A Definite Major Purpose

"You can start right where you stand and apply the habit of going the extra mile by rendering more service and better service than you are now being paid for."

Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)

If you have never heard of Napoleon Hill, you should get to know him. His book, Think and Grow Rich, is one of the best-selling books of all time, selling over 20 million copies.

Before I even begin, do you think that anyone "occupying" a park somewhere, demanding this and that be provided by other people, would understand a word of that quote above? That lack of understanding is PRECISELY why they are "occupying" a park and demanding freebies from others!

Note: there are no "freebies," just as there is no free lunch. Everything costs somebody something.

Hill got started at the age of 13, writing as a reporter for a small town newspaper in rural Virginia. Just consider that!

He considered it the greatest event of his life to have been assigned, in 1908, to interview Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie, most don't realize, was probably as rich in his era as two or three Gates or Buffets would be today. He was incredibly powerful. And Carnegie thought that the process of success could be put into a simple formula that anyone could implement and achieve.

Carnegie was very impressed with the young Napoleon Hill and suggested that he interview 500 very successful people to try to discover and boil down that formula for all to see. You would recognize most of the names on his interview list - many of the most successful and powerful people the country has ever known.

Working quickly Hill published his findings in 1925 in a multi-volume study series called The Laws of Success. That was followed in 1941 by another multi-volume home study course called Mental Dynamite. Hill later called his success teachings "The Philosophy of Achievement," traveling to deliver it in talks to people nationwide. He thought strongly that the freedoms provided by democracy and capitalism were the essential building blocks in a person's ability to achieve. So too, by the way, did Carnegie!

His main challenge to his readers and followers was to have them identify what he called a "Definite Major Purpose," and to have them ask themselves what they truly believed. Hill thought that about 98% of people had no idea what they believed, which put success out of their reach!

You can read about the "secrets" of achievement in the compilation of Hill's formula in the book, Think and Grow Rich today. I highly, highly recommend that you do!

And like most good things, it won't be easy, but it will be worth it.