Sean Rasmussen

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 is the question Hill poses, and goes on to explain that education is not the determining factor in successful wealth creation.

What is education, anyway? …

“As far as schooling is concerned, many of these men had very little. John Wanamaker once told me that what little schooling he had, he acquired in very much the same manner as a modern locomotive takes on water, by “scooping it up as it runs.” Henry Ford never reached high school, let alone college. I am not attempting to minimize the value of schooling, but I am trying to express my earnest belief that those who master and apply the secret will reach high stations, accumulate riches, and bargain with life on their own terms, even if their schooling has been meager.”

I told you before this theme would be recurring, and it will again after this.

Education Plays A Minor Role

As Napoleon Hill says, no one is arguing that education is useless, but education alone is not enough to build wealth. You must also know the important elements to successful wealth creation, those that are not taught in school. Like Napoleon Hill, we reiterate this point at Universal Wealth Creation and throughout our materials because we know that anyone has the ability to get rich and live better, and we know that you were not given the most effective education for wealth creation at school or college. And that is exactly why books like Think And Grow Rich or Mindset Mastery can be such a help to people. They have the ability to make you realize and discover the information you do need in order to find wealth and success.

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

As further proof of the absolute importance of utilizing this secret to build wealth, Napoleon Hill offers this qualification. (Note that the names Hill refers to here are those listed in his original preface, which were discussed in the last blog entry.)

“These names represent but a small fraction of the hundreds of well known Americans whose achievements, financially and otherwise, prove that those who understand and apply the Andrew Carnegie secret, reach high stations in life. I have never known anyone who was inspired to use the secret, who did not achieve noteworthy success in his chosen calling. I have never known any person to distinguish himself, or to accumulate riches of any consequence, without possession of the secret. From these two facts I draw the conclusion that the secret is more important, as a part of the knowledge essential for self-determination, than any which one receives through what is popularly known as ‘education.’”

The Secret Path Of Success

What does this mean for you on your path to successful wealth creation? It means that if you do not have what it takes, which is in this book called ‘the secret‘, then you cannot build wealth. This does not mean you cannot create wealth if you have not yet managed to do so, it means you have to take steps to figure out what that secret missing element is. Hill has provided you with this information, and we present it for your success here.
It also means that wealth creation is dependent only on this one basic necessity, and that regardless of education or life-station, you can become rich if you educate yourself and learn that one essential factor.

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 will definitely not be the last time this subject is undertaken in this book, but for anyone doubting that they have the ability to create wealth because of a lack of formal education or college, this passage from Napoleon Hill’s forward will keep you reading. For those of you with education in excess, take heart that utilizing the secret to building wealth should be all the easier for you.

The Secret

“The secret serves equally well, all who are ready for it. Education has nothing to do with it. Long before I was born, the secret had found its way into the possession of Thomas A. Edison, and he used it so intelligently that he became the world’s leading inventor, although he had but three months of schooling.

“The secret was passed on to a business associate of Thomas Edison. He used it so effectively that, although he was then making only $12,000 a year, he accumulated a great fortune, and retired from active business while still a young man. You will find his story at the beginning of the first chapter. It should convince you that riches are not beyond your reach, that you can still be what you wish to be, that money, fame, recognition and happiness can be had by all who are ready and determined to have these blessings.”

No Education Doesn’t Mean Failure

This fact parallels what we teach at Universal Wealth Creation; your past educational experience does not predispose you to a life of poverty. All you have to do to build wealth of your own is to gain access now to the tools you need, and implement what you learn about investing and wealth creation to live better, richer, and freer. Past education is likely a moot point, anyway, because so much of what we learn in school and college is mis-directed; you just don’t learn in school the ways to create wealth that we teach here.

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

There are some basic things worth knowing about the secret to wealth creation, as Napoleon Hill discovered. He talks about the secret and its universal availability to all people in his original forward.

“A peculiar thing about this secret is that those who once acquire it and use it find themselves literally swept on to success, with but little effort, and they never again submit to failure! If you doubt this, study the names of those who have used it, wherever they have been mentioned, check their records for yourself, and be convinced. “There is no such thing as something for nothing! “The secret to which I refer cannot be had without a price, although the price is far less than its value. It cannot be had at any price by those who are not intentionally searching for it. It cannot be given away, it cannot be purchased for money, for the reason that it comes in two parts. One part is already in possession of those who are ready for it.”

Wealth Creation Secret

Hill is basically saying two things here:

1) the secret to wealth creation is not overly complicated, and is within the reach of anybody, regardless of wealth, handicap, education, or location,

and

2) obtaining and utilizing the secret requires effort on the part of the seeker; you won’t get rich sitting by waiting for an opportunity to come your way, you have to take an active role in your own wealth creation.

Hill doesn’t present this to scare away the reader—exactly the opposite; he puts this informational tidbit upfront so that you can prepare yourself for some worthwhile effort, but also realize that wealth is certainly within your reach.

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