Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to QUIT. That is exactly what the majority of men do.
Napoleon Hill interviewed over 500 millionaires (Andrew Carnegie, John. D. Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, Theodore Roosevelt and so on) to find a success formula that could be easily applicable to the average person in 17 principles. This books holds the entire philosophy of moneymaking from the most successful people. If you were able to lock these millionaires and take all their money away for a period time once their free they will have the same mindset to create true wealth all over again. THOUGHTS, IDEAS, and ORGANIZED PLANS are the true essences of wealth and it all starts with THINKING which is not easy for the average person. Taking your time to think and being okay with boredom is the best way extract extraordinary ideas. We have the power to control our thoughts forming a puzzle piece (internal) in our mind and seeking out the tangible pieces (external) of the puzzle to match it with our DESIRE. 3 main point I got from this book:
(1) BURNING DESIRE: “Thoughts are things” that can be translated to physical wealth if you’re willing to stick with your desire. Desire: Knowing what one wants. Knowing what you want is the seed of which you plant that could either be ignored or pursued by definiteness purpose, persistence, and FAITH (feeling of success before you have it). It can’t be an ordinary desire or your results would be ordinary as well. Edwin Barnes started from nothing and fought is way to acclaim is desire. Barnes wanted to work with Thomas Edison not for him. To become Edison’s business associate was Barnes’s ultimate BURNING DESIRE. He made up his mind to stick with this ONE desire and was willing to stand by it until he succeeded. Destined to overcome any opposition. This is true DETERMINATION coming from Barnes! Barnes literally thought himself into a partnership with Thomas Edison.
(2) OPPORTUNITY COST: “When the opportunity came, it appeared in a different form,
and from a different direction than Barnes had expected. That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to
recognize opportunity.” He perfected this new office device even if it seemed a failure to others. That’s why it’s so important to develop soft skills in our toolbox and Barnes had many. Intangible drive that made him the greatest inventor of all time.
(3) “STICKABILITY VS QUITABILITY”: “One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat.” Temporary defeat is presented to two individuals; One individual while QUIT and accept an ordinary living the other will go BEYOND the point at which defeat had overwhelmed him/her. You must go as many steps as it takes to reach your one goal (desire) that you thought of and this takes sacrifice and diligence. Failure is guaranteed to the road of success and your level of maturity to this temporary defeat will predict the outcome.
BONUS: Darby and Uncle believed in DIG AND GROW RICH and they sought gold in the gold rush days. They found a mine and generate wealth from their lust for gold it was a definite desire until the vein of gold ore was gone so they QUIT. A wise Junk Man called mining engineer to look at the mine. “The engineer advised that the project had failed, because the owners were not familiar with “fault lines.” His calculations showed that the vein would be found JUST THREE FEET FROM WHERE THE DARBYS HAD STOPPED DRILLING!” The end of the story Junk Man became rich. Moral: The Junk man knew enough to seek out an EXPERT before giving up.
The Integrated Good Life 