Napoleon Hill taught wealth creation in a way that is not unlike the Law of Attraction. He taught that in order to ‘Think and Grow Rich’, you must cultivate the mind to be a fertile field that is capable of sustaining wealth. That requires cultivating thoughts of success, money, and wealth; if you cultivate the opposite of these things, that is precisely what you will attract to you.
Continuous Consciousness
Your subconscious mind works continuously, while you are awake, and while you are asleep. Spasmodic or occasional effort to apply the rules will be of no value to you. To get results, you must apply all of the rules until their application becomes a fixed habit with you. In no other way can you develop the necessary “money consciousness.”
Prepare Your Mind For Wealth
Poverty is attracted to the one whose mind is favorable to it, as money is attracted to those whose minds have been deliberately prepared to attract it, and through the same laws. Poverty consciousness will voluntarily seize the mind that is not occupies with money consciousness.
A poverty consciousness develops without conscious application of habits favorable to it. The money consciousness must be created to order, unless one is born with such a consciousness.
Catch the full significance of the statements in the preceding paragraph, and you will understand the importance of persistence in wealth creation. Without persistence, you will be defeated, even before you start. With persistence you will win.
The Value Of Persistence
If you have ever had a nightmare, you will realize the value of persistence. You are lying in bed, half awake, with a feeling that you are about to smother. You are unable to turn over, or to move a muscle. You realize that you must begin to regain control over your muscles. Through persistent effort of will-power, you finally manage to move the fingers of one hand. By continuing to move your fingers, you extend your control to the muscles of one arm, until you can lift it. Then you gain control of the other arm in the same manner. You finally gain control over the muscles of one leg, and then extend it to the other leg. Then—with one supreme effort of will–you regain complete control over your muscular system, and “snap” out of your nightmare. The trick has been turned step by step.
You might find it necessary to “snap” out of your mental inertia, through a similar procedure, moving slowly at first, then increasing your speed, until you gain complete control over your will. Be persistent no matter how slowly you may, at first, have to move.
Persistence Equals Success
With persistence will come success.
If you select your “Master Mind” group with care, you will have in it at least one person who will aid you in the development of persistence. Some men who have accumulated great fortunes did so because of necessity. They developed the habit of persistence because they were so closely driven by circumstances that they had to become persistent.
There is no substitute for persistence! It cannot be replaced any other quality! Remember this, and it will give you heart, in the beginning, when the going may seem difficult and slow.
Working For It
Napoleon Hill is not promising that developing this infallible persistence will be simple or happen overnight, but you are certainly capable of cultivating this crop. It takes some work to be sure, but it is a reward definitely worth having; it is the key to your success in creating wealth, and in every other thing you set out to do!
Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
Aussie Internet Marketer © 2004 – 2010
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
As soon as I figured out what it is I wanted to do I worked everyday at doing it. When people enjoy what I write I get a renewed sense of purpose and work even harder the next day. I know this will all come together and I’ll be the exception to the “poor writer” rule.
.-= Sarah Butland´s last blog ..Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill =-.
G’day Sean,
Thanks for this very important reminder about the importance of being persistent. If I may quote you from one of your blogs, ” LIFE sometimes gets in the way of our progress ” [ Approximate Quote, but you get the message, I'm sure ]
Rather than sit down and get stuck into IM, for example, it’s very easy to be sidetracked to do another task and before I know it TOO MUCH time has been wasted, and several hours have evaporated into nothingness [ is that a real word ? ] On reflection, the task to which I was distracted was of little value, and so my IM progress is reduced. BUGGER !!! Then I kick myself for a couple of days and get stuck into the work I both want, and need, to do for a while, and then the distraction syndrome
re-appears. It’s a vicious cycle to be sure, but I’m slowly getting the PERSISTENCE gene working better and better. So special thanks for this reminder. See you on the Thursday night webinar.
Here is one of the most famous quotations on persistence from the 30th President of the USA, Calvin Coolidge :-
PERSISTENCE
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence,
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent,
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb,
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts,
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent,
The slogan ” Press On ” has solved and always will solve, the problems of the human race
Cheers
Harry
.-= Harry Lynn´s last blog ..BORING LEGAL ADVICE – until you need it ! =-.
PS to the above.
As well as persistence I’ve been working on EFFICIENT ACTION as well. Knowing the best use of one’s time is crucial !!!!!!!!!!
Cheers
Harry
.-= Harry Lynn´s last blog ..BORING LEGAL ADVICE – until you need it ! =-.
I was just tweeting this as I was gathering my thoughts for a comment, when I noticed a quote had popped up:
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life ~ Confucius”
Given the inspiration of your post, and Harry’s quote, I’m thinking the synchronicity of the two are pertinent. When we get past the “have to’s”, and turn them into “want to’s”, the persistence ceases to be a labour and becomes the fuel for the pursuit.
.-= Jo Carey-Bradshaw´s last blog ..Empowering Mindset – Imagination =-.
I absolutely agree. The tricky thing is very often to develop the persistence to follow your dream and do your “want’s” despite all the sceptics and nay-sayers around you. How many people do something because they have been convinced that this is safer and necessary and that, once they have saved enough, they might be able to follow their wants. Which tends to be at the end of your life.
So – I salute everybody who has the persistence to follow their dream and show the others that its possible.
.-= Renee´s last blog ..10 Good Habits Worth Having =-.
Hi Sean,
Persistence is an integral part of becoming successful. I think this is because there will always be obstacles and challenges in our way. I prefer to think that the universe puts these things in our way to see if we are worthy of the dream.
I love the part where you talk about how our subconscious mind is working continuously. We must persist and learn the rules and apply them until they become a habit. This is the only way we will get the results we desire.
I must have heard you yesterday because I wrote something very similar. I was writing about how having a successful mindset most of the time wasn’t good enough. I needed to make this a way of life if I truly intend to be successful. Amazing!
Reminds me of the quote: “I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.” (George Patton). That’s fast becoming my favourite quote of 2010.
Persistence and one eyed determination can move mountains. It’s a shame to see so many people give up after only a few tries.
.-= David Moloney´s last blog ..Small Business Outsourcing Saved Me $5,000 and My Sanity =-.
Hi David,
I love that quote. It’s going to be my new favourite quote too. The ability to hang in there long after everyone else has packed up and gone home has always served me well.
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Finding Your Passion =-.
What do I think persistence is? the sheer determination to accomplish what I set out to do not letting anything to get in the way
So to prepare your mind for wealth and our overall money consciousness, do affirmations come to form any part of it?
I have read many times that people believe in the power of affirmations and actually use it as a form of preparing for success, money, happiness, etc.
I am ready for wealth
I am a money magnet
I am ready to receive all the wealth that I have taken action and progression on
.-= Cemil´s last blog ..Building a Success Mindset =-.
Hi Sean,
I’m finding these lessons on persistence are arriving just at the right time. I need to have this information embedded in my consciousness so that persistence becomes habit for me and that it’s an important characteristic I have developed as part of my nature.
I know what I want and I will persist until I have achieved it.
.-= Jill Brown´s last blog ..Common Law Marriage – What is Common Law Marriage? =-.
Habitual consciousness – being conscious of your thoughts all the time.
It’s amazing how much our thoughts are a reflection of people around us tell us. We believe so often what we are told that we believe it wholeheartedly, even if it doesn’t make sense to our soul.
That is why keeping some of your thoughts to yourself is a good idea as others have less chance then to pull them down. Build the habit of believing in yourself, then when some-else doesn’t, it won’t matter, because you will!
Cath