The 6 Worst Fears

He says that man's worst fears are:

• Poverty
  
• Death
  
• Ill Health
  
• Loss of Love
  
• Old Age
  
• Criticism

I'm surprised that he did not list fear of rejection as that's what discourages most salesmen.

Hill believes that these fears come from ignorance and superstition. His remedy is organized knowledge.

- from page 122.

Doing What You Enjoy

Starting at page 87, they go on for several pages about having fun is essential to investing to win.

While it is important to have fun, many of us have responsibilities. Lots of work has to be done in the world and someone has to do it. That work is not fun. - Though menial jobs can be fun. I remember washing dishes in a resteraunt and thinking that if the pay was enough, I would like to do this forever. It gave me a rush to see how fast I could push them through.

The One-A-Week Club

Hill gives a case study of the application of the "Master Mind".

An auto dealer paired up his salesman and set a quota of 1 sale per week. Those who met the quota got special treatment. The pairings meant that people had partners they could rely on and the quota gave them goals to achieve. People seem to work better when they do not work alone and when they agree on what needs to be done.

- from page 118.

Discouragers

Hill says to avoid them. I'm not so sure. Some projects just are not worth undertaking. (Those bad American Idol contestants come to mind.)

Still, it is better to pursue something than to just drift through life - as long as one can pay the bills!

As for Hill, he recommends ruthlessness in cutting off relations with minds that do not harmonize with your own.

- From page 113.

Ally With Other People

There is the old saying that two minds are better than one. I know that I seem to work better when I have someone around me who agrees with what I am doing. On the other hand, when people around me are against what I am doing, discouragement comes easily.

Napoleon Hill relates this to his principle of "harmony".

- from page 109.

Finding Opportunities

Education gives knowledge but leaders need to know how to put that knowledge to use. Hill relates a long story which results in the moral that Henry Ford may not have known many facts but he employed men who could supply him those facts.

I don't think that he means that academic knowledge is useless; he means that successful people know how to put that knowledge to use. A teacher once told me that an expert does not know the answer; an expert knows where to find it.

- from page 100.

The Leader's Vital Creation Is Harmony

Hill defines "harmony" for purposes of life success as "organized energy". This strikes me as an interesting thought:

Success in life, no matter what one may call success, is very largely a matter of adaption to environment in such a manner as there is harmony between the individual and his environment. The palace of a king becomes as a hovel of a peasant if harmony does not abound within its walls.

Trouble is, fear of being kicked out in the street may inhibit what is otherwise a happy home.

Meetings: The Rally

Hill states that he recreated the psychology of religeous revival meetings in sales meetings. The same idea applies: get more converts in one; get more sales in the other.

I've been to both; I've not got caught up in either. I certainly do agree that continual reinforcement by having people work together continually produces more and better results.

Focus Your Energy

Concentrate all your energies on the task at hand. At some point one must determine what tasks to do and what order to do them in. This is where discernment comes in. Making a little effort to decide what to do and then doing it will matter a lot.

Knowledge + Organization = Power

Knowledge, general and unorganized is not power, only potential power. – Thus Hill.

I like to think of science. There is pure science and applied science. Applied science takes the general knowledge of science and applies it to inventions, drugs, and what have you. It uses knowledge to make practical things.

It seems that this process is what Hill is talking about. Before you can apply your knowledge to solving the problems in your life, you must first have a pool of knowledge to draw from.

Summary of the Laws of Success

Here’s a summary of Napoleon Hill’s Laws of Success:

1. A definite chief aim
2. Self confidence
3. Habit of saving
4. Initiative and leadership
5. Imagination
6. Enthusiasm
7. Self-control
8. The Habit of doing more than paid for
9. Pleasing personality
10. Accurate thinking
11. Concentration
12. Co-operation
13. Profiting by failure
14. Tolerance
15. Practicing the golden rule

Are these laws all there is? I just cannot help but think of those folks on American Idol who seem to be so determined to become singing stars but cannot sing. At some point, being smart in the selection of one’s work becomes a necessity. On the other hand, I’ve spent years of my life on jobs that were “safe” but I did not like while avoiding those that I wanted because they were not safe. There has to be a trade-off between following one’s dreams and monetizing them.

Henry Ford on Education

I don't agree with Napoleon Hill's view on the role of education in achieving success in life.

He tells the story about Henry Ford suing the Chicago Tribune for calling him "an ignoramus". At the trial, the Trib's lawyer tried to demonstrate Ford's lack of education by asking him a bunch of trivia questions which Ford parried. Then the witness countered by telling the lawyer that on his desk lay a row of buttons which he could use to summon experts who could provide the answers to all these questions and more.

The moral that Hill teaches from this story is that

Education - let us not forget this - consists of the power with which to get everything one needs when he needs it, without violating the rights of his fellow man.

Hill is on much firmer ground when he looks at the case from the lawyer's point of view.

The successful lawyer is not one who has memorized the greatest of principles of law. On the contrary, the successful lawyer is one who knows where to find a principle of law, plus a variety of opinions supporting the principal which fit the immediate needs of a given case.

My own opinion: being an expert does not necessarily mean knowing a lot of facts (- that forms the basis of expertise!) is is knowing how to find out the facts that one does not know in a timely and efficient manner.

Source of Ford's Wealth

At his height, Henry Ford’s assets consisted of 25% tangible (cash, plant, equipment, etc.) and 75% intangible (his experience, his associates, his organization, etc.). Hill makes this interesting point:

Destroy every plant the Ford Motor Company owns: every piece of machinery; every atom of raw or finished material, every finished automobile; and every dollar of every deposit in any bank, and Ford would still be the most powerful man, economically, on earth. The brains that build the Ford business would duplicate it again in short order.

To me, it follows that time is our friend, not our enemy. The longer we have lived, the more experience, knowledge, and relationships we have had the opportunity to accumulate. The more intangible assets we have accumulated.

The Master Mind

Every mind is a TV station that has both a transmitter and a receiver. Napoleon Hill’s corollary to this concept is that the mind needs at least one other station to network with it. One will go father with a partner/mentor/advisor to bounce ideas off of and to receive encouragement from.

Thomas Paine noted that he experienced two distinct kinds of thoughts. One class were those that came from study and reflection; the other just entered through their own accord. Most success authors address the first class; Napoleon Hill’s writings on “The Master Mind” addresses the second.

The Laws of Success

Napoleon Hill is one of the titans of self improvement. He's got great ideas but sometimes he gets carried away. For example, he talks about how two or more people can encourage each other and pool their mental resourses to achieve more but then he goes into mental telepathy. The first part is great; loose the second part.

He starts the book by taking up the importance of inter-acting with other people. He would love the possibilities presented by Facebook and Twitter!

"Success is the matter of tactful organization with other people." In the end, it does seem to me that having some kind of mentor/coach/advisor/chief assistant will help anyone "think rich".

Sharpen the Saw

This means deliberately taking time out to work on self-improvement. Covey identifies 3 areas: physical; mental; spiritual; and social/emotional.

While the book does not mention it, I recall that Jesus Christ regularly took time out and withdrew into the desert to fast and pray. I like the idea of time-outs and I certainly do think that people ought to do more of them.

The Entitlement Mentality

Both men are against the entitlement mentality. Too many people figure that they are entitled to government to take care of their needs – and not just poor people, either. Pensions are a huge national liability and it is not certain that they will be collectable with the time comes.

People have to take charge of their own finances and their own futures.

It's significant that their book was written before Obamacare passed last year.

Synergize

This means several different things working together and the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. Covey’s chapter on synergy is a bit hard to understand. I think he means all of the habits working together. He talks a lot about different people working together on something.

The Moral Perfection Project

In 1733 Benjamin Franklin began a project for self improvement. He listed 13 virtues he would work on. He thought this a managable list and so it helped him to focus on what he thought was important. This is his list together with his definitions of virtue.

Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation
Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; (i.e. waste nothing).
Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; thing innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
Humility: (this last was added at a friend’s suggestion. – JL)

His project aimed for success in this world and not so much as exaulting his soul in the next. He strove for the practical.

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Pictured: Benjamin Franklin at his regular day job, working in the printing office.

More information: Wikipedia, Franklin's Autobiography

Seek Understanding

Interesting thought: we listen and read by channeling information through our own frame of reference. Covey recommends “empathic listening” by changing perception away from first person frames of reference.

This includes taking the time to talk to people one-on-one.