Exploring Leadership Soulutions

Persistence is a state of mind, therefore it can be cultivated. Like all states of mind, persistence is based upon definite causes, among them these:-

1. Definiteness of purpose. Knowing what one wants is the first and, perhaps, the most important step toward the development of persistence. A strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties.
2. Desire. It is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence in pursuing the object of intense desire.
3. Self-reliance. Belief in one’s ability to carry out a plan encourages one to follow the plan through with persistence. (Self-reliance can be developed through the principle described in the chapter on auto-suggestion.)
4. Definiteness of plans. Organized plans, even though they may be weak and entirely impractical, encourage persistence.
5. Accurate knowledge. Knowing that one’s plans are sound, based upon experience or observation, encourages persistence; “guessing” instead of “knowing” destroys persistence.
6. Co-operation. Sympathy, understanding, and harmonious cooperation with others tend to develop persistence.
7. Will-power. The habit of concentrating one’s thoughts upon the building of plans for the attainment of a definite purpose, leads to persistence.
8. Habit. Persistence is the direct results of habit. The mind absorbs and becomes a part of the daily experiences upon which it feeds. Fear, the worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of acts of courage. Everyone who has seen active service in war knows this.

Before leaving the subject of persistence, take inventory of yourself, and determine in what particular, if any, you are lacking in this essential quality. Measure yourself courageously, point by point, and see how many of the eight factors of persistence you lack. The analysis may lead to discoveries that will give you a new grip on yourself.

~ Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich

We who stand on the side-lines of Life see the overwhelmingly large number who go down in defeat, never to rise again. We see the few who take the punishment of defeat as an urge to greater effort. These, fortunately, never learn to accept Life’s reverse gear. But what we do not see, what most of us never suspect of existing, is the silent but irresistible power which comes to the rescue of those who fight on in the face of discouragement. If we speak of this power at all we call it persistence, and let it go at that. One thing we all know, if one does not possess persistence, one does not achieve noteworthy success in any calling.

~ Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich

Faith is a State of Mind Which May Be Induced By Auto-Suggestion.

It is a well-known fact that one comes, finally, to believe whatever one repeats to one’s self, whether the statement be true or false. If a man repeats a lie over and over, he will eventually accept the lie as truth. Moreover, he will believe it to be the truth. Every man is what he is because of the dominating thoughts which he permits to occupy his mind. Thoughts which a man deliberately places in his own mind, and encourages with sympathy, and with which he mixes any one or more of the emotions, constitute the motivating forces which direct and control his every movement, act, and deed!

~ Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich (1937)

Never in the history of America has there been so great an opportunity for practical dreamers as now exists. The six-year economic collapse has reduced all men, substantially, to the same level. A new race is about to be run. The stakes represent huge fortunes which will be accumulated within the next ten years. The rules of the race have changed, because we now live in a changed world that definitely favors the masses, those who had but little or no opportunity to win under the conditions existing during the depression, when fear paralyzed growth and development.

Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich (1937)

Self Confidence Formula. 

Positive thought impulses, written down, memorized, read aloud, repeated until they become a part of the working equipment of the subconscious faculty of your mind.

1. I know that I have the ability to achieve my definite purpose in life. Therefore, I demand of myself persistent, continuous action toward its attainment and I here and now promise to render such action.
2. The dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward physical action and gradually transform themselves into physical reality. Therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for 30 minutes daily upon the task of thinking of the person that I intend to become. Thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture.
3. I know through the theory of autosuggestion, any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek some expression through some practical means of obtaining the object or position I desire.
4. I have clearly written down a description of my definite chief aim and I will never stop trying until I develop sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.
5. I realize that no wealth or position can long endure unless built upon truth and justice. I will engage in no transaction that will not benefit all whom it effects. I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces that I wish to use and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me because of my willingness to serve them. I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness and cynicism by developing love for all humanity for I know that a negative attitude toward others will never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me because I will believe in them and in myself.

I will sign my name to this formula commit to memory and repeat it aloud once a day in full faith that it will gradually influence my thoughts and actions so I will become a self-reliant and successful person.

~ Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich (1937)

The person who stops studying merely because he has finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what may be his calling. The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.

~ Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich (1937)

CAUSES OF FAILURE IN LEADERSHIP.  

Any one of these faults is sufficient to induce failure. Study the list carefully if you aspire to be a leader, and make sure you are free of these faults.

1. Inability to organize details. The successful leader must be the master of all details connected with his position. That means, of course, that he must acquire the habit of relegating details to capable lieutenants.

2. Unwillingness to render humble service. “The greatest among ye shall be the servant of all” is a truth which all able leaders observe and respect.

3. Expectation of pay for what they “know” instead of what they do with what they know. The world does not pay people for what they know. It pays them for what they do.

4. Fear of competition from followers. Leaders who fear that one of their followers may take their position is practically sure to realize that fear sooner or later.

5. Lack of imagination. Without imagination, the leader is incapable of meeting emergencies.

6. Selfishness. The really great leader claims none of the honors.

7. Intemperance. Intemperance in any of its forms destroys endurance and the vitality of all who indulge in it.

8. Disloyalty. Disloyalty marks one as being less than the dust of the earth.

9. Emphasis on the “authority” of leadership. If a leader is a real leader, he will have no need to advertise that fact except by his conduct — his sympathy, understanding, fairness, and a demonstration that he knows his job.”

10. Emphasis of title. The people who make too much over their title generally have little else to emphasize.

If you can identify leadership failures you will start to see trends on where they are happening. Every time you turn on the news you see an example of someone failing as a leader. Napoleon Hill identified a number of areas back in 1937 that needed what he referred to as LEADERSHIP BY CONSENT.

~ Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich (1937)

October Twenty Eighth Success Secret – Napoleon Hill

The method by which one develops FAITH, where it does not already exist, is extremely difficult to describe, almost as difficult, in fact, as it would be to describe the color of red to a blind man who has never seen color, and has nothing with which to compare what you describe to him. Faith is a state of mind which you may develop at will, after you have mastered the thirteen principles, because it is a state of mind which develops voluntarily, through application and use of these principles.

~ Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich