As I mentioned in the last post, Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" is the second largest selling self-help book of all time. Number one is the Bible. The reason for this is the ideas and concepts within this book have been tested through trial and error for the past seventy years and it has withstood all of that testing.
Time and time again, people who have gone to this book for the knowledge of how to succeed with their dreams and as long as they put that knowledge into action, they succeeded.
In my copy of Napoleon Hill's "Succeed and Grow Rich through Persuasion there is a lengthy but inspiring introduction by W. Clement Stone. In it, he told a story of a phone call his secretary received while he was out of town. The caller was an irate customer. She wanted her money back because the books she bought and read, "Did not work". She angrily complained that her husband was still out of work and she was still working in a restaurant for ten hours a day.
Mr. Stone's secretary stopped the caller in her tracks when she asked, "What actions did you take?" The caller paused and then said, "We waited".
The secretary suggested that she and her husband read the books again but this time together and this time think of the actions they will take to better themselves. A few months later the woman called her back to tell her that they followed her advice and things are working out. The woman began night school and had three job offers with twice as much pay, even before she was finished.
The point here is there is no magic in the book "Think and Grow Rich". Napoleon Hill was not a magician. Mr. Hill wrote in "Succeed and Grow Rich through Persuasion" what I think is a very powerful statement. He wrote that the old saying "Knowledge is power" is a bunch of malarkey. "Knowledge in action is power."
All Napoleon Hill has given us is knowledge, not magic. It is up to us to supply the action.
Another reason this book is so powerful is it is strongly based in the Bible and religion. The Bible is a book which has also been tested through trial and error throughout the years. Theologians believe the oldest stories of the bible may have been around since about 3000 B.C. This means the stories and the concepts and ideas in the bible have been scrutinized for about five thousand years and have passed every test.
Napoleon Hill did not come up with the ideas in this book by accident. From the time he was a boy, he was a friend of "The canny, lovable old Scotsman", Andrew Carnegie. Mr. Carnegie saw something in young Napoleon and decided to commission him for a research project. The mission was to find out how success is begotten. At Mr. Carnegie's behest, Mr. Hill spent the next twenty years researching people like Henry Ford, John Wanamaker, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas A. Edison and five hundred others to find out what their secrets of success was. He found it.
He never mentions the secret directly, in fact he clams the secret is more powerful when a person finds it on his own. So, Mr. Hill never mentions the secret by name on purpose.
Because of this, I think I will also not mention the secret by name either; however if anyone knows the secrete, I will not be angry or disappointed if you mention it in your comments. This might be fun!
So as I end the first post in our study of "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill let me share with you Mr. Hill's own words of encouragement from his own forward.
"As a final word of preparation, before you begin the first chapter, may I offer one brief suggestion which may provide a clue by which the Carnegie secret may be recognized? It is this - all achievement, all eared riches, have their beginning in an idea! If you are ready for the secret, you already possess one half of it; therefore, you will readily recognize the other half the moment it reaches your mind."
I will post my commentary for chapter 1 - Thoughts Are Things on Wednesday night.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Think & Grow Rich: Before We Begin...
As I mentioned in the last post, Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" is the second largest selling self-help book of all time. Number one is the Bible. The reason for this is the ideas and concepts within this book have been tested through trial and error for the past seventy years and it has withstood all of that testing.
Time and time again, people who have gone to this book for the knowledge of how to succeed with their dreams and as long as they put that knowledge into action, they succeeded.
In my copy of Napoleon Hill's "Succeed and Grow Rich through Persuasion there is a lengthy but inspiring introduction by W. Clement Stone. In it, he told a story of a phone call his secretary received while he was out of town. The caller was an irate customer. She wanted her money back because the books she bought and read, "Did not work". She angrily complained that her husband was still out of work and she was still working in a restaurant for ten hours a day.
Mr. Stone's secretary stopped the caller in her tracks when she asked, "What actions did you take?" The caller paused and then said, "We waited".
The secretary suggested that she and her husband read the books again but this time together and this time think of the actions they will take to better themselves. A few months later the woman called her back to tell her that they followed her advice and things are working out. The woman began night school and had three job offers with twice as much pay, even before she was finished.
The point here is there is no magic in the book "Think and Grow Rich". Napoleon Hill was not a magician. Mr. Hill wrote in "Succeed and Grow Rich through Persuasion" what I think is a very powerful statement. He wrote that the old saying "Knowledge is power" is a bunch of malarkey. "Knowledge in action is power."
All Napoleon Hill has given us is knowledge, not magic. It is up to us to supply the action.
Another reason this book is so powerful is it is strongly based in the Bible and religion. The Bible is a book which has also been tested through trial and error throughout the years. Theologians believe the oldest stories of the bible may have been around since about 3000 B.C. This means the stories and the concepts and ideas in the bible have been scrutinized for about five thousand years and have passed every test.
Napoleon Hill did not come up with the ideas in this book by accident. From the time he was a boy, he was a friend of "The canny, lovable old Scotsman", Andrew Carnegie. Mr. Carnegie saw something in young Napoleon and decided to commission him for a research project. The mission was to find out how success is begotten. At Mr. Carnegie's behest, Mr. Hill spent the next twenty years researching people like Henry Ford, John Wanamaker, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas A. Edison and five hundred others to find out what their secrets of success was. He found it.
He never mentions the secret directly, in fact he clams the secret is more powerful when a person finds it on his own. So, Mr. Hill never mentions the secret by name on purpose.
Because of this, I think I will also not mention the secret by name either; however if anyone knows the secrete, I will not be angry or disappointed if you mention it in your comments. This might be fun!
So as I end the first post in our study of "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill let me share with you Mr. Hill's own words of encouragement from his own forward.
"As a final word of preparation, before you begin the first chapter, may I offer one brief suggestion which may provide a clue by which the Carnegie secret may be recognized? It is this - all achievement, all eared riches, have their beginning in an idea! If you are ready for the secret, you already possess one half of it; therefore, you will readily recognize the other half the moment it reaches your mind."
I will post my commentary for chapter 1 - Thoughts Are Things on Wednesday night.
Time and time again, people who have gone to this book for the knowledge of how to succeed with their dreams and as long as they put that knowledge into action, they succeeded.
In my copy of Napoleon Hill's "Succeed and Grow Rich through Persuasion there is a lengthy but inspiring introduction by W. Clement Stone. In it, he told a story of a phone call his secretary received while he was out of town. The caller was an irate customer. She wanted her money back because the books she bought and read, "Did not work". She angrily complained that her husband was still out of work and she was still working in a restaurant for ten hours a day.
Mr. Stone's secretary stopped the caller in her tracks when she asked, "What actions did you take?" The caller paused and then said, "We waited".
The secretary suggested that she and her husband read the books again but this time together and this time think of the actions they will take to better themselves. A few months later the woman called her back to tell her that they followed her advice and things are working out. The woman began night school and had three job offers with twice as much pay, even before she was finished.
The point here is there is no magic in the book "Think and Grow Rich". Napoleon Hill was not a magician. Mr. Hill wrote in "Succeed and Grow Rich through Persuasion" what I think is a very powerful statement. He wrote that the old saying "Knowledge is power" is a bunch of malarkey. "Knowledge in action is power."
All Napoleon Hill has given us is knowledge, not magic. It is up to us to supply the action.
Another reason this book is so powerful is it is strongly based in the Bible and religion. The Bible is a book which has also been tested through trial and error throughout the years. Theologians believe the oldest stories of the bible may have been around since about 3000 B.C. This means the stories and the concepts and ideas in the bible have been scrutinized for about five thousand years and have passed every test.
Napoleon Hill did not come up with the ideas in this book by accident. From the time he was a boy, he was a friend of "The canny, lovable old Scotsman", Andrew Carnegie. Mr. Carnegie saw something in young Napoleon and decided to commission him for a research project. The mission was to find out how success is begotten. At Mr. Carnegie's behest, Mr. Hill spent the next twenty years researching people like Henry Ford, John Wanamaker, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas A. Edison and five hundred others to find out what their secrets of success was. He found it.
He never mentions the secret directly, in fact he clams the secret is more powerful when a person finds it on his own. So, Mr. Hill never mentions the secret by name on purpose.
Because of this, I think I will also not mention the secret by name either; however if anyone knows the secrete, I will not be angry or disappointed if you mention it in your comments. This might be fun!
So as I end the first post in our study of "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill let me share with you Mr. Hill's own words of encouragement from his own forward.
"As a final word of preparation, before you begin the first chapter, may I offer one brief suggestion which may provide a clue by which the Carnegie secret may be recognized? It is this - all achievement, all eared riches, have their beginning in an idea! If you are ready for the secret, you already possess one half of it; therefore, you will readily recognize the other half the moment it reaches your mind."
I will post my commentary for chapter 1 - Thoughts Are Things on Wednesday night.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
The Re-launch of the Little Engine Blog
I've been away for a little while. The last entry I made was on April 21st, about three months ago. In that time, I had some serious thinking time, as well as plenty of time with my beautiful wife and four wonderful boys.
I made a decision that has been a very long time in the making. I believe it may have been longer in the coming then even I can determine. The whole story of how I came to this decision is one that I may tell in a later post.
The decision I made, is to set a goal to begin a career as a motivational speaker. It's a lofty goal, but one I think is going to be fun to chase.
I have a problem right from the start and it occurred right here on this blog. I started it and then got board and stopped. I got board because I lacked focus. The blog was disjointed and I didn't really know what I was going to write from entry to entry. This is not the way to run a Motivational speaking business.
However, I have another problem as well. I am lacking in the basic knowledge it takes to run a motivational speaking business. But, what to learn? Napoleon Hill taught us that we don't need to know all the books in the library, we just need to know where the library is. This concept makes me feel better about the magnitude of material I need to go through. But still what do I need to read in order to have the knowledge and wisdom it takes to be a great motivational speaker?
I was disappointed to find that I misplaced a book by James C. Humes called "The Witt and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln". In that book was a wonderful quote. Someone asked Lincoln what the source of all his wisdom was. His paraphrased reply was, he mastered (Not read or studied, but mastered) three works. First was the bible, "which holds all the secrets of the universe"; the second was the complete works of William Shakespeare, "who had an uncanny understanding of the human psyche" and the last was the complete collection of William Blackstone's commentaries, which Lincoln said, at his time, "no young lawyer should be without".
The point is, in order to succeed, all that is required is to master a small part of what you want to do and then turn to the library, or your mastermind for the rest of your required knowledge. (I will get into what a mastermind is in a future post. Hint: Chapter X).
So, what should I master. Abraham Lincoln did most of the work for me. I need to master the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare. I am not a lawyer, so I don't need to master Blackstone. But what should I have in place of Blackstone.
When you stop and think about it, the answer is very simple. The largest selling self help book in history is the Bible, but the second largest is "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. This is the second larges selling because Hill's ideas work. These are the works I have to master. But, it doesn't stop there. In order to completely understand the thought processes of Napoleon Hill it would be a good Idea to study the works of two other people (Yes, I said study). Those people are Charles F. Haanel who Hill attributed a large amount of his success, and W. Clement Stone who was an associate of Hill's.
Even though Abraham Lincoln believed he needed to master three works, I have a very hard time justifying not adding a fourth work to be mastered. That is Sun Tzu's "The Art of War". This is a work which is in the library of many high powered corporate executives. My opinion is, if Bill Gates has it in his library why shouldn't Joe Bagadonuts, owner of Bagadonuts Tavern in Center Silly Philly.
Now let's go back to the focus problem I had. I need to master these works and I have to be focused with the blog. So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I got an idea from a friendly group who meet on a website called www.talkshoe.com. They call themselves the Focus Society of Overachievers. When they started late last year, they reviewed chapter by chapter, "Think and Grow Rich". At present, they are reviewing Haanel's seven book series "The Master Key".
My idea is to do the same thing right here on this blog. I'll start with "Think and Grow Rich" and review a chapter at a time. My vision is many people will read the posts and tell me if I'm spot on or if I need to adjust my thinking. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing lots of opinions and maybe even some debate.
Now, am I saying that my learning will stop with these books? Far from it. I have a lot to learn about business and in particular about the speaking business. I am in the middle of developing a mastermind of people who can point me in the right direction. Because of the mastermind and because I know where the library is, I don't need to master these things.
Where this road is going to take me, I haven't got a clue. And yes, I am a little frightened, but I am more excited about the rewards of finally doing something I've been thinking about for years.
I made a decision that has been a very long time in the making. I believe it may have been longer in the coming then even I can determine. The whole story of how I came to this decision is one that I may tell in a later post.
The decision I made, is to set a goal to begin a career as a motivational speaker. It's a lofty goal, but one I think is going to be fun to chase.
I have a problem right from the start and it occurred right here on this blog. I started it and then got board and stopped. I got board because I lacked focus. The blog was disjointed and I didn't really know what I was going to write from entry to entry. This is not the way to run a Motivational speaking business.
However, I have another problem as well. I am lacking in the basic knowledge it takes to run a motivational speaking business. But, what to learn? Napoleon Hill taught us that we don't need to know all the books in the library, we just need to know where the library is. This concept makes me feel better about the magnitude of material I need to go through. But still what do I need to read in order to have the knowledge and wisdom it takes to be a great motivational speaker?
I was disappointed to find that I misplaced a book by James C. Humes called "The Witt and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln". In that book was a wonderful quote. Someone asked Lincoln what the source of all his wisdom was. His paraphrased reply was, he mastered (Not read or studied, but mastered) three works. First was the bible, "which holds all the secrets of the universe"; the second was the complete works of William Shakespeare, "who had an uncanny understanding of the human psyche" and the last was the complete collection of William Blackstone's commentaries, which Lincoln said, at his time, "no young lawyer should be without".
The point is, in order to succeed, all that is required is to master a small part of what you want to do and then turn to the library, or your mastermind for the rest of your required knowledge. (I will get into what a mastermind is in a future post. Hint: Chapter X).
So, what should I master. Abraham Lincoln did most of the work for me. I need to master the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare. I am not a lawyer, so I don't need to master Blackstone. But what should I have in place of Blackstone.
When you stop and think about it, the answer is very simple. The largest selling self help book in history is the Bible, but the second largest is "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. This is the second larges selling because Hill's ideas work. These are the works I have to master. But, it doesn't stop there. In order to completely understand the thought processes of Napoleon Hill it would be a good Idea to study the works of two other people (Yes, I said study). Those people are Charles F. Haanel who Hill attributed a large amount of his success, and W. Clement Stone who was an associate of Hill's.
Even though Abraham Lincoln believed he needed to master three works, I have a very hard time justifying not adding a fourth work to be mastered. That is Sun Tzu's "The Art of War". This is a work which is in the library of many high powered corporate executives. My opinion is, if Bill Gates has it in his library why shouldn't Joe Bagadonuts, owner of Bagadonuts Tavern in Center Silly Philly.
Now let's go back to the focus problem I had. I need to master these works and I have to be focused with the blog. So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I got an idea from a friendly group who meet on a website called www.talkshoe.com. They call themselves the Focus Society of Overachievers. When they started late last year, they reviewed chapter by chapter, "Think and Grow Rich". At present, they are reviewing Haanel's seven book series "The Master Key".
My idea is to do the same thing right here on this blog. I'll start with "Think and Grow Rich" and review a chapter at a time. My vision is many people will read the posts and tell me if I'm spot on or if I need to adjust my thinking. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing lots of opinions and maybe even some debate.
Now, am I saying that my learning will stop with these books? Far from it. I have a lot to learn about business and in particular about the speaking business. I am in the middle of developing a mastermind of people who can point me in the right direction. Because of the mastermind and because I know where the library is, I don't need to master these things.
Where this road is going to take me, I haven't got a clue. And yes, I am a little frightened, but I am more excited about the rewards of finally doing something I've been thinking about for years.
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