The Power of Positive Thinking.

All you are or ever shall become is a result of the use to which you put your mind.

Napoleon Hill

In a recent issue, we discussed one of the great proponents of positive thinking, Napoleon Hill. We recently obtained a revised and updated copy of his classic, The Law Of Success, which was first published in 1927 after many years of interviewing the most successful men of his day. In that edition, testimonials were provided by such notables as Woodrow Wilson, F.W. Woolworth, George Eastman, William Wrigley, Jr., and Thomas Edison.

William H. Taft, former U.S. President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, wrote as follows:

“It would be helpful if every politician in the country would assimilate and apply the 15 principles [later expanded to 17] upon which the Law of Success is based. It contains some very fine material which every leader in every walk of life should understand.”

In The Law Of Success, Hill evaluates some of the great success stories of history and some of the great failures, as set forth below. What is immediately striking is the high scoring in the 17 Laws for people like Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Henry Ford, and the poor scoring for Napoleon Bonaparte and Jesse James.

As Hill writes:

“A grade of zero in any one of the Laws of Success is sufficient to cause failure, no matter how high any other grade may be.”

As a case in point, Napoleon had 2 zeroes and Jesse James had 7.

We list below the 17 Laws developed by Napoleon Hill:

You must watch for every opportunity to apply and empower the law of the Master Mind. [You can do it if you believe you can!]

Before you can have power you must have a Definite Chief Aim—a definite purpose.

You must have Self-Confidence with which to back up your purpose.

You must have Initiative and Leadership with which to exercise your Self-Confidence.

You must acquire the Habit of Saving.

You must have Imagination in creating your definite purpose and in building the plans with which to transform that purpose into reality and put your plans into action.

You must mix Enthusiasm with your action or it will be bland and weak.

You must exercise Self-Control.

You must form the Habit of Doing More Than Paid For.

You must cultivate a Pleasing Personality.

You must use Accurate Thinking, remembering, as you develop this quality, that accurate thought is based upon facts and not upon hearsay evidence or mere information.

You must form the habit of Concentration by giving your undivided attention to but one task at a time.

You must acquire the habit of Cooperation and practice it in all your plans.

You must Profit by Failure, your own and that of others.

You must cultivate the habit of Tolerance.

You must make the Golden Rule the foundation of all you do that affects other people.

You must make use of the Universal Law of Cosmic Habitforce, through which all of these principles can be applied to transform not only your thoughts but also your habits. [Cosmic Habitforce is the greatest of all natural laws…Essentially, you want to place yourself in harmony with the unseen forces of the universe so they may aid you in the formation of the kind of habits that would carry you from where you are to where you wish to be in life.]

Notice that all the successful figures grade 100% on A Definite Chief Aim. As regards the failures, it is interesting to observe where they attained a zero. This is why they failed.