Success can be measured in seemingly countless ways, but one man sought, not only to discover how to attain success, but how to share it with the world.
When Napoleon Hill published his self-help landmark Think and grow rich in 1937 he had already spent nearly three decades studying the personalities and work habits of highly successful people.
Hill discovered thirteen personal traits held in common by high achievers across varying fields, from inventors and financiers to artists and soldiers. Here is an adaptation of the thirteen character traits that Hill said could make anyone a success.
- It is absolutely critical to a have one definite, passionately held aim in life. You chief aim must be written down, read daily, acted upon constantly, and held in your heart with absolute commitment.
- FAITH. Faith is confidence back by planning and action. You must believe you can accomplish a thing – and begin immediately.
- AUTO SUGGESTION. Autosuggestion consists of the things that we are constantly repeating to ourselves. What we tell ourselves forms our self-image. You can introduce new, healthy ideas about yourself through affirmations and visualizations.
- SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE. You must have focused and accurate information. Thinking accurately means replying only upon facts, observations, and information that are relevant to your aim. This means shunning gossip, rumor, hearsay, idle talk, and the casual opinions of friends and family.
- IMAGINATION. In order to have purpose, self-confidence, and initiative you must first create these qualities in your imagination and see them as yours. Imagination is also the visualizing faculty that lays out your plans and connects knowledge with ideas.
- ORGANIZED PLANNING. You must spell out and write down your plans, using sound information and imagination – and begin them at once. Many ideas fail for lack of planning.
- It is vital to reach decisions quickly and firmly. Change your decisions only if circumstances or new information demand it. People who make decisions slowly or in a wishy-washy manner almost always fail.
- Intelligent persistence is crucial to success. If you succumb to procrastination – which is really fear – you will never succeed. You must persist through setbacks and temporary failures.
- THE MASTER MIND. This is a friendly alliance ranging from as few as two to as many as seven people who meet regularly to exchange ideas, support, advice, and sometimes meditations and prayers, for one another’s success. The Master Mind is essential to your success, as the pooling of intellects results in a sum greater than the whole.
- SEX TRANSMUTATION. The sexual urge is the creative power of life flowing through you. If channeled properly this power can add extraordinary vitality and intellectual power to your ideas and actions.
- THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND. The images and ideas you hold in your subconscious are your destiny. You can focus and burnish these ideas through autosuggestion and the Master Mind. What’s more you can train your subconscious to be more sensitive to vital information and meaningful hunches.
- THE BRAIN. Your brain is not isolated gray matter but rather is a sending and receiving station that connects you with the ideas of others, and that can take you to heights of intellect and awareness you may never suspect.
- THE SIXITH SENSE. If you complete every one of these steps you will develop a finer, more sensitive intellect that will give you a higher state of mind in which intuitions, instincts, and foresight become your steady companions.
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