[Sidenote: _How to Release Pent-Up Power_]

Decide the matter that is troubling you. Make an end of hesitation and
uncertainty and fear. Your very act of decision will release large
stores of pent-up mental power and add immeasurably to your
effectiveness.

So long as you are in doubt and perplexity conflicting ideas and
impulses balance each other. You are not then a man of action; you are
a wavering coward. You are afflicted with paralysis of will and mental
stagnation.

_Decide_ the matter--that is to say, _let one mental picture assume a
greater vividness than the other until it possesses your soul--and
forthwith the banked fires of your mental energy will burst into
flame_.

Another thing: _Stop wasting your time_.

How much time do you spend in rest and relaxation? How much should
you spend? Can you answer these questions accurately?

[Sidenote: _Proper Ratio Between Work and Rest_]

Thomas A. Edison has contended for years that four hours' sleep a day
was sufficient for any man. He has conducted experiments with a large
number of men, giving careful attention to matters of diet and
exercise, and the results have seemed in a measure to support his
theory.