Success Habits: Proven Principles for Greater Wealth, Health, and Happiness

Not Always Sage Advice<br /><br />Transcribed from a series of radio talks in Paris Missouri in an undisclosed year, Success Habits is a self-help set of principles to guide us to greater life success. It acts as a set of rules to live by that will guarantee peace of mind, quality of purpose, and a prosperous life. The standout principle of Cosmic Habit Force cements his teaching into a required series of habits that must be regularly and consistently executed without fail.<br />I often wonder if Hill would be at the top of his game if her were alive today? At the very least his school would require a huge overhaul. Though his work has been immortalized and though he has worked with some of history’s most impressive luminaries, I cannot help but wonder at the juvenile delivery of his simplistic principles. His work is the epitome of simple but not easy however hearing the same principles put forth by others in the same field tends to resonate more perhaps because of the way Hill presents himself.<br />He seems full of his own ego and maybe it partly has to do with the translation of these radio talks to print but Hill seems to loves him some him. Curiously, egotism is a big no-no in his book yet Hill is ripe with it. Maybe hard to see in one’s own self.<br />I may not so much disagree with what he is saying but with the way he says it. Perhaps the way he frames and defines certain notions needs to be better explained because when he makes a statement such as “an introvert fixes his mind on his own selfish interests, and takes very little interest in other people” I could not disagree more. I wonder how he defines an introvert because his definition and mine could not be further apart. Nonetheless, this statement is a complete turn-off and a red flag, not something I would think Hill would want associated with his work.<br />There are other principles of his work that I find questionable such as his idea that idle time is always bad. I disagree. Sometimes idle time is exactly what is required to recharge creative juices and for those of us that suffer the ill effects of the monkey mind and inability to disconnect, Hill’s advice to always be in perpetual motion towards a goal seems like bad advice. Also, an acceptance of a life circumstance even while working to change the outcome is prudent opposed to Hills assertion to non-acceptance. Some things are unchangeable and to rail against that is counterproductive. His son’s hearing issues are a good example. What if his attempts made no difference?<br />Read it if you are into the genre to get an expanded view of the topic but do beware to take some things with a grain of salt.

Success Habits: Proven Principles for Greater Wealth, Health, and Happiness <br />Napoleon Hill<br />2018<br /><br />Napoleon Hill’s first book was Law of Success in 1928. It was just in time for the market crash of 1929 and the subsequent recession that followed. In 1937 he published his, Think and Grow Rich a best seller and a cornerstone of the motivational book genre. <br />The current book is based on transcripts found of a series of radio lectures that he delivered in 1952 in Paris, Missouri. Having not read his other books, I can only say that I was impressed with the folksy wisdom that he shared with the radio audience.<br />Recommended reading for young and old, successful or ambitious, interested in history or interested in the future. My notes should reveal some of his insights. <br /><br />Notes: <br />23: Here are the nine basic motives, some combination of which is used by all people who accomplish anything:<br />1. Love<br />2. Sex<br />3. Material wealth<br />4. Self-preservation<br />5. Freedom of body and mind<br />6. Personal expression and fulfillment<br />7. Perpetuation of live after death<br />8. Desire for revenge (negative)<br />9. The grandfather of them all….FEAR<br />34: Opinions usually are without value, because they are typically based on bias, prejudice, intolerance, guesswork, or hearsay evidence.<br />43: Plans do not create themselves. <br />65: Faith is a state of mind which must be cultivated by some technique which will help the individual to take possession of his own mind at all times and for all purposes, and to be able to direct it to any desire, with the belief that this end will be obtained.<br />68: That motto is that whatever the mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve. Three key words: conceive, believe and achieve.<br /><br />76:…when you believe in a thing, when you take steps to carry it out as if it already had been accomplished, it puts the power of infinite intelligence squarely back of you.<br /><br />77: I would say that the best part of my experiences came not out of my successes but out of my failures, because I survived those failures. <br />89: If you fail today, the chances are you will have acquired something that will enable you not to fail tomorrow.<br />94: Genius is one tenth inspiration and nine tenths perspiration ~ Thomas Edison<br />100: The fifteen major causes of failure<br />1. Drifting<br />2. Unfavourable physical heredities at birth<br />3. Meddlesome curiosity in other’s affairs <br />4. Lack of definite, major purpose as a life goal<br />5. Inadequate education<br />a. Latin educio, which means to draw out, to develop from within.<br />6. Lack of self discipline, excess eating, drinking, sex etc…<br />7. Acceptance of mediocrity<br />8. Ill health<br />9. Unfavourable environmental influences during childhood<br />10. Lack of persistence<br />11. Negative mental attitude<br />12. Lack of control of the emotions of the heart<br />13. Desire of something for nothing<br />14. Procrastination <br />15. Giving in to one of more of the seven basic fear<br />a. Poverty<br />b. Criticism<br />c. Ill health<br />d. Loss of love<br />e. Old age<br />f. Loss of liberty<br />g. Death<br />119: Two most common causes of failure<br />1. Quitting when the going is hard<br />2. Procrastination <br />126: To him that hath, it shall be given, and to him that hath not, it shall be taken away even unto that which he has. <br />• For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. ~ Mark 4:24,25<br />• For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath ~ Matthew 25:29<br /><br />So it this about faith? Is this about love? Is this about money? Is this about all of the above and a reflection that when GOD shared Free Will with us (and gave up some of his omnipotence) he invested in us something great and therefore expected from us a great return? GOD understands Free Markets and Capitalism but more important so did Jesus’ disciples in their teachings to us. ~ @LinoVersion<br />131: I was blessed at birth with four powerful causes for struggle: <br />1. Poverty<br />2. Fear<br />3. Superstition<br />4. Illiteracy<br />140: The one thing that the Creator intended every human being to do was to exercise complete control over his own mind, and to direct that mind to the attainment of whatever the individual considered to be necessary for his success and peace of mind.<br />141: Back in the early days I didn’t have self-confidence. <br />158: Factors that make up a pleasing personality<br />1. Positive mental attitude<br />2. Flexibility<br />3. Pleasing tone of voice<br />4. Tolerance<br />5. Sense of humour<br />6. Frankness of manner and speech<br />7. Pleasing facial expression<br />8. Keen sense of justice<br />9. Sincerity of purpose in all human relationships<br />10. Versatility<br />11. Tactfulness<br />12. Prompt decision making<br />13. Faith in infinite intelligence<br />14. Appropriate of words used<br />15. Controlled enthusiasm<br />16. Sportsmanship<br />17. Common courtesy<br />18. Personal adornment <br />19. Good showmanship<br />20. Going the extra mile<br />21. Temperance<br />22. Patience <br />23. Gracefulness in posture and carriage<br />24. Humility of the heart<br />25. Personal magnetism<br />181: Now consider some of the things that you shall not do if you want to have a pleasing personality.<br />1. Habit of breaking in when others are speaking<br />2. Selfishness expressed by word or deed<br />3. Sarcasm should not be used<br />4. Exaggeration of speech<br />5. Expression of egotism<br />6. Indifference<br />7. Envy<br />8. False flattery<br />9. Slovenliness in speech<br />10. Monopolizing conversations<br />11. Conveying impression of superiority<br />12. Insincerity<br />13. Gossip<br />14. Fault finding<br />15. Challenging people with whom you disagree<br />190: Cosmic habit force is a law of the universe into which all of the other natural laws blend and become a part<br />1. Power of control over one’s mind<br />2. Means by which he can organize privilege of using his own mind<br />3. There must be a technique, a plan a method<br />191: The eight guiding princes:<br />1. Financial prosperity<br />2. Sound physical health<br />3. Peace of mind<br />4. Prince of hope<br />5. Prince of faith<br />6. Prince of love<br />7. Prince of romance<br />8. Overall wisdom<br />197: Very often I canny out my instructions to my eight princes in silence, generally just before I go to sleep. I call their attention to my needs, and express my gratitude in advance for having received and responded to my requests. That’s highly important.<br />199: The law of harmonious attraction. That law states that like attracts like. <br />200: …nobody is going to make me angry unless I wish to become angry, because I have a system of keeping my mind positive…<br />202: Struggle to me is just a way of becoming stronger.<br />203:…development of a system of applying the principle of going the extra mile…<br />209: You can become a success or you can become a failure, and the way you become a success is by recognizing the power of your mind, by laying out the patterns that you wish to carry out, and by keeping your mind focused on their patterns until this great law of cosmic habit force automatically picks up the patterns and carries them out to their logical conclusion.<br />213: They suffer from a lack of confidence in self.<br />215: You’ll never be an educated person, no matter how many degrees you have, unless you understand and adapt yourself to the laws of nature, and especially this great overall comptroller of all of the natural laws known as the law of cosmic habit force.<br />218: …familiar with the statements that appear in many places in the Bible about the power available when two or more people meet and ask for things in the name of the Master.<br />219: The business of slandering people….is bad.<br />220: You can’t prosper and have peace of mind without being in tune with the infinite.<br />221: Give and you shall receive<br />222: Last but not least, let us remember that whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve. <br /> <br /><br />~ Napoleon Hill<br />

Perfectly Perfect.

Thing to remember:”whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve. It happens to be true because if you conceive a thing and believe it and make a definite picture of it in your mind, the law of cosmic habit force takes over that picture and guides you to the physical equivalent of that thing. That’s how it happens to be true. “<br /><br />So much to learn from this book, you can achieve anything that you want. Have a positive mental attitude!

I can see why these recordings were burried deep in an archive somewhere and never published during Napoleon Hill's life. For the most part the author comes across as an arrogant white man who knows everything, although in one section he says that we should be patient with others and try to understand their circumstances, the next minute he's judging people again.<br /><br />He also says that introverts are self centered whereas extroverts care about other which is an extreme generalisation and for the most part I personally have observed the opposite.<br /><br />Alsl I'm guessing this work has influenced a lot of new age spiritual teachings as a lot of Law of Attraction theory seems to be in here.<br /><br />I wouldn't recommend spending anytime on this audio book and invest it in modern thought leaders instead.

Woof.<br />Repetitive and painfully outdated. <br />He leans hard on faith, law of attraction style thinking, and bootstrapping. All his idols were brutal capitalists, and Adolf Hitler was a big fan of his (according to him). <br /><br />He also refused to teach his Deaf son ASL or lip-reading because that would be succumbing to "negative thinking."

Not bad for my first mental inspiration success book. Short and sweet which was nice to get through. Enjoyed the failure chapters in comparison to success philosophy’s. Main takeaway: the mind controls all. Infinite intelligence is out there, it is your job to go after it. Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.

As always, a very motivating book from mr. Hill. I find all his books to be motivating and to me initiative and excitement for the future.

dont understand it

Really enjoyed this one! Lots of key knowledge I'll be using. <br /><br />3.7/5