âYou can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.â
Dale Carnegie
The two most defining self-help books of the last century are, arguably, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Remarkably, they were released within one year of each other: Carnegieâs in 1936 and Hillâs in 1937. Both dominate âbest bookâ lists and continue to forge lasting legacies around the world, guiding innovators and changemakers from generation to generation.
These two books reinforce the timeless principles of success, complementing each other with practical tips and strategies that can be applied by anyone, irrespective of circumstances, such as:
Carnegie understood, better than most, how powerful the knowledge of high performers strategies can be in oneâs own self-development. Through thousands of hours of purposeful practice, he became a revered orator and began teaching others how they could learn people skills that would create enormous success in business. His lessons catapulted aimless but ambitious people into titans of industry.
Two crucial components of his philosophy were that:
Many of those I interviewed for Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy noted that Carnegieâs book was the other guiding blueprint in their life. Even legendary investor Warren Buffett once stated:
âIn my office, you will not see the degree I have from the University of Nebraska, or the masterâs degree I have from Columbia University, but youâll see the certificate I got from the Dale Carnegie course.â
Despite passing away in 1955, Dale Carnegie is regarded as one of the worldâs foremost authorities on personal development, leadership and communication. On 24 November, Carnegie wouldâve been 130 years oldâyou can enjoy some of his most famous quotes below.
May his legacy live on through the ongoing pursuit of our potential and thinking the best of others.
Onwards and upwards always,
James W.
In case you missed it: âThe Greatest Lessons and Best Quotes from Napoleon Hill.â
âFailure is not trying.â
Sara Blakely
Simply continuing is one of the surest paths to success, just as quitting is one of the surest paths to permanent defeat. Winners look for any reason to advance and in doing so bring themselves ever closer to glory.
An excerpt from the ethos of one of the worldâs preeminent special forces teams, the US Navy SEALs, embodies the principle of persistence:
âIf knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.â
On the battlefieldâwhere stakes are highestâwell-constructed plans are carried out by people obsessed with mission success and who refuse to give in, no matter what circumstances arise. There are no valid excuses for permanent defeat, and the best performing individuals on the planet embody this to perfection. Enter Sara Blakely.
Before she became the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world, the fashion icon was accustomed to failure. One of her early jobs was playing a Chipmunk character at Disney World, but she threw in the towel after three months. âPerhaps I should be a lawyer like my father,â she thought, but failed the LSATâtwice. Blakely then started selling fax machines during the day, while performing standup comedy shows at night.
Two years in, she abandoned the comedy routine, but persisted with the sales job. Selling fax machines for seven yearsâand dealing with rejection on a daily basisâproved an uncanny battleground for what would happen later in her career, not that she could ever have imagined what was possible. As Steve Jobs says, âYou can only connect the dots looking back.â
One day, on a whim, Blakely cut the feet off a regular pair of pantyhose to provide some respite from the unbearable heat and humidity of a Florida summer. Looking to buy a professional version, she explored the market and found that nothing like she wanted existed. Instead, she decided to do it herself. Blakely began researching fabrics and designing products herself, coming up with the cheeky business name Spanks (now Spanx). Her slogan: Donât worry, weâve got your butt covered.
Without any background in fashion, manufacturing or business, aside from selling telecommunications equipment, Blakely burned the ships and went all-in to bring her dream to life. Starting an entire business from scratch meant there was a lot that needed to be done, with the most pressing task being tracking down a manufacturer who could turn the prototype of her unique shapewear garment into something for the mass market.
Through her research, the 29-year-old realized that the bulk of hosiery mills in the US are in North Carolina. She called and called and called, but was rejected time and time again, often not even being able to get the right person at the company on the phone. Dejected but not beaten, she persisted. Blakely decided to take a week off from her full-time job and drive to North Carolina, reasoning that it would be easier to convince them in person. Yet, throughout the entire week, she was again rejected from every mill she approached.
âThey always asked the same three questions,â Blakely reflects. âWho are you? Who are you representing? And who are you backed by?â
Her answer to all three questions, âSara Blakely,â did little to convince the mills she was about to take the fashion world by storm. Despite the short-term failure, she remained obsessed with mission success, and returned home to come up with a different plan to make her dream a reality.
Two weeks later, one of the mill owners phoned to say he had shown the concept to his three daughters who had raved about it. Blakely, without any financial backing, had not only secured a manufacturer but found someone who believed in her idea.
The aspiring entrepreneur continued to work on her business, ignoring all the doubts and excuses, instead choosing to focus on a single reason why she could succeed. A single idea, backed with persistence, made Sara Blakely the youngest self-made female billionaire in history.
Today, the incredible story is taught in business schools around the world. When temporary failure or rejection enters your life, most people quit. But winnersâwhether special forces, entrepreneurs, athletes or business titansâknow how to calibrate their plans and continue toward their goal.
Through the power of persistence, they are able to turn temporary failure into enduring victory.
Onwards and upwards always,
James Whittaker
In case you missed it:
âThe Greatest Lessons and 65 Best Quotes from Napoleon Hill.â
âWhatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.â
Napoleon Hill
The Napoleon Hill journey has become the stuff of legend. At the turn of the 20th century, the young reporter from Wise County, Virginia, was given a mission to interview the most successful people of his time. As Hill progressed, he quickly realized this pursuit would become his lifeâs work. It led him to interview more than 500 of the worldâs most accomplished business leaders to unearth the secrets to their vast fortunes and identify whether any of their attributes could be modeled by everyday people.
Hill met with industry titans such as inventor Thomas Edison, automobile giant Henry Ford, and steel magnate Andrew Carnegieâwho, despite arriving in the United States a penniless immigrant, managed to accumulate one of the greatest personal fortunes in existence.
After more than 25 years of research on these extraordinary figures, Hill published his findings in Think and Grow Rich. The book outlined a success formula known as the âachievement philosophyâ and was an instant phenomenon.
Perhaps Hillâs greatest discovery was that success does not discriminate; it comes to all those who do what needs to be done. Irrespective of circumstances, through the consistent application of a proven set of success principles, ordinary people become extraordinaryâpotential is not predicated on age, education, financial starting point, or any other perceived misfortune.
__
Did you know:
Napoleon Hillâs publisher told him that if he couldnât think of a good title for the book within 24 hours, it would be called âUse Your Noodle and Get the Boodleâ. Finally, at 2:30amâwith the book almost on the printing press and having brainstormed 600+ titles, Hill came up with âThink and Grow Richâ. The rest is history.
__
Despite passing away in 1970, Napoleon Hill continues to inspire ordinary people to do extraordinary things. His work has influenced people within every industry in the world and is the playbook that has enabled countless entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and cultural icons to rise above their circumstances.
Below, youâll find a collection of my favorite Napoleon Hill quotes and timeless lessons to apply in your own life. In honor of Hillâs birthday on 26th October, thank you for transforming the world with your teachings. May your legacy continue to illuminate the potential inside all of us.
Onwards and upwards always,
James W.
PS â My comprehensive tribute to Napoleon Hill can be found in Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy, a collection of stories and action plans of people who used Hillâs lessons to rise above the unlikeliest (and, in some cases, most tragic) of circumstances to make their mark on the world.
⢠âDonât measure your future by your past.â
⢠âA quitter never wins and a winner never quits.â
⢠âA state of mind is something that one assumes. It cannot be purchased, it must be created.â
⢠âThere is no other road to genius than through voluntary self effort.â
⢠âFaith without action is dead.â
⢠âThe starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.â
⢠âMost great people have achieved their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.â
⢠âUse your mind to create the circumstances you want created.â
⢠âDefiniteness of purpose automatically develops self-reliance.â
⢠âWhen you find out your plan is not right, immediately discard it and prepare another one. Keep going until you find one that will work.â
⢠âDefiniteness of purposes makes one more alert in recognizing opportunity and inspires the courage to embrace and act on those opportunities.â
⢠âNature hates idleness. She wants everything to be in action, especially the human mind. The mind is no different to any other part of the bodyâif you donât use it, it atrophies and withers away until it gets to a point where anyone can push you around.â
⢠âAll people are who they are because of their dominating thoughts and desires.â
⢠âBefore we can master an enemy, we must know its name, its habits and its place of abode.â
⢠âThe only thing better than embracing opportunity is making the opportunity.â
⢠âAll impulses of thought have a tendency to clothe themselves in their physical equivalent.â
⢠âStrength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.â
⢠âThere are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge. Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.â
⢠âSuccess comes to those who become success conscious.â
⢠âAny idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.â
⢠âWhen your desires are strong enough, you will appear to possess superhuman powers to achieve.â
⢠âA goal is a dream with a deadline.â
⢠âOpportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat.â
⢠âWhatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.â
⢠âEvery adversity, every failure, every heartbreak, carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.â
⢠âGreat achievement is usually born of great sacrifice.â
⢠âEveryone faces defeat. It may be a stepping-stone or a stumbling block, depending on the mental attitude with which it is faced.â
⢠âIf you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.â
⢠âSuccess is good at any age, but the sooner you find it, the longer you will enjoy it.â
⢠âIt takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project.â
⢠âSet your mind on a definite goal and observe how quickly the world stands aside to let you pass.â
⢠âVictory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.â
⢠âIf you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance.â
⢠âWhen defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound. Rebuild those plans and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.â
⢠âThere are no limitations to the mind except those that we acknowledge.â
⢠âKnowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.â
⢠âGo the extra mile. The majority of people donât even go the first mile.â
⢠âA positive mind finds a way it can be done. A negative mind looks for all the ways it canât be done.â
⢠âDonât wait. The time will never be just right. Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.â
⢠âMost so-called failures are only temporary defeats.â
⢠âThink twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.â
⢠âThere is one quality which one must possess to win and that is: definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.â
⢠âPlan your work and work your plan.â
⢠âTell me how you use your spare time and how you spend your money, and I will tell you where and what you will be in ten years from now.â
⢠âImagination is the warship of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.â
⢠âAwake, arise, and assert yourself, you dreamers of the world.â
⢠âAction is the real measure of intelligence.â
⢠âYou can think your way into or out of almost any circumstance, good or bad.â
⢠âProcrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done yesterday.â
⢠âIf you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.â
⢠âKeep you mind fixed on what you want in life; not on what you donât want.â
⢠âTo be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and donât worry about darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest.â
⢠âNever be satisfied with existence. Aim for abundance.â
⢠âEffort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.â
⢠âYour wife or husband should be your first mastermind ally.â
⢠âWhen you are able to maintain your own highest standards of integrityâregardless of what others may doâyou are destined for greatness.â
⢠âIf you must speak ill of another, do not speak it ⌠write it in the sand near the waterâs edge.â
⢠âMore gold has been mined from the minds of men than the earth itself.â
⢠âOur only limitations are those we setup in our own minds.â
⢠âTalk about a personâs virtues rather than their faults.â
⢠âYou canât fail, unless you think you can.â
⢠âPut your foot on the neck of criticism by reaching a decision not to worry about what other people think, do or say.â
⢠âFaith is the only known antidote to failure.â
⢠âYou may be hurt if you love too much, but you will live in misery if you love too little.â
⢠âTell the world what you intend to do. But, first, show it.â