On a sunny, warm day in August, 1996 I kneeled over the grave of P.T. Barnum and had one of the most remarkable experiences of my life.

I had begun researching the famous showman in order to write my forthcoming new book, There's a Customer Born Every Minute (to be released in October, 1997). I had visited the Barnum Museum, the Historical Library in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and met with Barnum scholars, biographers, and collectors of his writings. I wanted to visit Barnum's grave and pay my respects. Little did I know that the incredible, magical experience would change my life forever...

Recently I went online to hunt for old books by some of my favorite authors, this time I went after anything by Robert Collier, mail order advertising genius and author of such classic books as The Secret of the Ages and The Robert Collier Letter Book.

I typed in his name at one of my favorite book search engines (which I'm going to keep a secret as long as I can), and to my amazement several new (to me) titles came up. I stared wide-eyed, my mouth open, as I saw that someone had two copies of a magazine Collier edited in the late 1920's called "Mind, Inc." I couldn't believe it. I immediately grabbed the phone, called, and bought those magazines. A few days later they arrived.

I opened the brown package, my heart racing with excitement, and nearly drooled as I slid the little paperback sized magazines onto my desk.

They were well worn but intact. I thumbed through them and marveled at my find. Here were new articles by one of my heroes, my mentor, a man who changed my life not once but twice with his books. I felt like a happy child on Christmas morning, getting the gifts he longed for and needed most.

As I looked over Collier's magazines, something shifted in me. I saw an advertising technique at work that seemed hypnotic in power. I had one of those "ah-ha!" experiences great inventors write about. I held one of the issues in my hand and read the back cover. Collier had an ad there that began --

"How can I tell if I am working aright?" many people ask.

There is an easy, simple rule. With it in front of him, not even a child could go wrong. Just ask yourself one question. If your answer is "Yes." You are on the wrong track, and you will never make much progress, until you get off it and on the right track.

If your answer is "No," then you are working in the right direction, and you have only to keep it up to attain any goal you desire.

That question is the basis of the Lesson in the next issue of "Mind, Inc." If you are looking for a road map to guide you through the mental realm, send for it!

Did you catch what Collier did?

Let me give you another example. This one comes from Collier's editorial in the opening pages of the other issue I found: