Self-Confidence – Law of Success – Lesson 3 – Napoleon Hill
The human mind, if you will pardon repetition, may be likened to an electric battery. It may be positive or it may be negative. Self-confidence is the quality with which the mind is re-charged and made positive.” Napoleon Hill
Last time, we were talking about the nead for a definite purpose in life.
Today's lesson focuses on belief in one's capacities. According to Napoleon Hill, the biggest enemy of self-confidence is fear, the greatest weapon against fear is auto-suggestion.
Self-confidence is necessary to achieve success, as it provides us with motivation, determination and leadership abilities. We won't give any task 100% effort (especially not for a long period of time), if we don't believe that in the long run we'll succeed and our SWEAT will allow us to reap rewards. To do so, we need to believe in the possibility of achieving our goals.
The same way, we need self-confidence to convince people to help us, follow us and INVEST in our ideas.
Let's begin our lesson number 3…
Self-confidence – Law of Success – Fear
Napoleon Hill uses big chunk of his book to describe human fears. There are 6 main ones, according to his theory:
1. Fear of Poverty
2. Fear of Old Age
3. Fear of Ill Health
4. Fear of Criticism
5. Fear of Lost of a Loved One
6. Fear of Death
He creates an ellaborate explanation for creation of these fears – reasons reaching from genetics to social conditioning. What was revealing in 1920s is quite obvious today (or believed to be false) so I won't spend time describing that theory.
What's important is that most of the fears are quite unresonable: Fear of poverty, which causes us to avert risks, is the one, causing us not to achieve success and serious MONEY rewards.
Fear of old age, is a mix of fear of ill health and fear of poverty (according to mr Hill).
Fear of ill health may hurt our health, when we worry too much.
Fear of criticism makes us shy and afraid of taking chances. As I once mentioned, we need to learn to accept disapproval to reach for what we really want.
Fear of lost of a loved one may push the very loved one away – with jealousy and suspicion.
Fear stops us from achieving what we're capable of achieving, it keeps us worrying about opinion of people we don't really care like and who don't care about us.
Isn't it better to astonish oneself?
Self-Confidence – Law of Success – Astonish Yourself
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.
As Henry Ford once said it: 'If you think you can or that you can't, you're right.' If you believe that you can accomplish something, there's a big chance you'll be able to do it. If you stop yourself short, then what's the chance for you actually making it happen?
If I didn't believe I can become a novelist, I'd never become one. I don't know where that thought came from, but from an early age I was obsessed with writing. Couple times I heard I write well – from my grand-father, from my teachers, friends – and this little grain grew to amazing proportions.
„Somewhere in your make-up there is a "subtle something" which, if it were aroused by the proper outside influence, would carry you to heights of achievement such as you have never before anticipated.” Napoleon Hill
To be honest, even though I was capable of writing decent essays, short-stories or articles, I didn't know how to write a novel. My first attempts from 2007 and 2008 were horrible. I couldn't grasp how to structure it, you could find good chapters, but in total I'd always lose the flow of the story and it'd start getting very boring at some point.
But I believed I can do it. I don't know why! Looking back it seems unreasonable. Maybe because I remembered that everything I ever tried (from English, through football to running), I'm good at now, I once sucked at completely? Because I knew, I believed that I can, I did. It's the same with almost any endevour. If someone can, there's a decent chance you can too (except maybe becoming a professional basketball player, if you're in your 50s).
Your thoughts make the difference.
„You are condemning yourself to poverty, misery and failure, or you are driving yourself on toward the heights of great achievement, solely by the thoughts you think. If you demand success of yourself and back up this demand with intelligent action you are sure to win. Bear in mind, though, that there is a difference between demanding success and just merely wishing for it. (…) Oh, what glory and satisfaction would be the happy heritage of the man or woman who could pull aside the curtain of fear that hangs over the human race and shuts out the sunlight of understanding that Self-confidence brings, wherever it is in evidence. Where fear controls, noteworthy achievement becomes an impossibility.” Napoleon Hill
What's more important, if you truly believe in yourself and in the importance of your purpose, you'll be able to move forward, regardless of criticism, lack of support and even hostile gestures of your environment.
When I quit my job to try to write a novel and later, again, when I quit my company to start writing to what later became my first published book, everyone thought I was crazy. My parents were angry, my friends were constantly teasing me… Nobody really believed in me. But… I knew that if I put my effort into it, magic can happen.
Make sure you'll develop a similar belief in regards to whatever you want to accomplish.
„"Know thyself, man; know thyself."
This has been the advice of the philosophers all down the ages. When you really know yourself you will know that there is nothing foolish about hanging a sign in front of you that reads like this: "Day by day in every way I am becoming more successful," with due apologies to the Frenchman who made this motto popular. I am not afraid to place this sort of suggestion in front of my desk, and, what is more to the point, I am not afraid to believe that it will influence me so that I will become a more positive and aggressive human being. (…) Never mind "what they will say" because you might as well know that "they" will be of little aid to you in your climb up the mountain-side of life toward the object of yourdefinite purpose. You have within you all the power you need with which to get whatever you want or need in this world, and about the best way to avail yourself of this power is to believe in yourself.” Napoleon Hill
If you don't know how to plant that unshakeable belief, don't worry, mr Napoleon Hill recommends a useful treatment. Auto-suggestion.
Self-Confidence – Law of Success – Auto-suggestion
Let's start by reading a short text Napoleon Hill refers to as 'the self-confidence formula'.
You are instructed to copy the following formula, sign it and commit it to memory:
SELF-CONFIDENCE FORMULA
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 Auto-suggestion, 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. 1 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.
Signed……………………………………….
If you'd really internalize it, the whole course I created here, based on Napoleon Hill's teachings, would achieve its purpose. This is it. If you know what you want, and make yourself believe that you're able to achieve it, you're on the path to amazing success. That's how simple it is. Think about it. If you know what you want, your efforts will finally be focused, all pointed in the same direction, as opposed to a scattered cloud of wants and hopes, most of us fills out minds with. Secondly, if you make yourself believe you can make it happen, it'll supply you with an astonishing surge of motivation and energy. If you'd known my girlfriend
and have ever seen the passion and energy she puts into her startups, you'd known what I mean. She's capable of working day after day for long, long hourse, being amazingly enthusiastic. I feel very blessed having my self-confidence teacher in the same room when I write these words.
Now, that's how you make use of the above formula:
Analyze this creed and you will notice how freely the personal pronoun is used. It starts off with the affirmation of Self-confidence, which is perfectly proper. No man could make this creed his own without developing the positive attitude that would attract to him people who would aid him in his struggle for success.
This would be a splendid creed for every salesman to adopt. It might not hurt your chances for success if you adopted it. Mere adoption, however, is not enough. You must practice it! Read it over and over until you know it by heart. Then repeat it at least once a day until you have literally transformed it into your mental make-up. Keep a copy of it before you as a daily reminder of your pledge to practice it. By doing so you will be making efficient use of the principle of Auto-suggestion as a means of developing
Self-confidence. Never mind what anyone may say about your procedure.
I believe you should stick to this formula as clay to a shoe, as we say in Poland(althought we also have a less polite expression for that).
Self-Confidence – Law of Success – Power of Habits
„If you fill your mind with doubt and unbelief in your ability to achieve, then the principle of Auto-suggestion takes this spirit of unbelief and sets it up in your subconscious mind as your dominating thought and slowly but surely draws you into the whirlpool of failure. But, if you fill your mind with radiant Self- confidence, the principle of Auto-suggestion takes this belief and sets it up as your dominating thought and helps you master the obstacles that fall in your way until you reach the mountain-top of success. (…) The object in writing out and repeating the Self- confidence formula is to form the habit of making belief in yourself the dominating thought of your mind until that thought has been thoroughly imbedded in your subconscious mind, through the principle of habit.”
Auto-suggestion is what we do to ourselves constantly. The inner dialogue almost never stops. It only depends on us, if we'll take a conscious control over it. If not, it can keep bringing us down, making us lose one great opportunity after another, pushing passionate people away from our life. We owe ourselves taking a full control of whatever conversation we have in our minds. It has to become a habit, if we're to unleash our full personal power.
As they say: saw habit, reap destiny.
„Habit grows out of environment; out of doing the same thing or thinking the same thoughts or repeating the same words over and over again. Habit may be likened to the groove on a phonograph record, while the human mind may be likened to the needle that fits into that groove. When any habit has been well formed, through repetition of thought or action, the mind has a tendency to attach itself to and follow the course of that habit as closely as the phonograph needle follows the groove in the wax record. (…) After habit has been well established it will automatically control and direct our bodily activity, wherein may be found a thought that can be transformed into a powerful factor in the development of Self-confidence. The thought is this: Voluntarily, and by force if necessary, direct your efforts and your thoughts along a desired line until you have formed the habit that will lay hold of you and continue,voluntarily, to direct your efforts along the same line.” Napoleon Hill
If you'll create a habit of positive, creative, constructive thinking there's no limit to where you can go. As Brian Tracy says, what's crucial is the angle at which you approach life, it's challenges and opportunities. The tough times will come, but with a right angle (attitude), you'll manage to make a good decision most of the times and the law of statistics will take care of your final results.
Just stick to it.
Any statement that you repeatedly make to yourself, or any desire that you deeply plant in your mind through repeated statement, will eventually seek expression through your physical, outward bodily efforts. The principle of habit is the very foundation upon which this lesson on Self- confidence is built. (…) You have but little conception of the possibilities which lie sleeping within you, awaiting but the awakening hand of vision to arouse you, and you will never have a better conception of those possibilities unless you develop sufficient Self-confidence to lift you above the commonplace influences of your present environment.
Self-confidence – Law of Success – Determination
Once you develop self-confidence it will change you as a person. One of the first things you'll start noticing within yourself will be determination. It's really not surprising.
Just compare these two situations:
1. Somebody shows you a bath full of sand and tells you there is a pearl inside. Maybe you look for it, maybe you don't. Probably you spend fifteen minutes at it 'just in case' and later decide the guy was a looney, and there's no point losing your time.
2. Somebody produces a pearl out of his pocket, show's it to you and you immediately realize that it's huge, beautiful and worth a fortune. Then they throw it into the bath full of sand (maybe dig with a shovel a bit to hide it). How much time would you spend digging? Fifteen minutes? One hour? Two? If you're like me, you'd probably dig until you found it and if you wouldn't, you'd check the pipes!
This is the power, self-confidence gives you. If you know you're good enough for success, you won't stop, until you achieve it. It's like in this story presented in the 'Law of Success' book:
„Story of a determined newspaper boy, who decided to become an advertising space salesman. Instead of focusing on the easiest targets, he picked all the potential clients that would be most meaningful, the hardest to acquire:
„Before he made a single call he went out to the city park, took out his list of twelve names, read it over a hundred times, saying to himself as he did so, "You will purchase advertising space from me before the end of the month. (…) He kept calling his most challenging customer everyday for a month, being rejected time after time.
"Look here, young man, you have wasted a whole month trying to sell me; now, what I would like to know is this – why have you wasted your time?"
"Wasted my time nothing," he retorted; "I have been going to school and you have been my teacher. Now I know all the arguments that a merchant can bring up for not buying, and besides that I have been drilling myself in Self-confidence. (…)
Finally the merchant agreed. (…)
„He succeeded because he deliberately charged his own mind with sufficient Self-confidence to make that mind an irresistible force. When he sat down to make up that list of twelve names he did something that ninety-nine people out of a hundred would not have done-he selected the names of those whom he believed it would be hard to sell, because he understood that out of the resistance he would meet with in trying to sell them would come strength and Self-confidence.
He was one of the very few people who understand that all rivers and some men are crooked because of following the line of least resistance.” Napoleon Hill
So why wouldn't you make yourself believe you can get, where you really dream of going, achieve whatever matters most to you? It really can be done. Just shut your mout, cover your ears and persevere!
Especially if you'll need to sell anything to anyone during the process…
„In no other field of endeavor does Self-confidence or the lack of it play such an important part as in the field of salesmanship, and you do not need to be a character analyst to determine, the moment you meet him, whether a salesman possesses this quality of Self-confidence. If he has it the signs of its influence are written all over him. He inspires you with confidence in him and in the goods he is selling the moment he speaks.” Napoleon Hill
Self-Confidence – Law of Success – Leadership
If your goal is big enough, you'll most probably need help of other people. You're already acquainted with the law of Master Mind, mentioned in the first lesson, so this should come as no surprise to you. Investors, employees, clients – all of them will need to believe in you, if they're going to support you.
„Others will believe in you only when you believe in yourself. They will "tune in" on your thoughts and feel toward you just as you feel toward yourself. The law of mental telepathy takes care of this. You are continuously broadcasting *hat you think of yourself, and if you have no faith in yourself others will pick up the vibrations of your thoughts and mistake them for their own. Once understand the law of mental telepathy and you will know why Self-confidence is the second of the Fifteen Laws of Success. (…) You will also find that the one who does not advance shows clearly, by the look on his face, by the posture of his body, by the lack of briskness in his step, by the uncertainty with which he speaks, that he lacks Self-confidence. No one is going to pay much attention to the person who has no confidence in himself.” Napoleon Hill
I believe that's enough of me advertising the benefits of self-confidence for today. The determination, charisma, energy and creativity will all come to you, once you make yourself trust in your capabilities. You've read the formula. Now… read it again and seriously consider copying it or printing. Just try it. Even just to mock me a little bit later.
One last advice: don't become an arrogant prick. It's not self-confidence, it's insecurity.
„If you have Self-confidence those around you will discover this fact. Let them make the discovery. They will feel proud of their alertness in having made the discovery, and you will be free from the suspicion of egotism. Opportunity never stalks the person with a highly developed state of egotism, but brick-bats and ugly remarks do. Opportunity forms affinities much more easily and quickly with Self-confidence than it does with egotism. Self-praise is never a proper measure of self-reliance. Bear this in mind and let your Self-confidence speak only through the tongue of constructive service rendered without fuss or flurry. Believe in yourself, but do not tell the world what you can do-SHOW IT!” Napoleon Hill
I'll leave you with quite a remarkable story of a man, that should have not any self-confidence, and yet… he had. And he achieved results that we'd find incredible even for a healthy and energetic human being.
„Milo C. Jones, of Wisconsin, was stricken down with paralysis a few years ago. So bad was the stroke that he could not turn himself in bed or move a muscle of his body. His physical body was useless, but there was nothing wrong with his brain, so it began to
function in earnest, probably for the first time in its existence. Lying flat on his back in bed, Mr. Jones made that brain create a definite purpose. That purpose was prosaic and humble enough in nature, but it was definite and it was a purpose, something that he had never known before.
His definite purpose was to make pork sausage. Calling his family around him he told of his plans and began directing them in carrying the plans into action.
With nothing to aid him except a sound mind and plenty of Self-confidence, Milo C. Jones spread the name and reputation of "Little Pig Sausage" all over the United States, and accumulated a fortune besides.
All this was accomplished after paralysis had made it impossible for him to work with his hands. Where thought prevails power may be found!” Napoleon Hill