Happy Monday everyone!
I read a really inspiring section from Napoleon Hill's - Unlimited Success Book (which I highly recommend!). It was only a quick read, but it gave me a timely reminder of how I want to conduct myself. I thought I would share it with you all because there might be one or two of you that could also benefit from the reminder like I have.....
Napoleon Hill was fortunate enough to work with some tremendous human beings, and he states that Thomas Edison intrigued him more than any.
He said "Edison was far and away the calmest man I have ever known. He had no frustration. He had no fears. He had no regrets about anything or anyone. He had no grandiose ideas of his own importance, but he did have humility of heart, which made him truly great."
Edison was famous for failing 10,000 times before perfecting the incandescent lamp. Hill asked Edison what he would have done if he had not uncovered the secret to it. Edison replied with a merry twinkle in his eye "I would be in my laboratory working now, instead of wasting my time talking to you." (Napoleon Hill must have missed the big 'LOL' or 'smiley face' at the end of that sentence).
Hill explains that Edison knew no such reality as 'failure'. Hill went on to conduct surveys on the staying power of men and women. He states that "The majority of people I polled quit trying when overtaken one time by defeat. A very small percentage of them kept on trying a second time. But by far the greatest number quit even before meeting with defeat because they expected it, quitting before they really started. Needless to say, there were no Fords or Edisons in this group."
When are you quitting? Are you able to move from before even starting to trying twice or can you empower yourself to go from failing twice to 10,000 times like Edison?
Through these observations, Hill was able distinguish two important factors that impacted whether a person was successful or not. The successes speak in the future tense of yet unattained objectives which they intend to achieve. The failures speak in the past tense of their defeats and disappointments. "I have never known the rule to fail."
I can personally fall into both of these camps. I WILL keep the 'successful' talk in my future posts and language in everyday life! :-) (can you see what I did there?) How about you?
There was another trait he witnessed time and time again. The successful person usually speaks in complimentary terms of others who are succeeding. "Envy and revenge are very ugly words. More ugly still is the character of the person who indulges in these emotions. They represent emotions against which the doors of your mind must be tightly closed if you are to enjoy peace of mind."
He then goes on to say "If you have been injured by someone, you are face to face wit an opportunity to learn whether or not you have within you the makings of greatness. If you have such potential, you will forgive and close the door on the incident. If you do not have the foundation for greatness, you will find ways to strike back at the person who hurt you."
What a great reminder! I felt a little bit like this at work recently when a member of my team let me down. I felt like striking back (thankfully I didn't). I took the 'successful route' that time, and this article has reminded me the importance of keeping to that, no matter what happens.
He continues......
"If you choose the latter course, you will be the most unfortunate of the two, for truly any person who expresses any form of revenge is unfortunate. Revenge is like a boomerang, it often comes back to wound the person who sets it in motion. No one can make you angry or hurt your feelings in any manner whatsoever without your willing cooperation. Your state of mind is something you can control completely. No one can control the actions of others or the many circumstances of life which tend to make one angry, but you can control your reactions to these actions and circumstances. Learn to close the door of your mind and shut out negative reactions if you wish to find peace of mind and prosperity."
A very healthy reminder indeed. There are times when I question whether or not it's worth it (with regards to becoming FI). Do I really want to put all of my bonus money in an account, when I could spend a chuck of it instead? But then I remind myself why I'm doing all of this..... for the greater good, the end goal. Before long, I benefit from the dividend payments I invested in and then I realise I gave myself a much better gift than I could have bought from any shop. It's the gift that keeps on giving every year, and it will eventually give me the ultimate gift...... TIME.
I WILL also challenge my thought patterns when I'm faced with someone hurting me. I WILL chose to succeed instead of fail. It's my decision to make, and I know from doing both, how good the successful route feels over taking revenge. No-one can make me angry or sad. I have complete control.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did. Let me know your thoughts!
Labels: Personal Development
