Text of the meditation
Without strength of mind, nothing worthy of accomplishment can be done. The cultivation of that steadfastness and stability of character commonly called "will-power" is one of the foremost duties of a human being, for its possession is essentially necessary to both their temporal and external well-being.
Fixedness of purpose is at the root of all successful efforts, whether in worldly or spiritual things, and without it a person cannot be other than wretched, and dependent on others for the support that should be found within themselves. The true path of will-cultivation is to be found only in the common everyday life of the individual, and so obvious and simple is it that the majority, looking for something complicated and mysterious, pass it by unnoticed.
The direct and only way to greater strength is to assail and conquer weaknesses.
James Allen (1864–1912), Book of Meditations for Every Day in the Year (1913) – public-domain text, gently modernised.
The original 1913 text is in the public domain.