Napoleon Hill is the author of one of the best selling books of all time Think and Grow Rich. He devised a 4 step process for success after interviewing more than 500 of America’s top leaders including Carnegie, Edison, Ford, Schwab, Rockefeller, Eastman and more. The 4 steps are:
1. A purpose backed by a burning desire for fulfillment.
2. A definite plan expressed in continuous action.
3. A mind closed against all negative & discouraging influences.
4. An alliance with someone who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.
A purpose backed by a burning desire for fulfillment.
It is very important to be clear about what it is that you want AND exactly what achieving it means to you. When you know something is important to you, WHY it’s important AND that it’s instrumental in reaching whatever you desire, then a fuel burns inside you to achieve it. Use that fuel, that burning desire, to drive you forward.
A definite plan expressed in continuous action.
Ideas are nothing without implementation. Your purpose and goals can only become attainable once the steps necessary to achieve them are laid out. Now, sometimes this road will be clear and many others time the road will unfold as you travel. In addition to the actual steps you must take for progress to occur, you also need to think about the skills and traits you must learn and adopt along the way.
A mind closed against all negative & discouraging influences.
Too often we are swayed by what others think; and worse yet, all too often we talk ourselves out of what we are trying to do. We rationalize why we should take the easier road, or settle on heading in a different direction. Those that walk closest to their potential do so without worry, fear, doubt, or hesitation. They know, burning deep within them, exactly what it is that they are driving towards.
An alliance with someone who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.
The final step is to have an alliance with someone who will hold you accountable to follow through with both plan and purpose. It’s extremely easy to let yourself off the hook. Find someone who understands what you’re trying to achieve and what it means to you – whether this is a coach, friend, colleague, or otherwise – and ask them to hold you accountable, to push you, to challenge you, to pick you up, to see forward when you are blinded, to remind you of your motivations, to give you a simple breather, and to help you keep focus. This is the fourth and final step because it’s absolutely required to keep you true to both your plan and purpose.
