Chapter XII

HOW TO USE THE DAILY CYCLE OF SEVEN PERIODS
S IT was stated in the previous chapter, this cycle divides the twenty-four hours of each day into seven periods. Each period has approximately three hours and twentyfive minutes in it. The periods begin at midnight, and end at midnight.
Please note, however, that the periods of each day are not identical in significance. For instance, the first period on Sunday is quite different in significance from the first period on Monday. And the fifth or sixth period on a Tuesday is quite different from the fifth or sixth period on a Wednesday, or any other day but Tuesday. All the periods of Wednesday, for instance, are the same for every Wednesday, but they will not apply on the other days of the week. The same thing may be said of Thursday, Friday, or Sat"
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urday. The charts which are given in the chapter make this very plain and easy to understand. The illustration given herewith of the clock of twenty-four hours, shows the day divided into A. M. and P. M., with the seven periods of the twentyfour hours marked on the dial of the clock. Please notice that midnight is at the top of the dial and noon is at the bottom of the dial, and that all of the hours on one side of the dial are P. M., while the hours on the other side are A. M. This clock enables you to see at a glance the hours in each one of the seven periods, from midnight to midnight.
We are going to name these seven periods by the lettefs A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, just like the notes on a piano, or any other musical instru' ment. I suppose that most of my readers know that the letters of the musical scale run from A to G and begin with A again. The seven periods of the twentyfour hours of the day run in the same manner.
In using this daily cycle for any day of the week, merely turn to one of the following pages and look at the chart of "Periods of each day of
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CHART C
The Seven Periods of the Daily Cycle
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the week," and note what periods for the day you are to consult. Then turn to the Hst of daily periods and read the description which fits. For instance: Let us suppose that it is Monday, and that you want to know what are the best things to do and what things you should avoid doing during the early business hours of Monday. By turning to the chart, "Periods for each day of the week," on page 143, you will see that eight o'clock Monday morning is in the third period of Monday; therefore, it is Monday's "E" period, while noontime on the same day is in Monday's "F" period. By turning then to Chapter Thirteen, and reading the description of these day periods, we turn to the period for ''E" and note what con' ditions are propitious at that time and what con' ditions or tendencies should be avoided. We may do the same thing for the "F" period of Monday. Let us take another example. You will be plan' ning to visit some person on a Monday evening around eight o'clock to discuss business matters with them. By turning to the chart of the "Periods for each day of the week," you will see that eight o'clock on Monday evening is in the sixth
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CHART D
Periods for Each Day of the Week
TIME PERIOD
SUN.
MON.
TUB.
WED.
THU.
FRI.
SAT.
No. 1
Midnight
to 3:25 a.m.
G
c
F
B
E
A
D
No. 2
3:25 ajn.
to 6:51 a.m.
A
D
G
C
F
B
E
No. 3
6:51 a.m.
to 10:17 a.m.
B
E
A
D
G
C
F
No. 4 10:17 a.m. to 1 :42 p.m.
C
F
B
E
A
D
G
No. 5
1 :42 p.m.
to 5:08 p.m.
D
G
C
F
B
E
A
No. 6
5:08 p.m. to 8:34 p.m.
E
A
D
G
C
F
B
No. 7
8:34 p.m.
to Midnight
F
B
E
A
D
G
C
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period of the day, and that it is Monday's "A" period. By referring to the description of the "A" period, you will notice that it is an excellent time in which to ask favors, and to solicit aid and help from prominent persons of high position, and so forth. But you will also notice that this sixth period of the day ends at approximately 8:34 in the evening, and that unless you can present your proposition and get action on it be' fore 8:34 in the evening, your discussion of it will run into the seventh period, and that period is the "B'' period of Monday, which is good for visiting and social affairs and pleasantries, but not so good for the business purposes you have in mind; there- fore, your business proposition may be postponed or set aside until some other day. This warns you to try to see your important friends earlier in the evening, but not before 5:30; that would be too early for the sixth period.
You will note, however, that although 5:30 to 8:30 is the "A" period for Monday, it is the "D" period for Tuesday, and the "G" period for Wed- nesday, and that if you wanted to jEnd another good "A" period during which you might bring
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your business solicitation before some important persons, you would have to wait until the third period of Tuesday morning, between seven and ten o'clock, or the "A" period of Wednesday, which would be between 8:30 and midnight.
As another illustration: Let us assume that you are anxious to find the proper period or periods of the week in which to collect some money or invest some money where it will event' ually bring good returns, or you wish to start a new move or plan or proposition which you hope will be a financial success. By reading the de- scription of the day periods, you will discover that the "F" period of the daily cycle is a good one in which to do the things you are planning to do in connection with financial matters. Now, by consulting the chart of "Periods for each day of the week" you will note that there are seven "F" periods in the week. The first one is during the seventh period of Sunday from 8:34 to 12 p. m.; the next one is during the fourth period of Monday, which is from 10:17 a. m. to 1 :42 p. m.; the next one is in the first period of Tuesday morning, midnight to 3:25; the next one is in the
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fifth period of Wednesday, from 1:42 p.m. to 5:08 p.m.; the next one is the second period of Thursday, which is from 3:25 a.m. to a little before seven in the morning; the next one is during the sixth period of Friday, which is from five o'clock to eight-thirty p. m.; and the last one is during the third period of Saturday, which is from 6:51 a.m. to 10:17 a.m.
In picking out the best of the seven "F'' periods, or any other of the lettered periods of the week, two points should be kept in mind. First, those that are late at night or very early in the morning must be eliminated because of the impossibility to use these midnight hours for general purposes. Second, one should be guided by the best periods for the particular thing to be accompHshed, bearing in mind that several of these lettered periods may serve the purpose, rather than only one. In the illustration just given above, of the "F" period, we find there are seven that you can use for your financial purposes, and of these seven, the best ones to use would be the "F" period of Monday, which is during the early business hours of the morning,
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or the "F" period of Wednesday, which is early afternoon, or the "F" period of Friday, which is between five and eight p. m.
The next important way in which to use these daily periods is as follows: Suppose that someone comes to you with a business proposition, a plan, a request, a demand, or a suggestion of some kind, and you find yourself becoming interested in what is proposed or required. Before taking any action on the matter, you should immediately turn to the description of these daily periods and to the table of these and see what period of the day you are in, and note whether it is a propitious time for the matter in hand. Let us say that the person who has come to you has a contract or an agreement, or a lease, or some paper to sign, and glowing terms and promises are being expressed to you, and you have been swayed by oratory, fine words, and fine arguments. Suppose that when you turn to the charts in these pages, you find that this matter has come before you on a Monday mom' ing, at 9:30. You find that this is an "E" period for Monday, and not a good period for signing papers, signing contracts or agreements, and not
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a good period in which to place any faith in the spoken promises and glittering word pictures of anyone. In this way you will be warned not to enter into the matter but to dismiss it. Even if you attempt to hold the matter off until the next period, which is an "F" period, and, therefore, for' tunate for financial matters and for contracts and papers, you will not help matters, since the matter actually had its birth and its start in your interests during the "E" period. By your voluntary post- ponement of it, you will not help yourself, for that would be estabhshing an artificial condition. If, on the other hand, the person who proposed these things to you had come to you during the "F" period instead of the "E" period, you could have felt that it was safer and more dependable. On the other hand, suppose that these matters had been presented to you by this man on Friday at the same hour, 9:30. By reference to the descrip" tion of the lettered periods of the day, you would find that this "C" period of Friday at 9:30 is not a good time for the making of agreements or con- tracts, or investments, that are to last for any length of time or have any degree of permanency
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to them; therefore, you would refuse to enter into the proposition and would dismiss it.
Bear in mind that once a matter is dismissed by you or dropped by you because it has come to you in a period that indicates that it is not safe or good, it should never be taken up again at any other period. To attempt to do this would be to frustrate the principles of this system, and set them aside entirely. If a proposition comes to you at a period that indicates that it is not a good thing for you to enter into, its merits will not be changed by having it come up again at another period. One cannot imagine a mining proposition that is thoroughly unsound or a speculative busi' ness proposition that has no foundation to it, being radically changed and made safe and sound over night by delaying the presentation of the proposition a few hours. The significance lies in the time in which it comes to you for the first time. The proposition may be perfectly safe for others to invest in or to consider or cooperate with, but for you, it is not safe, or good, or pro* pitious, or fortunate, and this is signified by the time in which it first comes to your attention.
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Therefore, you will be justified in setting it aside permanently, even though others who hear of it at a more propitious time may find it good for them and go into it. If you are to get any benefit out of this system at all, it must be remembered that the system in each application is representing you, and your best interests, and not all mankind.
A person may come to your home, or to your business office, with some proposition, at ten o''clock in the morning, and because of the hour and the period, you find it advisable to reject it as being unfavorable or unfortunate. The solicitor, however, may walk a few blocks and present the same proposition to one of your neighbors. Dup ing the time of his walk, the third period of the day has ended, and the fourth period has begun, and so the solicitor approaches your neighbor in an entirely different period than the one in which he approached you, and the fourth period may be a propitious or fortunate time for the proposition he submits; therefore, your neighbor would be warranted in accepting it, whereas you rejected it. This does not show a weakness or an incon^ sistency in the system. We all know that there are
THE CYCLES OF LIFE
propositions which are fortunate, helpful, and worthy of consideration on the part of some per" sons, while the same things are unfortunate and inadvisable for other persons. We know that one man can invest his money in a certain proposition and make money out of it, while others who invest in it reali2;e later that it was not a fortunate thing for them. This system, therefore, is consistent with the varied conditions which surround each indi- vidual, and helps to explain why there are such inequalities and unequal opportunities and advan- tages for human beings.
By carefully studying and analyzing the matters set forth in Chapter Thirteen, describing the lettered periods of the day, you will become familiar with those things which should be under- taken, planned, or started and those things which should be avoided or dismissed during the different periods; therefore, you should watch the hours of each day in your office, business, or home af- fairs, and act accordingly.
Perhaps one interesting point should be empha- si2;ed here. It appears from a long test of this system by persons who have kept accurate sta- I in ]
SELF MASTERY AHD FATE
tistics and records of the results, that the more intense the proposition which a person is con' sidering, and the more vital it is to his personal or business affairs, the more important it is to him to consider the period and act accordingly. In other words, the more trivial affairs of social and busi' ness life, or the mere routine matters of daily business and social affairs, may be carried on safely without consulting this system. But to the same degree that any matter is of vital moment and calls for careful judgment, careful analysis, and consid' erable thought, an intense consideration should be given the system, and the period of the day. Surely in any matter that is of utmost importance, where the decision or choice will bring lasting and serious results for either good or bad, it is far better to consult this system and be guided by it than to depend upon hasty judgment, a toss of the coin, or the acceptance of an urge that may be a temptation and an external suggestion from some other mind.
As has been stated in an earlier chapter of this book, urges, inspirations, temptations, and im' pulses to do things or to hesitate in doing things
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come to us from the Cosmic, and from the minds of persons around us, and very often there are two impulses or two urges, two arguments, two tendencies, and man must choose between them, and accept one or the other. Here is where he exerts his privilege as a free agent, but he must ever abide by the result of his decision. It is far better, therefore, to place one's dependence in a system like this than in one's objective analytical ability, or in any rational system of thinking or superficial analysis. This system has been tried and tested and proved to be in accordance with some higher laws that you may not understand, or which may not even interest you, but here is the system, and its simphcity, wide range of adapta- bility, and power to beget confidence, warrants its use; you can make of it a real silent partner in aU your personal, private, or public affairs.
V V V
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