As children so often do, Hill’s son taught him in more ways than he could have imagined. Much of what he learned was the true success of building a strong plan of action and goals, and seeing it through regardless.
It’s All In Your Personal Perception
“His mother saw, in his first business venture, a little deaf boy who had gone out in the streets and risked his life to earn money. I saw a brave, ambitious, self-reliant little business man whose stock in himself had been increased a hundred percent, because he had gone into business on his own initiative, and had won. The transaction pleased me, because I knew that he had given evidence of a trait of resourcefulness that would go with him all through life. Later events proved this to be true. When his older brother wanted something, he would lie down on the floor, kick his feet in the air, cry for it—and get it. When the “little deaf boy” wanted something, he would plan a way to earn the money, then buy it for himself. He still follows that plan!
Lessons To Learn
“Truly, my own son has taught me that handicaps can be converted into stepping stones on which one may climb toward some worthy goal, unless they are accepted as obstacles, and used as alibis.
“The little deaf boy went through the grades, high school, and college without being able to hear his teachers, excepting when they shouted loudly, at close range. He did not go to a school for the deaf.
“We would not permit him to learn the sign language. We were determined that he should live a normal life, and associate with normal children, and we stood by that decision, although it cost us many heated debates with school officials.
Trial, Error, And Success
“While he was in high school, he tried an electrical hearing aid, but it was of no value to him; due, we believed, to a condition that was disclosed when the child was six, by Dr. J. Gordon Wilson, of Chicago, when he operated on one side of the boy’s head, and discovered that there was no sign of natural hearing equipment.
“During his last week in college, (eighteen years after the operation), something happened which marked the most important turning-point of his life. Through what seemed to be mere chance, he came into possession of another electrical hearing device, which was sent to him on trial. He was slow about testing it, due to his disappointment with a similar device. Finally he picked the instrument up, and more or less carelessly, placed it on his head, hooked up the battery, and lo! as if by a stroke of magic, his lifelong desire for normal hearing became a reality! For the first time in his life he heard practically as well as any person with normal hearing. “God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.”
A Treasure Trove Of Life Lessons
There are many things that you can take away from this part of the story. You could take away that knowing your mind and following it through, despite odds and reason, is the path to success; you could take away that you will not always understand the why of what happens, but that the end result will justify your desire and determination; you could take away that sometimes the answer lies in a tried and dismissed course of action. Hopefully, you see that all of these things are true, and more, and begin to look for ways to incorporate these lessons into your own personal plan for success.
And here’s to it! To your continued life success!
Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 – 2008
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I wonder in amazement at what that boy must have gone through and then to see him get his hearing what a wonderful thing for him, it just goes to show do not give up and try everything when it is to you.
It’s puzzling to imagine how this young man wore a hearing aid without any ear lobes to hold the device onto his head or an ear canal for the rest of the apparatus. I bet he was greatful he never had to wear glasses.
Hi Sean,
I think it’s really interesting that success came the last time he tried, when he was not going to really give the new device a try. I wonder what would have happened if he had given up without making one last try?
It just goes to show that you need to keep trying until you have the thing you desire. We need to be really clear about what we desire and never give up going for it. Ever.
Hi Sean,
I find it really amazing that Napoleon Hill’s son nearly gave up too soon. How different would his life have been if he had not tried that last device; the one that transformed his world?
It just goes to show that you must keep the desire going and never give up on your dreams. Success may just be the next thing you try.
“handicaps can be converted into stepping stones on which one may climb toward some worthy goal, unless they are accepted as obstacles, and used as alibis.”
That should be taught to each and every one of us at school. Something is an obstacle because we declared it to be one. Not because that is a fact. It’s just a perception. The next person will take exactly this “obstacle” as the stepping stone to success.
I need to find more stepping stones!!!
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