I just read an awesome blog post by Paul Piotrowski. In his article, Paul discusses the sudden difficulties that arise in our lives as a “breakdown” and how a breakdown precedes a “breakthrough” .  The breakdown is a set of difficult circumstances or feelings or emotions or something that hits you all at once and it seems like you just can’t get out of it.

I have been going through a breakdown for a little while. I have been blessed to be able to still provide for my family during this time, but it has been harder lately than it has been in a long time.  A bright light that I have had in all this is that I have felt inspiration from God that success, real success, life changing success is just around the corner. I am grateful for this, when times get hard, I think back to that inspiration and it elevates my spirit again.

I really like how Paul looks at this situation in his blog. I am just getting ready to break through a big wall and it takes a lot of effort to knock down my “building blocks” so that they can be rebuilt or restructured. I have thought about this for a while, years before reading the wise words from that blog in fact.  About 8 years ago Jennfer and I  began to see our children going through “breakdowns” and “breakthroughs” at different times in their lives.  It seems like every 6 months or so our kids kind of freak out.  In researching  it, we learned that human development is like a building that was built of blocks.  When you build a block castle with a set of 20 blocks and get it just perfect, then suddenly somebody gives you another 20  blocks, you can’t just build onto your existing structure.  You will likely have to tear down what you have, and taking your knowledge and experience in building the first one, now you will build one that is twice as large and beautiful.

My kids are amazing people, when this happens to them, after we get through the breakdown (this can be very painful) things are so much better.  As with them, I know my own life is about to be amazing, because I have been in a larger than normal breakdown.  But I am learning so much during this breakdown.  So much more than I ever could have learned without it.  As painful as it has been, I am thankful to God for giving me this opportunity to struggle and learn so that my “structure” can be rebuilt and I can be a better person, more successful and more in control of myself.  I am so excited to see what things will look like when the rebuilding is done.

Eric

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I case you are just joining me, I am reviewing Napoleon Hill’s book, A Year of Growing Rich, 52 Steps To Achieving Life’s Rewards.  Week 4 was a really informational chapter.  It is called “Some Succeed, Others Fail… Why?”.  It is a chapter that compares the behavior of successful people to that of people who fail.  Below I will list the characteristics of successful people.  I won’t get into the failure behaviors, basically they are the opposite of the successful person’s behaviors, and we don’t want to focus too much on them anyhow.

Specific Behaviors of Successful People

• Know what you want and have a plan for getting it.
• Believe in your ability to get what you want.
• Devote a major portion of your time to acquire what you want.
• Cooperate in a friendly spirit to carry out your plans and purposes.
• Think before you speak.
• Emphasize what you like about people.
• Express opinions only after becoming fully informed.
• Budget your time and money (live within your means).
• Be open minded and tolerant.
• Know what is going in in the world.
• Keep a positive outlook on life, at all times.
• Have a great respect for our Creator, and express it.

I love the following statement by Napoleon Hill in this chapter.

The successful person keeps her mind and outlook on life positive at all times.  She recognizes that the space she occupies in the world and the success she enjoys depend upon the quality and quantity of service she renders.  She makes it a habit to render more service than she promises.  The failure looks for “something for nothing,” or something under the table which she did not earn.  And when she fails to get it, she blames the greed of others.

These are traits that I am trying to adopt in my life.  I hope that you will too.  Then we can be successful together.

Eric

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This is a great chapter. I feel very motivated to continue on with my work again. It is so important to do the things that we need to do which will keep us motivated and working away at our vision. So, here are some notes that I want to share on this chapter.

Motivate Yourself to Achieve Success

Mr. Hill said that one of the greatest rewards for success is not necessarily monetary (although that is important), but it is the feeling of satisfaction that you have done a job well.  In answer to his own question, “How can you motivate yourself to succeed?” he answers, “Develop a burning desire for something that you wish to have in order to reach a greater goal you have set for yourself.  Remember, there is a difference between merely wishing for something and deciding definitely that you are going to have it”.

How to Have a Burning Desire

And what about after you get that “burning desire”?  He says this, “Once you have that burning desire, you will develop an intensity of purpose that will allow you to simply brush aside obstacles that seemed insurmountable before.  All things are possible to the person who believes that they are possible“.

Then he gives some very powerful steps that we must take.

1. Set yourself a definite goal in life
2. Write it down
3. Commit it to memory
4. Direct every thought and all your energies to making it come true

Setbacks and Challenges

What about challenges, what about setbacks?  Napoleon says “Instead of letting momentary setbacks throw you off course, search in them for the seed of an equivalent benefit which can help you get back on track to attaining your goal.”

So, I have been completely swamped by my software project for my biggest client and have not progressed as I wanted on my tools that I am working on in my spare time (i.e. I haven’t had spare time lately).  So, instead of getting down or forgetting about it, I have to look for a benefit that I have gained because of this setback.  It is there, there is something in this that will help me to reach my goal.

Start Where You Are

Finally, let me end with Napoleon Hills final paragraph about starting where you are.

“Remember, Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind of man can achieve. The person determined to attain success starts where he stands, making the best of whatever tools he has and acquiring whatever else he needs along the way.  Start from wherever you stand–today.”

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