Sean Rasmussen

The next of Napoleon Hill’s anecdotes is presented as a direct contrast to the definite thought, purpose, and determination of Edwin C Barnes. He calls this story “Three Feet From Gold”; most of us can see quite a lot of our past limited successes within the telling of this story.

“One of the most common reasons people fail is that they quit when faced with temporary defeat. Every person is guilty of this mistake at one time or another. What follows is a case in point.

“An uncle of R.U. Darby was caught by the “gold fever” in the days of the great gold-rush, and went west to dig and grow rich. He had never heard that more gold has been mined from the brains of men than has ever been taken from the earth. He staked a claim and went to work with a pick and a shovel. The going was hard, but his lust for gold was definite.

“After weeks of labor, he was rewarded with the discovery of the elusive shining ore. He needed machinery to bring the ore to the surface. Quietly, he covered up the mine, went back to his home in Williamsburg, Maryland, and told his relatives and a few neighbors about the “strike.” Together, they raised the money for the needed machinery and had it shipped. The uncle and Darby went back to work the mine.”

So far in this tale we’ve seen that Darby and Uncle had the foresight to place themselves in a presumably profitable spot, but Napoleon Hill indicates that the uncle lacked a definite thought; he has thus far failed to put the required definite thinking into the project. Will the men be able to succeed without having taken this essential first step? We’ll see if he is able to pull himself out of it.

I will see you back here Monday and Thursday every week for the continuation of the Mindset Mastery series.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 6:53 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery, Napoleon Hill, Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

This next passage needs little commentary from me; Napoleon Hill concludes Barnes’ story with a summation of the power of Barnes’ definite thought and purpose.

“The business alliance lasted more than thirty years. From that alliance, Barnes made himself a very rich man, in terms of money; but he did something infinitely greater than simply make himself rich—he proved definitely that it is possible for a person, even with limited financial resources, to “Think and Grow Rich.”

“How much actual cash that original desire of Barnes’ was worth to him, we have no way of knowing. It might have earned him two or three million dollars, but the amount, whatever it is, becomes insignificant when compared with the greater asset he acquired in the form of definite knowledge that an intangible impulse of thought can be transmuted into physical reality by applying known principles.

“Barnes literally thought himself into a partnership with the great Thomas Edison! He thought himself into a fortune. He had nothing to start with, except the capacity to know what he wanted, and the determination to stand by that desire until it was realized.

“He had no money to begin with. He had little education. He had no influence. But he did have initiative, faith, and the will to win. With these intangible forces he made himself the number one man of the greatest inventor who ever lived.”

Succeed, Build Wealth and Live Better

And there we have it—the man started with nothing but an idea and the determination to succeed. If you, too, possess these two simple things, you have all you need to succeed, build wealth, and live better.

I will see you back here Monday and Thursday every week for the continuation of the Mindset Mastery series.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 7:00 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery, Motivation, Napoleon Hill. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Once you have decided on your definite purpose, you should have a good idea of what form of wealth creation you will be undertaking; but sometimes things happen for reasons not yet known, and opportunity presents itself in ways we wouldn’t have predicted. To an extent, it was thus with Barnes’ “break”.

“When the opportunity came, it appeared in a different form, and from a different direction than Barnes had expected. That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and very often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunity.”

“Mr. Edison had just perfected a new office device, known at that time as the Edison Dictating Machine (which was later called the Ediphone). His salesmen were not enthusiastic over the machine. They did not believe it could be sold without excessive effort. Barnes saw his opportunity. It had crawled in quietly, hidden in a queer looking machine which no one showed an interest in except Barnes and the inventor.

“Barnes knew he could sell the Edison Dictating Machine. He suggested this to Edison, and was quickly given the chance. And he did sell the machine. In fact, he sold it so successfully that Thomas Edison gave him a contract to distribute and market it all over the U.S. Out of that business association grew the slogan, ‘Made by Edison and installed by Barnes.”

Perhaps your opportunity will appear exactly as you expect, and perhaps not. Your job in either circumstance is to be open to all opportunities, and seize those that present themselves to you as you apply the principles of success revealed within this secret.

I will see you back here Monday and Thursday every week for the continuation of the Mindset Mastery series.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 5:29 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery, Motivation, Napoleon Hill. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Success comes most often in life when you are ready for it; now, that means when you are really ready, which is not always when you think you are ready. Barnes’ success came at that point in time when he was really ready, after he had taken steps to situate himself in the path of success.

“Psychologists have noted, accurately, that when a person is truly ready for something, it will appear.

“Edwin Barnes was ready for a business association with Edison; moreover, he was determined to stay ready until he got what he was after.

“He did not say to himself, “Ah, what’s the use? Maybe I should just try to get a salesman’s job.” But, he did say, “I came here to go into business with Thomas Edison, and I will be his business partner if it takes the rest of my life.” And He meant it! What a different story all people would have to tell if only they would adopt a definite purpose, and stand by that purpose until it had time to become an all-consuming, yet powerful, obsession!

“Maybe young Barnes did not know it at the time, but his bulldog determination, his persistence in maintaining and focusing on a single desire, destined him to mow down all opposition, and bring him the opportunity he was seeking.”

Persistence will lead to fulfilled goals

You have already put yourself in the path of success by coming here and reading the Mindset Mastery ebook or posts; and as long as you stay by your definite purpose to become wealthy with our help, and persist until you reach your goal, you will succeed to know great wealth and comfort. There is no doubt in that, once you know how to proceed towards wealth.

I will see you back here Monday and Thursday every week for the continuation of the Mindset Mastery series.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 5:50 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery, Napoleon Hill, Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Kurek Ashley’s 1 hour online interview is proving very popular. After the release of “How Would Love Respond“, people have been asking about Kurek, so here are a few interesting facts about the Peak Performance coach during his Hollywood career.

Kurek in Hollywood

Kurek Ashley has acted in Hollywood movies alongside many interesting actors. Some movies he’s been in are: Delta Force II (Chuck Norris), Two of a kind (Travolta), Airheads (Adam Sandler, Brendan Fraser), Terminal Velocity (Charlie Sheen), Lock Up (Stallone) and more… You can find out more about his ordeal during the Delta Force movie in the Philippines from the book or further into his video interview.

A Life In Balance

Here’s part 4 of the Peak Performance interview with Kurek Ashley.

If you missed the first 3 parts of the Peak Performance interview, here they are:

Kurek Ashley - part 1
Successful Habits - part 2
Be Do Have - part 3

Have a most outstanding day

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Kurek Ashley. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.