At present, I am working my way through The Laws of Success in 16 Lessons by Napoleon Hill. Today I read lesson three on the subject of self-confidence and I really enjoyed it. Hill’s style is a little indirect at times – something which he acknowledged in lesson two – but the lesson contained a few interesting stories so, I actually enjoyed the diversion.
There were two particularly interesting sections that I would like to bring to your attention from this lesson. The first, he calls a ‘creed’ which is, of course, a statement of beliefs. When I read the following paragraph, it stopped me in my tracks because it reminded me of something Stephen Covey says in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In discussing habit #1 (Be Proactive), he suggests coming up with your own statement of beliefs before thinking about your mission, or purpose statement.
Here is the paragraph, taken from lesson three:
One of the most successful men in his line in America gives entire credit for his success to his wife. When they were first married she wrote a creed which he signed and placed over his desk.
It is something I always suggest in my management workshops. Many organisations go about the business of producing their mission statements without reference to the principles for which they fundamentally stand; and this is the wrong way to do things. It causes the creation of clever little statements that have little true meaning and with which the individuals within the organisation have no real connection.
By contrast, the best mission statements have the following characteristics:
- They are Forward-Looking
- They are a True Statement of Intent
- They are Inspiring
- They are Memorable
The way to construct such a statement is to first work upon your own statement of values that nails what it is that you fundamentally stand for; and you can do this from a personal or an organisational perspective.
Here is the creed statement that the above paragraph refers to, as it appears in the book:
I believe in myself. I believe in those who work with me. I believe in my employer. I believe in my friends. I believe in my family
I believe that God will lend me everything I need with which to succeed if I do my best to earn it through faithful and honest service.
I believe in prayer and I will never close my eyes in sleep without praying for divine guidance to the end that I will be patient with other people and tolerant with those who do not believe as I do.
I believe that success is the result of intelligent effort and does not depend upon luck or sharp practices or double-crossing friends, fellow men or my employer.
I believe I will get out of life exactly what I put into it, therefore I will be careful to conduct myself toward others as I would want them to act toward me.
I will not slander those whom I do not like. I will not slight my work no matter what I may see others doing. I will render the best service of which I am capable because I have pledged myself to succeed in life and I know that success is always the result of conscientious and efficient effort.
Finally, I will forgive those who offend me because I realize that I shall sometimes offend others and I will need their forgiveness.
Now, if I were still working and still had my own office, I would certainly consider putting that statement in a frame above my desk, not as an announcement but as a reminder of the kind of person I am working towards becoming. However, I do think that, as powerful a statement as the foregoing undoubtedly is, it is probably even more effective to do what Covey suggests i.e. coming up with your own personal statement of values.
OK, now, here is the second section that stopped me in my tracks. It appears as a ‘Self Confidence Formula’. I am not sure I would have called it that because, for me, it is much more than a formula for developing self-confidence:
First: I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my definite purpose, therefore I demand of myself persistent, aggressive and continuous action toward its attainment.
Second: I realize that the dominating thoughts of my mind eventually reproduce themselves in outward, bodily action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality, therefore I will concentrate my mind for thirty minutes daily upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to be, by creating a mental picture of this person; and then transforming that picture into reality through practical service.
Third: I know that through the principle of Autosuggestion, any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of realizing it, therefore I shall devote ten minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of the factors named in the sixteen lessons of this Reading Course on the Law of Success.
Fourth: I have clearly mapped out and written down a description of my definite purpose in life, for the coming five years. I have set a price on my services for each of these five years; a price that I intend to earn and receive, through strict application of the principle of efficient, satisfactory service which I will render in advance.
Fifth: I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure unless built upon truth and justice, therefore I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to me the forces I wish to use, and the co-operation of other people. I will induce others to serve me because I will first serve them. I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness and cynicism by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me because I will believe in them and in myself.
I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory and repeat it aloud once a day with full faith that it will gradually influence my entire life so that I will become a successful and happy worker in my chosen field of endeavor.
As you can see, the above is indeed much more that a formula for self-confidence; it is a formula for success in life. With respect to point 2, I think it ties in very nicely with the idea of writing out your own personal creed and reciting it daily. Point 4 ties in well with his previous lesson on developing a major definite purpose. Point 5 ties in very well with what Wallace D Wattles says in his book The Science of Getting Rich.
In closing, I think it is important to make the point that whilst you may not like the language that Hill has chosen to express his formula for success or the language of the personal creed above, the principles are solid. So here is a brief restatement of the above principles in different language.
Develop your own personal statement of values that nails what you fundamentally stand for and read it daily. From that, distill your mission and encapsulate it in a brief, meaningful statement. Figure out what you will render in service in return for the reward you will reap. Deal with everyone fairly and commit yourself to staying in motion, constantly moving toward your goal until you achieve success.
What an incredibly prescient post! If a person could learn only ONE thing in life, this post contains everything they would really need to know. It’s fundamentally a blueprint for the foundation of a successful LIFE, and not just a successful business enterprise – an elaboration on the “Golden Rule.”
Unfortunately many people these days seem to have developed the belief that, in order to be successful in life, they have to claw, scrap, fight, and push others out of their way to achieve their own desires. In short, they believe that in order to “win” in life, someone else necessarily has to LOSE.
However, anyone who makes a conscious effort and a steadfast COMMITMENT (this is where most people blow it) to follow this “blueprint” faithfully, will come to discover that their life will be filled with many situations where a particular action can indeed result in a “win” for all parties concerned!
(An aside: It’s really too bad that Charlie Sheen – the American TV actor who’s drawn a great deal of attention to himself recently because of his ego-centric views of the universe and his place in it – doesn’t understand this simple, yet powerful concept.)
I’ve been a reader of Mr. Hill’s works for many years now, and it makes me proud to share his surname (even though I’m not directly related to him, as far as I know).
Hi Don
Yes – The Laws of Success in 16 Lessons is quite an amazing book in many respects. Many of today’s personal development gurus got their basic ideas from Napoleon Hill. As you say, it is not necessary to compete (claw, scrap, fight, push) in order to succeed; there are very many win-win solutions that can be worked out in which people get to work together for mutual benefit. Unfortunately, as you also point out, many people have not yet managed to work on themselves to ditch the “scarcity mentality” in favour of the “abundance mentality”.
Will