Many look at Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich as a get rich quick guide.  In fact it has been used by the unscrupulous as a part of their sales pitch to pull people into money making schemes and programs that are less than sound.  For many this may have been their first introduction to Hill and his book and that is unfortunate since these people, having been burned by the business, may put the book down forever, and that is unfortunate.

And yet others take the book, regardless of their experience in the business, and take it to heart and are able to put it’s principals to work and achieve something fine, even great.  Years before Think And Grow Rich Hill had his beginnings writing for magazines, and eventually his own magazine: “Hill’s Golden Rule Magazine”  and “Napoleon Hill’s Magazine.”

Napoleon Hill on Concentrated Action

Some of Hill’s earliest writing in these magazines dealt with the lack of concentrated action, moving from one idea or job to the next without ever fully fleshing out the first.  Thus there is no concentrated effort, little action and no success.  Hill is a big proponent of finishing what you start.  Take your idea and stick with it – don’t jump from one thing to the next simply because the first does not pour out dollars when you first take it up.

“Nearly every man has intellegence enough to create ideas in his mind, but the trouble with most is that those ideas never find expression in action.  The finest locomotive on earth is not worth a shilling nor will it pull a single pound of weight, utill the stored up energy in the steam dome is released by the throttle.

You have energy in that head of yours — every human being does — but you are not releasing it at the throttle of action!  You are not applying it through the principal of concentration to the tasks which if completed, would place you on the list of those who are regarded as successes.”  –Napoleon Hill from  Napoleon Hill’s First Editions

This idea of concentrated action is why Hill and so many success authors talk about writing not only goals, but a short list of what you should do the next day.  It keeps you focused, it keeps you in a state of concentration on the ideas, on the goals, it also facilitates visualization which Napoleon Hill covers in detail in Chapters 3 and 4 of Think and Grow Rich.

Napoleon Hill on Persistence

From Chapter 9 of Think and Grow Rich:

PERSISTENCE is an essential factor in the procedure of transmuting DESIRE into its monetary equivalent. The basis of persistence is the POWER OF WILL.

Will-power and desire, when properly combined, make an irresistible pair. Men who accumulate great fortunes are generally known as cold-blooded, and sometimes ruthless. Often they are misunderstood. What they have is will-power, which they mix with persistence, and place back of their desires to insure the attainment of their objectives.

Henry Ford has been generally misunderstood to be ruthless and cold-blooded. This misconception grew out of Ford’s habit of following through in all of his plans with PERSISTENCE.

The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard, and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. A few carry on DESPITE all opposition, until they attain their goal. These few are the Fords, Carnegies, Rockefellers, and Edisons.

Napoleon Hill and Others on Procrastination

This brings us to procrastination.  Procrastination is a form of fear.  Procrastination often results when there is anxiety over something you want to do or need to do.  Wikipedia has this to say:

The psychological causes of procrastination vary greatly, but generally surround issues of anxiety, low sense of self-worth, and a self-defeating mentality^[4]. Procrastinators are also thought to have a lower-than-normal level of conscientiousness, more based on the “dreams and wishes” of perfection or achievement in contrast to a realistic appreciation of their obligations and potential.

Napoleon Hill had this to say about procrastination:

Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.

Persistent action carried out now.  These ideas are two of  the primary keys to success.  W. Clement Stone had a saying:

“Do it now.”

And why not, why not now?  Do we have genuine reasons or are they procrastination and hidden fear?

Napoleon Hill was writing about periodic self examination when he wrote the first quote above.  That if you are jumping around from one thing to the next then you will never put forth the concentrated effort that you need to really put the thing over.  And if you have a good idea and are not going forward with it – with persistence and with belief in it – then perhaps there is some hidden fear that you need to understand that is causing you to procrastinate.

Napoleon Hill’s writings are timeless and remain some of the foremost success liturature that we have.  That the unscrupulous would use it to manipulate those seeking to better their lives is unfortunate but that should not stop us from taking and using Hills literary works for our betterment.