"Think And Grow Rich", by Napoleon Hill

Imagine committing to a task no matter the trials and tribulations being faced head-on to finally receive what you’ve been working for all this time? Persistence at its finest. If you NEVER quit there must come a point when “the spirit trying to hold you down” quits. One or the other.

No matter the criticism from family, friends, acquaintances and even self, there needs to be an inner desire, a drive, a level of eagerness to conquer your goals that far out-pace the fear of failure. Why am I even phrasing it as failure? You know that after a situation or circumstance you either win or learn. Actually, in every situation you learn therefore you (or your brain) never leaves empty handed or empty ‘experienced-ed’ (that’s a word?).

How To Train Yourself to be PERSISTENT:

It goes back to the chapters before where it spoke of having a definite plan along with:

• Definiteness of purpose

• desire

• self-reliance

• definiteness of plans

• accurate knowledge

• cooperation

• Will-power

• Habit

• A friendly alliance with one or more people who will encourage.

• A mind closed TIGHTLY against all negative influences.

Some vocab for the day:

• heresy: belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious (especially Christian) doctrine; opinion profoundly at odds with what is generally accepted.

• wince: make a slight involuntary grimace or shrinking movement of the body out of pain or distress.

• efficacy: the ability to produce a desired or intended result.

• impetus: the force or energy with which a body moves.

• alibi: a claim or piece of evidence that one was elsewhere when an act, especially a criminal one, is alleged to have taken place.

• inertia: a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged.

Some lines that stood out during the read:

• “Will power and desire, when properly combined, make an irresistible pair.”

• “The eagerness with which you follow these instructions will indicate clearly how much or how little you really desire to accumulate money.”

• “Poverty consciousness will voluntarily seize the mind which is not occupied with the money consciousness.”

• “Every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage.”

• “A strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties.”

• “Persistence is a state of mind, therefore it can be cultivated. Like all states of mind, persistence is based upon definite causes.”

• “Countless numbers of men and women, both young and old, permit relatives to wreck their lives in the name of duty, because they fear criticism. (Duty does not require any person to submit to the destruction of his personal ambitions and the right to live his own life in his own way.)

• “The time to nurse an idea is at the time of its birth. Every minute it lives, gives it a better chance of surviving. The fear of criticism is at the bottom of the destruction of most ideas which never reach the planning and action stage.”

Tomorrow?