Sean Rasmussen

Skeptical as humans tend to be, we often need to see the reason behind a belief before we can commit ourselves to the possibility of it. Leaving no stone unturned, Napoleon Hill gives us the reason he believed so strongly in the clues to success that he found.

The Power Of Faith And Desire

The reason Hill believed so strongly in the power of desire backed by faith was that he had seen this power lift people from very low beginnings to places of power and wealth; he saw it stave off what seemed as inevitable death; he saw it serve as the medium used by men to stage comebacks after being defeated in a hundred different ways; and he saw it give his own son a normal, happy, successful life, despite Nature’s having sent him into the world without ears. And every one of us who looks can see the same evidences in the lives of people all around us, both the rich and famous, and the lesser-known, yet highly successful in and around our own towns and cities.

Harnessing Desire

But how can a person harness and use the power of desire? This question has been answered in this chapter and in the subsequent chapters of this book. This message originally went out at the end of the longest and most devastating depression America and the world had ever known, and still, provided the essential elements of wealth creation to all of its readers. Yet the principles detailed in this book are equally as applicable to our lives today; there is no doubt that it will be read by many skeptics who have been quite beaten down by the stresses of modern living in the technology age, but the fact remains that those who can find and plan for the myriad of opportunities around them will also understand the truth behind what Hill has to say–that all achievement, no matter what its nature or purpose, must begin with an intense, burning desire for something definite.

Chemical Impulses

Through some strange and powerful principle of “mental chemistry” which still remains elusive despite all we know about the human brain and its inner workings, Nature wraps up in the impulse of strong desire “that something” which recognizes no such word as impossible, and accepts no such reality as failure.

Accept No Impossibility

Wealth and success are not impossible for you. Of all the impossibilities that have been disproven, that is one that should not even appear on the list—for the simple reason that it is so far from being an impossibility. Wealth and success can be yours, and they will be if you truly desire them to be, and maintain the faith that they can be.

Develop the desire, keep the faith, and enjoy the successful rewards of that ongoing commitment to you!

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2009

By chance, Napoleon Hill’s son came to a device that instantaneously allowed him to hear—despite the fact that he lacked the physical aperture, and no device prior had given him any assistance. It was seemingly a chance of fate, but Hill attributes it to one thing—his burning desire, which he transposed onto his son, for his son to hear and be “normal.”

Chance Changes The World

“Overjoyed because of the Changed World which had been brought to him through his hearing device, he rushed to the telephone, called his mother, and heard her voice perfectly. The next day he plainly heard the voices of his professors in class, for the first time in his life! Previously he could hear them only when they shouted, at short range. He heard the radio. He heard the talking pictures. For the first time in his life, he could converse freely with other people, without the necessity of their having to speak loudly. Truly, he had come into possession of a Changed World. We had refused to accept Nature’s error, and, by persistent desire, we had induced Nature to correct that error, through the only practical means available.

Where Desire Pays Off

“Desire had commenced to pay dividends, but the victory was not yet complete. The boy still had to find a definite and practical way to convert his handicap into an equivalent asset.

“Hardly realizing the significance of what had already been accomplished, but intoxicated with the joy of his newly discovered world of sound, he wrote a letter to the manufacturer of the hearing-aid, enthusiastically describing his experience. Something in his letter; something, perhaps which was not written on the lines, but back of them; caused the company to invite him to New York. When he arrived, he was escorted through the factory, and while talking with the Chief Engineer, telling him about his changed world, a hunch, an idea, or an inspiration—call it what you wish—flashed into his mind. It was this impulse of thought which converted his affliction into an asset, destined to pay dividends in both money and happiness to thousands for all time to come.”

An Impulse Of Success

As you’ll see later as we continue the story, this impulse of thought is a factor which bears heavily on the dividends this desire ultimately pays. We’ve talked bout this concept around my blogs in various incarnations, such as intrinsic motivation. It’s a form of capital we all have, probably on at least a daily basis, and one that can return in some very big ways for those who learn to seize upon it.

Carpe diem! To Your continued Success!

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

Enough suspense. Let’s find out what Napoleon Hill’s unlikely source of hope was.

Music Makes Miracles

“We bought a victrola. When the child heard the music for the first time, he went into ecstasies, and promptly appropriated the machine. He soon showed a preference for certain records, among them, “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.” On one occasion, he played that piece over and over, for almost two hours, standing in front of the victrola, with his teeth clamped on the edge of the case. The significance of this self-formed habit of his did not become clear to us until years afterward, for we had never heard of the principle of “bone conduction” of sound at that time.

“Shortly after he appropriated the victrola, I discovered that he could hear me quite clearly when I spoke with my lips touching his mastoid bone, or at the base of the brain. These discoveries placed in my possession the necessary media by which I began to translate into reality my burning desire to help my son develop hearing and speech. By that time he was making stabs at speaking certain words. The outlook was far from encouraging, but desire backed by faith knows no such word as impossible.

Transferred Desire

“Having determined that he could hear the sound of my voice plainly, I began, immediately, to transfer to his mind the desire to hear and speak. I soon discovered that the child enjoyed bedtime stories, so I went to work, creating stories designed to develop in him self-reliance, imagination, and a keen desire to hear and to be normal.

“There was one story in particular, which I emphasized by giving it some new and dramatic coloring each time it was told. It was designed to plant in his mind the thought that his affliction was not a liability, but an asset of great value. Despite the fact that all the philosophy I had examined clearly indicated that every adversity brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage, I must confess that I had not the slightest idea how this affliction could ever become an asset. However, I continued my practice of wrapping that philosophy in bedtime stories, hoping the time would come when he would find some plan by which his handicap could be made to serve some useful purpose.

“Reason told me plainly, that there was no adequate compensation for the lack of ears and natural hearing equipment. Desire backed by faith, pushed reason aside, and inspired me to carry on.

Unlikely Odds

Everyone will at one time face a situation in which the odds seem unlikely. Hill and his son are just one example of how unlikely odds can be overcome. As he said before, though, the only limit to achievement and success is your own mindset. Set your mindset to success, back it with a burning desire and the faith that it can happen, and success will follow.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

When last we left Napoleon Hill he was just introducing us to a very important person in his life—his son. As you will recall, Hill’s son was born with no ears, motivating Hill to put the power of burning desire to the test in earnest.

Our Minds Set Our Only Limits

“Many years previously, I had written, “Our only limitations are those we set up in our own minds.” For the first time, I wondered if that statement were true. Lying on the bed in front of me was a newly born child, without the natural equipment of hearing. Even though he might hear and speak, he was obviously disfigured for life. Surely, this was a limitation which that child had not set up in his own mind.

“What could I do about it? Somehow I would find a way to transplant into that child’s mind my own burning desire for ways and means of conveying sound to his brain without the aid of ears.

“As soon as the child was old enough to cooperate, I would fill his mind so completely with a burning desire to hear, that Nature would, by methods of her own, translate it into physical reality.

Setting The Mind To The Goal

“All this thinking took place in my own mind, but I spoke of it to no one. Every day I renewed the pledge I bad made to myself, not to accept a deaf mute for a son.

“As he grew older, and began to take notice of things around him, we observed that he had a slight degree of hearing. When he reached the age when children usually begin talking, he made no attempt to speak, but we could tell by his actions that he could hear certain sounds slightly. That was all I wanted to know! I was convinced that if he could hear, even slightly, he might develop still greater hearing capacity. Then something happened which gave me hope. It came from an entirely unexpected source.

Rays Of Hope

Hill saw in his situation a spark of hope. It may have been an unlikely one, but it was there. If you look hard enough in any given situation, you can find one, too; a spark of hope to kindle a burning desire from. To find out what that spark was you’ll have to come back on Monday. Or again, download the book and read ahead yourself! I’ll be right back here the beginning of next week to continue the story and the lessons learned from it.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

We’re now starting into the second chapter of Hill’s book, the part where he starts to more specifically explore what it takes to be wealthy. In this chapter he illustrates how desire lays the foundation for achievement and wealth. He credits desire as the “Starting Point of All Achievement” and the “First Step toward Riches.”

The First Step Toward Riches

“When Edwin C. Barnes climbed down from the freight train in Orange, N. J., he might have looked like a vagabond, but his thoughts were those of a king!

As he made his way from the railroad tracks to Thomas A. Edison’s office, his mind was at work. He saw himself standing in Edison’s presence. He heard himself asking Mr. Edison for an opportunity to carry out the one consuming obsession of his life, a burning desire to be the business associate of the great inventor.

Barnes’ desire was not a hope! It was not a wish! It was a keen, pulsating desire, which transcended everything else. It was definite.

Building, Burning Desire

The desire was not new when he approached Edison. It had been Barnes’ dominating desire for a long time. In the beginning, when the desire first crossed his mind, it may have been, probably was, just a wish, but it was no simple wish when he presented himself before Edison with it.

A few years later, Edwin C. Barnes stood before Edison again, in the same office where he first met the inventor. This time his desire had become a reality. He was in business with Edison. The dominating dream of his life had become a reality. Later in his life many people who knew Barnes envied him, because of the “break” life yielded him. They saw him in the days following his success, without taking the trouble to investigate the cause of his success.”

Lessons From Barnes

This shows us two things—first, that a definite desire is necessary to succeed and be wealthy, but also secondly that such a desire can be cultivated, and will often grow from just a simple thought or a mere, fleeting wish. We all, however, have it within ourselves to cultivate that wish and grow it into something larger, and more fruitful; a burning desire to succeed.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004-2008