10 Powerful Prosperity Lessons from Napoleon Hill

Napoleon Hill was one of the earliest creators of self-development literature.  He is considered by many to be one of the great writers on success.  His classic work, “Think and Grow Rich,” is one of the best-selling books of all time.
How it all began:
Andrew Carnegie, the industrialist and one of the most powerful men in the world in Hill’s day, believed that success could be explained by a simple formula (although Carnegie wasn’t sure what that formula was).
One day Andrew Carnegie was interviewed by Napoleon Hill; Carnegie was so impressed with Hill that he asked him to interview (or analyze) 500 (+) men and women to discover this secret formula to success.  Hill accepted the assignment; this would eventually be the turning point in Hill’s life.

As part of his research, Hill interviewed many of the most famous people of the time, including Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, George Eastman, Henry Ford, Elmer Gates, John D. Rockefeller, Sr., Charles M. Schwab, F.W. Woolworth, William Wrigley Jr., John Wanamaker, William Jennings Bryan, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft and Jennings Randolph.
The results from this assignment yielded one of the greatest success workbooks ever written, it was called “The Law of Success.”  It happens to be one of my favorite audiobooks.
In the “Law of Success” workbook, Hill taught how success occurs, as well as the formulas behind success.  Hill made success quite simple for the average “Joe” to understand.
After the completion of the “Law of Success assignment,” Hill went on to have tremendous success personally, writing “Think and Grow Rich,” and eventually becoming the person we consider the father of modern self development.
“What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve” is one of Hill’s most famous sayings.
10 Powerful Prosperity Lessons from Napoleon Hill
1. The Imagination is Powerful
“All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination; Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.”
You need not sit around waiting for your big break.  In between your ears lie all the power you will ever need.  Are you using it?  Are you using the priceless gift of your imagination to create the life of your dreams?
Do you ponder on your visions both night and day?  Napoleon Hill said, “Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.”
2. Repetition of Thought is Required
“Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.”
The best way to plant an idea into your mind is through repetition of thought.  The best way to create repetition of thought is to repeatedly say the thought you want planted in your mind.
You are the door keeper of your mind, don’t let the media plant thoughts into your mind, don’t let day time television plant thoughts into your mind, there’s no telling what that harvest will yield.  You take responsibility for your mind, and you plant the thoughts that you desire to see manifested, based on your dreams and desires.
3. Hard Work is Mandatory
“Big pay and little responsibility are circumstances seldom found together.”
Napoleon Hill said, “Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.”  Everybody wants something for nothing, but unfortunately life doesn’t work that way.  Great achievement requires great labor and great sacrifice.
But I will say this, in the long-term, the price of success is less than the price of failure, in the end it will cost you less to succeed.  If you suffer now, you can reign later.
4. A Plan Is Necessary
“Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.”
As I like to say, “If you don’t have a plan, you will fail, and you can quote me.”  You need a definite plan, it should be written down, and it should dictate, with military precision, the moves that you will be taking.  Napoleon Hill said, “First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality.”
5. You Have to Make a Move
“It is always your next move.”
Quit waiting and start moving, it’s your move!  And then after you make that move; it’s your move again, and again, and again.  The ball is always in your court, get into action and stay into action until you arrive at your intended destination.
6. Never Let Failure Discourage You
“Edison failed 10,000 times before he made the electric light. Do not be discouraged if you fail a few times.”
If at first you don’t succeed, then please don’t be surprised.  If Edison failed 10,000 times, no offense, but you will probably have your own set of failures as well.  But be of good cheer, those who have achieved greatness have usually failed greatly as well.
7. Defeat is a Sign
“When 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.”
Everything sends a message, if you are failing, then that’s a “message” that your current plan isn’t working very well.  No need to give up; just adjust your plan.  Use “messages,” to make adjustments.  Keep on making adjustments until your plan produces the results you desire.
8. Ideas Are How You Manifest Prosperity
“Just as our eyes need light in order to see, our minds need ideas in order to conceive.”
Randy Gage said, “You don’t have a money shortage, you have an idea shortage.”  He said, “Ideas my friend, are how you manifest prosperity in the physical world.”  If you are to give birth to wealth, you must first become pregnant from an idea.  You “need ideas in order to conceive.”
9. You Must Have a Definite Purpose
“There 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.”
You must know what you want, and you must have a burning desire to get it.  That’s pretty simple!  Do you know what you want?  Do you know “exactly” what you want?  Do you have a “burning” desire to get it?  …Not do you “kinda” want it, …not it would be nice to have.  Do you have a “white hot burning desire” to possess it?
That’s what you need to have, and here’s how you get it.  Hill said, “Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind’s eye and you will be drawn toward it.”

10. You Must Use Autosuggestion

 “Your ability to use the principle of autosuggestion will depend, very largely, upon your capacity to concentrate upon a given desire until that desire becomes a burning obsession.”

Autosuggestion is the process of suggesting thoughts to yourself.  The word “autosuggestion” should be part of your everyday vocabulary.  As we mentioned earlier, the best way to make suggestions to yourself is to “say” what you want to suggest to your subconscious.  I wrote an entire article on this called “100 Times a Day.”  This is a very powerful concept; extremely powerful.  Napoleon Hill said, “When your desires are strong enough you will appear to possess superhuman powers to achieve.” 

You have “superhuman powers,” make sure you use them!
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