TAG | napoleon hill
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
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.
- Set yourself a definite goal in life
- Write it down
- Commit it to memory
- 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.”
Learn How to Live Your Own Life
We are on chapter two of Napoleon Hill’s book “A year of Growing RICH, 52 Steps to Achieving Life’s Rewards”. I really like chapter two. It is all about how you and I have the ability to choose for ourselves. We have that power of thought, and no one can take it away from us. This power of thought gives us the opportunity to be multimillionaires or to live pay-check to pay-check. Here are some of the best parts of the book.
Favorite Quotes
“The Creator fave us the complete, unchallengeable right of prerogative over one thing, and only one thing– our own mind.”
“A genius is simply one who has taken full possession of his own mind and directed it toward objectives of his own choosing, without premitting outside influences to discourage or mislead him.”
“…They simply refuse to become one of the vast majority who do little more than eke out a living and experience mostly misery, disappointement and failure.”
“…I watched him change from a a person lost in a sea of despair into a possibility thinker.”
“When the ties that bind a human mind are broken and a man is introduced to himself–the real self that has no limitations–I fancy that the gates of hell shake with fear and the bells of heaven ring with joy!”
The Challenge
Let today be a day that we all direct our own thoughts, choose our own future and be our own selves.
Eric
