Mindset Mastery 176 – Influence of Opinion

by Sean Rasmussen on February 8, 2010

There is a fine line between considering the opinions of others and letting them rule your life. Opinions of the periphery can very easily and quickly overtake you, and perpetuate that stagnation and procrastination in life that we talked about in the last Mindset Mastery post.

Easily Influenced

The majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs, are, generally, easily influenced by the “opinions” of others. They permit the newspapers and the “gossiping” neighbors to do their “thinking” for them. “Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by “opinions” when you reach decisions, you will not succeed in any undertaking, much less in that of transmuting your own desire into money.

If you are influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no desire of your own.

Keep Your Counsel

Keep your own counsel, when you begin to put into practice the principles described here, by reaching your own decisions and following them. Put confidence in no one except the members of your “Master Mind” group, and be very sure in your selection of this group, that you choose only those who will be in complete sympathy and harmony with your purpose.

Close friends and relatives, while not meaning to do so, often handicap a person through “opinions” and sometimes through ridicule, which is meant to be humorous. Thousands of men and women carry inferiority complexes with them all through life, because some well-meaning, but ignorant person destroyed their confidence through “opinions” or ridicule.

Use Your Personal Resources

You have a brain and a mind of your own. Use it, and reach your own decisions. If you need facts or information from other people to enable you to make decisions, and you probably will in many instances get the facts or secure the information you need quietly, without disclosing your purpose.

It is characteristic of people who have but a smattering or a veneer of knowledge to try to give the impression that they have a lot of knowledge. Such people generally do too much talking and too little listening. Keep your eyes and ears wide open—and your mouth closed, if you wish to acquire the habit of prompt decision. Those who talk too much do little else. If you talk more than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of many opportunities to accumulate useful knowledge, but you also disclose your plans and purposes to people who will take great enjoyment in defeating you, because they envy you.

And Remember…

Remember, also, that every time you open your mouth in the presence of a person who has an abundance of knowledge, you display to that person your exact stock of knowledge, or your lack of it! Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence.

Keep in mind the fact that every person with whom you associate is, like yourself, seeking the opportunity to accumulate money. If you talk about your plans too freely, you may be surprised when you learn that some other person has beaten you to your goal by putting into action before you the plans you unwisely talked about.

Let one of your first decisions be to keep a closed mouth and open ears and eyes.

As a reminder to yourself to follow this advice, it helps to write down the following quotation in large letters and place it where you will see it daily.

“Tell the world what you intend to do, but first show it.”

This is the equivalent of saying, “deeds, and not words, are what count most.”

Fundamental Life Lessons

Essentially what it comes down to is your ability to block out the noise that is inevitable and believe in yourself and the group that you have built as your advisors. As mentioned, it is not that outside contribution cannot be helpful, but only if carefully selected and evaluated. At the end of the day, even an action that may prove to be somewhat mistaken is an action that propels you toward your end goal, so you have to have some faith and confidence in your ability and decisions, and take the leap!

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
Aussie Internet Marketer © 2004 – 2010

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Mindset Mastery 175 – Mastering Procrastination

by Sean Rasmussen on February 5, 2010

Mindset Mastery eBookWe’ve completed our updated version of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich now through Chapter 7. Today we start in on chapter eight and the seventh step toward riches, with a topic that I think we can all relate to for sure!

Decision – The Mastery Of Procrastination
The Seventh Step toward Riches

Accurate analysis of over 25,000 men and women who had experienced failure, disclosed the fact that lack of decision was near the head of the list of the 30 major causes of failure. This is no mere statement of a theory—it is a fact.

Procrastination, the opposite of decision, is a common enemy which practically every person must conquer.

You will have an opportunity to test your capacity to reach quick and definite decisions when you finish reading this book, and are ready to begin putting the principles it describes into action.

The Difference A Decision Can Make

Analysis of several hundred people who had accumulated fortunes well beyond the million dollar mark disclosed the fact that every one of them had the habit of reaching decisions promptly and of changing these decisions slowly, if and when they were changed. People who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly, and of changing these decisions quickly and often.

Case Studies

One of Henry Ford’s most outstanding qualities was his habit of reaching decisions quickly and definitely, and changing them slowly. This quality was so pronounced in Mr. Ford, that it gave him the reputation of being obstinate. It was this quality which prompted Mr. Ford to continue to manufacture his famous Model “T” (the world’s ugliest car), when all of his advisors, and many of the purchasers of the car, were urging him to change it.

Perhaps Mr. Ford delayed too long in making the change, but the other side of the story is that Mr. Ford’s firmness of decision yielded a huge fortune before the change in model became necessary. There is little doubt that Mr. Ford’s habit of definiteness of decision assumed the proportion of obstinacy, but this quality is preferable to slowness in reaching decisions and quickness in changing them.

A Simple Solution

In and of itself, the ability to limit procrastination and make fast decisions, which you then act upon, is a simple fix to the stagnation of life. Pay close attention in this chapter and to Hill’s lessons here, as this one lesson could very easily be “the one” to change your life forever!

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
Aussie Internet Marketer © 2004 – 2010

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Mindset Mastery 174 – Something For Nothing

February 1, 2010

You may recall that at the end of the last Mindset Mastery post Napoleon Hill was talking about the fact that the opportunity in capitalist systems exists for everyone, meaning that any willing body is certainly capable and can Think and Grow Rich. However, that is an opportunity that requires a certain level of understanding as well.
Denied No Right

The “System” denies no one this right, but it does not, and cannot promise something for nothing because the system, itself, is irrevocably controlled by the Law of Economics which neither recognizes nor tolerates for long, getting without giving.

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Mindset Mastery 173 – Lands Of Opportunity

January 29, 2010

Despite the criticism that America and other successful capitalist nations endure, they are still the lands of opportunity, ripe for the picking for wealth creation. Napoleon Hill understood them to be the place for motivated wealth creators to take advantage of the Law of Economics.

Ideal Location

Most people living in America like the country, its capitalistic system and all. Worldwide the U.S. still has the reputation of being the land of opportunity. It is ideally suited to individual wealth creation.

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Mindset Mastery 172 – The Truth About Freedom

January 25, 2010

Hill believed that few people truly understand or appreciate the true impact of freedom, money, and wealth in the capitalist money system. It seems a timeless topic (as Hill’s lessons are) that many still do not understand all these years after the publication of Think and Grow Rich.

The Whole Truth

You should know the full truth concerning freedom of which so many people boast, and so few understand. As great as it is, as far as it reaches, as many privileges as it provides, it does not, and cannot bring wealth without effort.

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Mindset Mastery 171 – Economically Advantaged

January 22, 2010

We hear all the time about the disadvantages of life and the economical disadvantage of people. There is no arguing that the playing field at the outset is not level, but that does not predetermine the outcome for the right-minded wealth creator. Here, Napoleon Hill analyses the advantages of the capitalist society before [...]

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Bill Gates On Twitter

January 20, 2010

Bill Gates has actively joined the micro blogging phenomenon known as Twitter. For anyone that knows Twitter, the response is: Big Deal! From the rest of you, some who haven’t joined Twitter yet, this may prove to be an interesting read. The power of Social Media, especially sites like Twitter, is enormous! People like Bill [...]

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Mindset Mastery 170 – Summing It Up

January 18, 2010

To sum up the final tally, and show how important our systems of organized capital are to the affordability of life, and possibility of wealth, Hill offered the following summation.
Millions And Billions
The sum of money required for the building and maintenance of highways, railroads, delivery trucks, and cargo ships used in the delivery of that [...]

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Mindset Mastery 169 – Organised Capital

January 15, 2010

Organised capital is the “miracle” that Napoleon Hill described as being the provider of blessings in the modern world. To exemplify this, he provided the following account.
Breakfast Food For Thought
Although perhaps a bit far-fetched realistically speaking, you might get a slight idea of the importance of organized capital by trying to imagine yourself burdened [...]

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How Many People Would You Help If It Was Free?

January 14, 2010

Is there a limit to how many people across the globe you would help if it didn’t cost you one single cent? Would you hesitate just because it requires effort – and nothing else? Well, the good news is that the internet gives us a plethora of ways to share knowledge to make mass improvement [...]

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