， but histhoughts were those of a king！
As he made his way from the railroad tracks toThomas A. Edison’s office， his mind was at work.
He saw himself standing in Edison’s presence. Heheard himself asking Mr. Edison for an opportunityto carry out the one CONSUMING OBSESSION OF HISLIFE， a BURNING DESIRE to become the businessassociate of the great inventor.
Barnes’ desire was not a hope！ It was not a wish！
It was a keen， pulsating DESIRE， which transcendedeverything else. It was DEFINITE.
The desire was not new when he approached
Edison. It had been Barnes’ dominating desire fora long time. In the beginning， when the desire firstappeared in his mind， it may have been， probablywas， only a wish， but it was no mere wish when heappeared before Edison with it.
A few years later， Edwin C. Barnes again stoodbefore Edison， in the same office where he first metthe inventor. This time his DESIRE had been translatedinto reality. He was in business with Edison. Thedominating DREAM OF HIS LIFE had become a reality.
Today， people who know Barnes envy him， becauseof the “break” life yielded him. They see him in thedays of his triumph， without taking the trouble toinvestigate the cause of his success.
Barnes succeeded because he chose a definite goal， placed all his energy， all his will power， allhis effort， everything back of that goal. He did notbecome the partner of Edison the day he arrived. Hewas content to start in the most menial work， as longas it provided an opportunity to take even one steptoward his cherished goal.
Five years passed before the chance he had beenseeking made its appearance. During all those yearsnot one ray of hope， not one promise of attainmentof his DESIRE had been held out to him. Toeveryone， except himself， he appeared only anothercog in the Edison business wheel， but in his ownmind， HE WAS THE PARTNER OF EDISON EVERYMINUTE OF THE TIME， from the very day that hefirst went to work there.
It is a remarkable illustration of the power of aDEFINITE DESIRE. Barnes won his goal， becausehe wanted to be a business associate of Mr. Edison，more than he wanted anything else. He created aplan by which to attain that purpose. But he BURNEDALL BRIDGES BEHIND HIM.
He stood by his DESIRE until it became the dominatingobsession of his life—and—finally， a fact.
When he went to Orange， he did not say to himself，“I will try to induce Edison to give me a job of somesoft.” He said， “I will see Edison， and put him onnotice that I have come to go into business with him.
He did not say， “I will work there for a fewmonths， and if I get no encouragement， I will quitand get a job somewhere else.” He did say， “I willstart anywhere. I will do anything Edison tells me todo， but before I am through， I will be his associate.”
He did not say， “I will keep my eyes open foranother opportunity， in case I fail to get what I wantin the Edison organization.” He said， “There is butONE thing in this world that I am determined tohave， and that is a business association with ThomasA. Edison. I will burn all bridges behind me， andstake my ENTIRE FUTURE on my ability to get whatI want.”
He left himself no possible way of retreat. He hadto win or perish！
That is all there is to the Barnes story of success！
A long while ago， a great warrior faced a situationwhich made it necessary for him to make a decisionwhich insured his success on the battlefield. He wasabout to send his armies against a powerful foe，whose men outnumbered his own. He loaded hissoldiers into boats， sailed to the enemy’s country，unloaded soldiers and equipment， then gave theorder to burn the ships that had carried them.
Addressing his men before the first battle， he said，“You see the boats going up in smoke. That meansthat we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win！
We now have no choice—we win—or we perish！
They won.
Every person who wins in any undertaking mustbe willing to burn his ships and cut all sourcesof retreat. Only by so doing can one be sure ofmaintaining that state of mind known as a BURNINGDESIRE TO WIN， essential to success.
The morning after the great Chicago fire， a groupof merchants stood on State Street， looking at thesmoking remains of what had been their stores. Theywent into a conference to decide if they would tryto rebuild， or leave Chicago and start over in a morepromising section of the country. They reached adecision—all except one—to leave Chicago.
The merchant who decided to stay and rebuild pointed a finger at the remains of his store， andsaid， “Gentlemen， on that very spot I will build theworld’s greatest store， no matter how many times itmay burn down.”
That was more than fifty years ago. The store wasbuilt. It stands there today， a towering monument tothe power of that state of mind known as a BURNINGDESIRE. The easy thing for Marshal Field to havedone， would have been exactly what his fellowmerchants did. When the going was hard， and thefuture looked dismal， they pulled up and went wherethe going seemed easier.
Mark well this difference between Marshal Fieldand the other merchants， because it is the samedifference which distinguishes Edwin C. Barnesfrom thousands of other young men who haveworked in the Edison organization. It is the samedifference which distinguishes practically all whosucceed from those who fail.
Every human being who reaches the age of understanding of the purpose of money， wishes forit. Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring richeswith a state of mind that becomes an obsession， thenplanning definite ways and means to acquire riches，and backing those plans with persistence which doesnot recognize failure， will bring riches.