How to Own Your Own Mind

by Napoleon Hill

Do you mean, Mr. Carnegie, that Mr. Edison had the persistence to keep on trying in the face of ten thousand failures?

seldom quit trying until they find the answer to their problems.

persistence

Targeted persistence is the key to success

definite purpose,

A man generally finds whatever he is looking for if he gives his desire obsessional proportions.

The Master Mind principle, through which men go into a huddle and frankly exchange thoughts with the object of solving business or professional problems,

Concentration of attention on a definite problem or object tends to put the imagination to work immediately.

Salesmen with imagination often sell something entirely different from that which they appear to be selling.

adroitness,

Chicago should do something to recognise you for the wonderful job you have done in giving the city the finest street railway system in America, and I had in mind honouring you with a building on the campus to be named for you.

but I tell you what I suggest.

Men with Creative Vision are builders. They never tear down. They are positive, not negative.

Such men were Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, George Washington, Thomas Paine, and the other great patriots of their time who risked life and fortune to give birth to the America we know today.

of the greatest factors of the American way of life is that our entire economic system and our form of government are so designed and operated that they provide premiums and rewards for the expression of personal initiative.

The man who helps the greatest number of others to succeed is,

himself, the greatest success. It has been so since the dawn of civilisation.

Naturally, the more persistent a man is, the greater is the success.

The most important thing is ability to negotiate with other with a minimum of friction, so as to gain a maximum of friendly cooperation.

That was mistake number three, which showed his lack of vision, because men of vision recognise sound ideas as being among the safest and the most valuable of all assets.

The better portion of my riches consists of the knowledge which I am giving to the people through your cooperation.

He described ‘human relationships’ as the most important thing to be considered by those who aspire to noteworthy success in any calling.

It may not be literally true that ‘thoughts are things’, but it is true that thoughts create things, and the things they create are striking duplicates of the thoughts out of which they are fashioned.

Through the application of self-discipline thought can be influenced, controlled and directed through transmutation towards a desired end, by the development of voluntary habits suitable for the attainment of any given end.

Let your daily slogan be ‘You can do it if you believe you can!’ By some strange power with which no one is familiar, the subconscious mind acts directly and immediately upon the thoughts which are based upon absolute belief, and proceeds to carry such thoughts out to their logical conclusion by practical and natural media which are available.

Stated in one sentence, it is “the capacity of men to believe in something”.

The world belongs to men who believe! It always has and it always will.

I thank God for unwinding The tangled skein of my life, Thereby freeing my mind forever From all forms of fear and strife.

Even belief is useless unless it is followed by some sort of action appropriate to its nature and purpose. Passive belief produces no results whatsoever save failure and defeat.

How inconsistent it is that the only thing over which a human being has complete control is the one thing which most people make the least attempt to control. The inconsistency becomes all the more astounding when one recognises the fact that the power of organised thought offers the solution to all of one’s problems, and nothing else does.

First, one must separate facts from mere fiction, opinions, and hearsay evidence. Second, one must separate facts into two classes: important and unimportant.

Not in a sense of being a confirmed skeptic who believes in nothing, but as a cautious person who wishes to be accurate in his thinking.

This discussion is intended to suggest to you that you should be cautious in accepting information received from others, but very cautious indeed in accepting the information you receive from yourself.

(f) Business, professional, and occupational habits and influences.

Through the operation of the law of social heredity most people acquire their ideas, beliefs, opinions, and thinking habits.

privilege of independent thought and personal initiative,

In the United States, all the major sources of thought inspiration, such as the newspapers, radio, schools and books, are so managed that every individual may accept or reject any idea that is passed on through these sources. Therefore, we have every opportunity in this country to become untrammeled thinkers, to use our minds as the Creator intended we should be permitted to use them.

With all the many advantages of our public school system, it has failed to provide the youths of America with a clear understanding of the process of sound thinking, and it has taught them too little of the influences of social heredity, or the media which inspire most of their thinking.

Most ‘opinions’ are not only valueless, but they are dangerous when they are not based on sound premises! Let us have a look at the sources from which many opinions come.

!!!

It is doubtful whether one person out of every thousand who is allied with either of the two major political parties of this country could intelligently describe the difference between the two parties.

relative merits of the two parties.

Yet they have strong convictions that their church is the preferred one, little realising that their ‘opinions’ are the result of social heredity and not the outcome of carefully thought-out religious convictions.

Most people form the habit of embracing the beliefs of those with whom they associate most closely without regard to the soundness of their beliefs.

all other habits. It is the rarest sort of experience to find any person, anywhere, at any time, who lives his own life, thinks his own thoughts, develops his own habits, and makes even the slightest attempt to be himself!

adjudicated.

“Contempt prior to examination”, as one philosopher expressed it, is a common fault in all thinking.

Excellent quote

Now let me shift the scene from the camera to the human brain and see how perfectly the two resemble one another in the manner of their operation. The individual chooses the subject he wishes to register in the cells of his brain, the brain serving as the plate of the camera. He calls the subject chosen a Definite Major Purpose. He wants the brain to pick up a clear picture of the object of that purpose, register it, and turn it over to his subconscious mind for translation into its physical reality. Therefore, he proceeds, through the principle of controlled habit, to place in his conscious mind a picture of that which he wants. Day by day, he recreates that picture (through controlled habit), recognising, as the skilled thinker does, that the mental impulse of thought through which he is painting the picture in his brain must be given the right amount of time (through repeated exposures) to register, and it must also be accompanied by the proper proportion of ‘light’ (emotional feeling) to enable the brain to pick up a clear outline of the thought.

The starting point of controlled habit, therefore, is definiteness of purpose.

inspired by the emotions, without the modifying influence of the will – that is, emotion without control.

As a matter of fact, there never can be full assurance of harmony in a Master Mind group unless each member of the group is so self-disciplined that he can control his own thoughts.

There is the desire for material riches, and it is a rather universal and well developed desire with most people; the desire for personal expression leading to recognition and fame; the desire for self preservation; and the desire for freedom of body and mind. All of one’s emotions, including, of course, the emotion of love, can be converted to the attainment of any desired end. The desire for the accumulation of material riches may, for example, be combined with one’s love for the woman of his choice, where the desire for money is associated with one’s desire to provide the woman of his choice with the comforts that money will buy. In such a circumstance, one would have a double motive for the accumulation of money.