Is there a 4th Factor?
optimists who let their positive thinking go beyond a point. They challenge the mysterious 4th Factor and make it look like they are beyond it.
Long ago, James Allen said, “As a man thinketh, so is he.” Much later Norman Vincent Peale, the father of positive thinking said, “You can if you think you can.” And Henry Ford is said to have quoted, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way you are right.” They believed that man’s thoughts were supreme. Thoughts created feelings and corresponding actions, which led to results. While they were right that thoughts were powerful, what they didn’t realize is that thoughts that led to actions did not necessarily guarantee results.
Is the 4th Factor against positive thinking? Absolutely not! It is important to live with faith, hope and trust. All these positive emotions along with other positive emotions like courage, condence and enthusiasm help foster better results. But they cannot produce a guaranteed result. There seems to be another factor that nally decides what happens post man’s actions.
Students study for exams, but sometimes it is not the smartest or the one who works the hardest that comes rst in the class. Was it just luck that whatever James had studied was exactly in the question paper? What was the