James was a Victorian writer who died before the first World War. Yet despite his short time as a writer, he managed to write a book that changed millions of lives and the path to success.

Born in Leicester, England in 1864, James worked as an administrative assistant and a writer for several years. Unlike many motivational leaders, James defined his success and happiness not in terms of plenty, but in terms of want. His ideal life was one of quiet and peace: inspired by Tolstoy, James lived in voluntary poverty, devoting himself to manual labor and rigid self-discipline whenever possible.

James was also a man of meditation. He realized that the in order to focus your thoughts, you have to give them room to grow. So every day he would meditate for an hour, facing the sea. James believed in the innate goodness of all individuals, that we had been given our rationality as a divine gift. He believed that the highest level of moral evolution was when human beings learned that we ought to—and can—control our thoughts.

In his book As a Man Thinketh, James writes that as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. Individuals have the power to form their own character and happiness. The outward world is always in harmony with the inner state.

What really impresses me is James' emphasis on meditation. I developed the 5-Minute Mindset Workout because I believed that success was impossible without constantly taking time to harmonize our thoughts and feelings with our desires. James came to the same conclusion in his book—when we realize the power of mediation, he wrote, we experience kinship with nature.

Kinship is another way of saying that we are in complete harmony with nature. But this is not a harmony where we are brought up to nature's power and influence; it is a power where we bring nature into harmony with OUR power.

The implications of this are huge! The infinite power of the world can be shaped by us into anything we want or need. Whatever the conditions in our life, we can draw specific powers we need, attracting the elements of nature that will bring our happiness and success.

James Allen's words were revolutionary—they came out during a dark period in English history, where science and religion were at war. James offered a compromise—divine or scientific, what's important is the individual and his own happiness. It was the promise of a happy man, who had achieved his happiness on his own terms.