Volume 4, Issue 7, page 3

Most of Our Failures Stem from La
R SEVEN YEARS, I have been working,
DeCM tO WatiZ

in the beginning with Dianetics, and
later with Synergetics. During all
that time I have never made a positive
statement about the value or workability of either. The record will
bear this statement out.

Now I come to the moment when I am
ready to make a positive statement. Synergetics, as it now exists, is no longer
an experiment. When Art Coulter made up
the Bild-a-man kit, he said that you will
get as much out of it as you put into it.
If you put in a little time and effort,
you will get out a little benefit. If you
put in a large amount of time and effort,
you will get out a large benefit. This is
no less true of all of Synergetics.

All of us have felt at times that we
were not making progress, in spite of our
efforts. I now realize that this feeling
stems from a protodyne (primitive reaction
to pain or pain threat) in action. To
find this protodyne and pull its sting
requires effort. We have to search back
into the earlier years of our lives, we
have to search thru the fabric of our
fixed patterns of action, and even then
will not always find the answer immediately. Habits are difficult to change.

From the very beginning of life we accumulate the substance of bad habits and
reactive patterns, of which we are totally unaware. Then comes a key-in and a
negative condition flares into reality.
Thereafter a new pattern of action or behavior exists to influence our life and
happiness. Maybe this new pattern is excessive anger without provocation; maybe
it is antagonism; maybe it is unreasoning
fear of certain things. Whatever it is,
it has a negative effect on our life. As
time progresses, more key-ins come along,
more negative patterns are activated, we
become less and less capable of being
carefree and happy.

Even when we search back and find
these various patterns in our lives, and
find where they apparently originated, we
still may not be able to change ourselves.
Searching back, we realize that we have
always disliked these negative things and
have always had a desire to be rid of
them. They have been the bane of our existence, our greatest tormentors. But
still we are the slave and they are the
masters. Why?
It isn't because the tools of Synergetics -- or of Dianetics or any other
school, for that matter -- are ineffective.
It is because we are ineffective in our
use of them. We are negligent. We are
lazy. W E ARE THE SLAVES OF OUR PROTONOVEMBER. 1957 T h 0 A R F R R T 1~. F=
ziness Says DON PURCELL
t ~
gS 7naipt Toot

DYNES. Because of these protodynes, we
become gradually more mentally and physically LAZY. We excuse ourselves by saying, "I just can't do this or that. I
simply don't remember the answer to that
query. I don't know." This is the protodyne in action. And the protodyne is a
very tough adversary indeed.

Synergetics, the tools of Synergetics,
are completely capable of dealing with
the problems of life, provided they are
used with persistence and the person using them has the patience to wait for the
changes and improvements to materialize.
This, of course, requires faith that the
tools will work and the determination to
make them work.

Perhaps the most important tool of
all, in Synergetics or elsewhere, is the
WORK DECISION. And the next in order of
importance is the decision to change. The
work decision may be stated thus: " I am
going to change, to grow, to unfold, to
become. I know I must work to bring this
to reality. I know the tools of Synergetics will make this possible if I will use
them. I have set myself a work schedule.
No matter what excuse may come to my
mind, no matter what circumstance may
tempt me, no matter what may try to interfere with that work schedule, I am going to adhere to it. Nothing else is as
important to me as my own growth and enfoldment. And in no way can I accomplish
this as easily as by following my work
schedule". One should have this work
schedule typed out where he can get it
and read it every time he feels a desire
to break his work schedule.

Then comes the decision to change.
This is an act of the will. This decision
may be stated thus: "My will is a stronger power than the power of a protodyne or
the power of a behavior pattern. Whenever
I feel a protodyne or a negative behavior
pattern exerting an influence on me, I
will exert the full power of my will to
resist. Bit by bit I will change by constantly resisting temptation and by constantly making the effort to substitute
positive behavior patterns for negative
behavior patterns."
Following the work decision comes the
work. In Synergetics, there are several
work schedules. They have been designed
to be most effective against protodynes.
They are very easy to use. All one needs
do is set a time and place when and where
he will do his work. Then he takes one of
the schedules. a pencil and paper, and he
goes thru a session according to.instructions. He will do this once or twice a
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