Motivational literatures abound in the market today. The man who had led the trend can be credited to Napoleon Hill, who authored various popular books, the first of which was “Think and Grow Rich” which instantly became a best-seller after its publication in 1937, selling over 7 million copies.
His writings appealed to the general public which basically promised that great success can be achieved by any average person. He has attracted considerable attention, both criticism and acclaim for his approach. He has broached on controversial subjects such as his rejection of poverty and slavery, believing that man can overcome such obstacles by changing one’s thinking and attitude. Napoleon Hill’s influence can still be seen through ‘personal success’ authors even in our genre including Norman Vincent Peale and Og Mandino.
The teachings which he wrote in his books and lectures were based on the guiding principles that he had gathered and learned through research-interviews with numerous ‘rags-to-riches’ personalities. In his books, Hill inspires his readers of all time that anything is possible by simply adhering to his personal adage, “whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”. According to Hill, this was the “Supreme Secret” or “The Magic Power of Belief” (Hill, p. 176).
While such an approach primarily focus on financial achievement, Hill asserts that any individual can use these principles for gaining its objective of personal success in any aspect in his life, depending on the individual’s personal definition of success.Undoubtedly, numerous lives had been helped and many successful people acknowledge their achievement came after they had read Napoleon Hill’s books. Even the very life of Napoleon Hill could stand as an example of his teachings. Coming from a poor family background, he rose to become wealthy and influential, rising up to serve as an informal presidential adviser to Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D.
Roosevelt.He continued to write books and became a favorite resource person on lectures about his philosophy on Personal Achievement throughout his lifetime. He had set up three magazine companies namely Hill’s Golden Rule (1919), Napoleon Hill’s Magazine (1921), and Inspiration Magazine (1931). A fourth magazine, Success Unlimited was founded together with Clement Stone. His works helped define the reasons what causes people to find or fail their personal success.
Napoleon Hill’s Early Life
Napoleon Hill’s life stands at par with the many inspiring success stories that he had written about in his books. Born of humble beginnings in 1883, Napoleon Hill spent his early childhood in a one-room cabin in Wise County, Virginia.
Things became more difficult for the young Napoleon when his mother died when he was 10 years of age. With his father’s second marriage, he grew as a rebellious child. However, his young life took a big turn when, at the age of 12, his stepmother Martha presented him a typewriter. She expressed her belief in him that success can be his if he chose to be good with the typewriter more than he was with his gun.
Napoleon rose to the challenge and a few years after, became a ‘mountain reporter’, serving as a freelance writer for local newspapers.Napoleon geared himself towards greater heights. He studied and finished law school through his meager earnings as a journalists. While enjoying modest success as an attorney and journalist, he was assigned to cover the stories of successful people for Bob Taylor’s Magazine (“Napoleon Hill”).
While working upon this assignment, Hill met business tycoon Andrew Carnegie of the steel industries in New York City. It was the latter who offered Hill to find out the ‘success formula’ based on the lives of 500 millionaires and those that became successful in their own field (“Napoleon Hill, 1883-1970”). Carnegie believes that when such a formula is laid out, even an average person can apply it in his own life and make success achievable and possible. Carnegie made a lasting impression and influence on Hill when the former conveyed its belief that every adversity in life contains great opportunities.
Such a remark came at an opportune time when Hill was facing being laid-off on his job with a famous Virginia attorney due to the 1908 economic crises in America.In a span of about 20 years that was partly sponsored by Carnegie, Hill sought out his success formula through interviews that included Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and Graham Bell among others.
Decision
Mental Attitudes: Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) vs. Negative Mental Attitude (NMA)For Napoleon Hill, an individual is catapulted to attain success when he posses a positive mental attitude combined with one or more than the principles mentioned above. Every man is governed by a universal law — that our attitudes shape or determines our future. If any man desires to master his own fate, Hill believes that the person must first master his own attitudes.
Hill asserts that the thought-life of a person, whether positive or negative, will attract that which it chooses to believe in. Mental thoughts of poverty or riches will eventually translate itself into physical reality (Hill and Clement Stone, p. 78). In fact, a person is defined by his thought life.
Hill stipulates that dwelling on good thoughts will cause one to do well and will likewise be evaluated as a good person while thoughts of evil will make one evil.A person’s mind is seen as a powerful two-sided tool which holds opposing forces of positive mental attitude on one side and a negative mental attitude on the other. While many men would attribute success as having the right circumstance, PMA focuses on developing and exercising positive mental attitude for every situation, even more so during difficult situations. Once a person changes the way he sees things and goes on with the right attitude, good and favorable things follow.
In contrast, an individual who goes on with NMA will earn unfavorable circumstances and would rob the person of success and happiness.Many would blame God or fate for their lack of success, but PMA sees man’s mental attitude as the chief cause for his situation in life. Common to the men that Hill interviewed was that none of them received success on a silver platter. All had experienced setbacks which would have left them to oblivion.
But, Hill observed that these people remained focused on what they wanted and off those things they didn’t want therefore; they were able to overcome poverty, prejudice, or physical disability. Hill has observed the tenacity of those he had interviewed which caused them to keep on where others had given up as impossible. Hill cited Henry Ford as an example as one of those who saw it happen. Before developing the V-8, Ford’s engineers had already concluded that it was simply impossible to cast an eight cylinder gasoline engine block in one piece.
However, Ford proved he was right and went far ahead than his competitors. Through PMA, one can achieve success in bringing into reality the possibility of the improbable. This simply means that when a person knows clearly what he wants, he can always find a way to get it. Hill also advises on adapting the right values in life: love people and serve them even if it means going the ‘extra-mile’.
Another secret involves loving and taking joy in one’s work which is also a precious gift which can never be bought with money.Hill cautions that despite PMA and the 13 principles, one is not exempted from life’s setbacks. It is good to be realistic that everyman alive has problems. But one can rise up from unfavorable circumstances by not heeding to a defeatist attitude and being crushed, always keeping in mind that those who never give up trying are those who win in life.
The Ten Basic Motivators
Motivation is a strong force which propels people into action or inaction. It calls a person to act or determines his decision. It is found deep within a person in the form an idea, emotion, desire, or impulse. Every action or deed has been motivated by something.
The secret of motivating oneself and others for action is to recognize and learn to appeal through these ten basic motives. Based on Napoleon Hill’s experience as a young boy with his stepmother, the greatest motivator is conveying faith in others. His stepmother expressed her belief that the young rebel was capable of achieving great things, and so he did. Prior to the second marriage, Hill’s family and neighbors only thought of him as bad, and so he wasted no time in proving them right, spreading mischief around the neighborhood.
Developing A Magnificent Obsession
Napoleon Hill encourages through his writings that every person should develop an obsession, and that is the magnificent obsession of helping others. While it is easy to misread Hill’s teachings as purely self-serving in acquiring wealth or success (“Napoleon Hill Information”), selfishness are negative attitudes which he rejects. Instead Hill promotes that every individual should give and help others without expecting any payment or reward, while keeping such good deeds a secret.
Pursuing such an obsession need not require great amount of money such as a kind word, expressing sincere appreciation, cheerfulness, a prayer for the worthy and unworthy and availing oneself for a worthy cause. What one has when shared, will grow and multiply while withholding good from others will be lost. It is also best to withhold from others that which is bad and undesirable. Hill has found this principle to be the hardest to teach to the people who need it most.
Hill has seen how this guiding principle was lived by Andrew Carnegie and Michael Benedum, credited as the single individual who discovered the greatest number of oil, and how such principles never failed to work through their lives.
Lessons in a “Nutshell” by Napoleon Hill
Though many had embraced Hill’s writings as their personal bible, it is wise not to abandon all precaution into the wind. Like the reading of all books, discretion must always be exercised.
But while others had altogether thrown everything that he had to say simply because they disagreed with some of his points, it is should be remembered that some of those he wrote came from practical lessons he observed and learned from the lives of those who achieved their objectives in life.
Reference
- Napoleon Hill, 1883-1970. Accessed April 23, 2008.http://secretsofthesecret.com/napoleon-hill. htm
- Cornwell, Ross. Napoleon Hill. 2004-2007. The Mindpower Institute. Accessed onApril 22, 2008. http://www.tgr-restored-revised. com/authoreditor.htm
- Hill, Napoleon and Clement Stone. Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude. US:Prentice-Hall, 19604.
- “Nuts and Bolts Filmmaking”. Napoleon Hill Information. Accessed on April 22, 2008http://www. cvisual.com/pi/napoleon-hill-info.asp
- Hill, Napoleon. Grow Rich With Peace of Mind. New York: Fawcett Crest , 1967
