For the next point Napoleon Hill quotes a famous line by the poet Henley; and while the quote itself is quite inspiring, and altogether true, Mr. Hill found it to be just a bit lacking. By taking the idea a step beyond waxing poetic, Hill gives more meaning and direction to us, his readers.
YOU ARE “THE MASTER OF YOUR FATE, THE CAPTAIN OF YOUR
SOUL,” BECAUSE…
When Henley wrote the prophetic lines, “I am the Master of my Fate, I am the Captain of my Soul,” he should have told us why that is true; we are the Masters of our Fate, the Captains of our Souls, because we have the power to control our thoughts.
He should have told us that the universe where our earth resides, where we move, where we live and breathe and be, is a form of constantly moving energy, and that this universe is filled with a form of universal power which adapts itself to the nature of our thoughts; and influences us, in natural ways, over time and circumstance, to turn our thoughts into their physical equivalent.
Captains of our Souls
If the poet had told us this great truth, we would know why it is that we are the Masters of our Fate, the Captains of our Souls. He should have told us, and greatly emphasized, that this power does not distinguish between destructive thoughts and constructive thoughts, that it will just as easily cause us to translate thoughts of poverty into physical reality, as it will influence us to act upon thoughts of wealth.
Masters Of Failure
Napoleon Hill’s clarification does more to shape our thoughts towards wealth and success. It shows that yes, we are in fact our own Masters, but we can be Masters of failure just easily as we can be Masters of success—it’s all in how we harness that ability, and the direction we point our thoughts in.
I will see you back here every Monday and Friday for the continuation of the Mindset Mastery series.
Next time I will talk about Magnetizing Your Mind for success.
Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 – 2008
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Since reading mindset mastery, and following your blogs and posts, then implementing your teaching & wisdom my life has changed dramatically for the better and now I understand just how powerful my thoughts are & how to use them. Also I now know that every individual has the same thought power, the sad part being they will never experience its true power until they open their minds ,accept it exists and learn how to apply it to their lives.
Sean it is through people with the committment you have to helping others acheive their true potential, that more indeviduals may come to change how they use their thoughts , you certainly have done that for me & I want to congratulate & thank you for that.
I want to take what you have taught me and assist you in future to help more ,as I perfect how to get the message across.
hey……life is good….
Allen Sentance
FISHERMAN
Hi Sean,
I strongly believe that what we think and say, we will into existence. One of the best examples I have ever read that illustrates this point is in the Susan Jeffer’s book, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway”.
Susan has a volunteer stand, hold their arms out to the side and clench their fists. Next, Susan has them think positive thoughts, like, “I am a strong and worthy person”. Susan tries to push their arms down and can’t.
Next, Susan has the person repeat the stance but this time she has the volunteer think negative thoughts. This time Susan easily pushes their arms down.
I was amazed at the results when I tried this at home. It really taught me how powerful thoughts can be and how we need to guard our thoughts well.
I really believe that what we think about, we will create in our lives.
I like that line “Master of my fate, Captain of my Soul”.
If you look at sailing as a metaphor you need to know where you want to go and keep it in your sight, no matter what the circumstances. If you do that you will adjust your course to master obstacles like bad weather or land being “in your way”. As long as you are in charge and make the right decisions you will reach your target eventually.
The same is true for our daily life. Our thoughts are great shipmates, but I have to make sure I am in control, take the final decisions and give the commands. Otherwise my thoughts get lazy if the going get’s tough.
Yes, i am the Captain of my Soul – and I plan to stay there
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The quote is from Henley’s poem “Invictus”, which is Latin for (on a quick google search) “unconquerable” or “undefeated”.
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