“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.”
~Buddha
It’s a beautiful morning here, and special birthday wishes go out to my friend Bridgette … Who is being released from the hospital today! After much persistence and testing, the doctors finally have discovered what has been at the root of various health concerns much of her life. Great news!
So today, we finish up our contemplation of how important Persistence truly is to the philosophy of achievement. This chapter sure is packed with valuable information. I’ve been jumping around the chapter the past few days, as various thoughts caught my attention.
But as we close out this section of the book – at least for this reading – it’s worth summarizing this highly critical skill, in the order in which Hill wrote it, as I’ve glazed over a few worthy notions ….
First, we should be reminded that this Chapter is entitled: Persistence – The sustained effort necessary to induce faith.
To begin, we are told that the basis of persistence is the power of will. If we back up a strong desire with willpower, it stands to reason that we will obtain our objectives.
As a test of our persistence, Napoleon Hill questions if we followed the Six Step Method of turning Desire into Gold. No desire, no results. This 6 step method has been given to build a burning desire. If we don’t clearly and strongly desire to accumulate money, we simply won’t ….
“Just as money is attracted to those who deliberately set their mind on it, poverty is attracted to those whose mind is open to it. And although money consciousness must be developed intentionally (using the 6 step method), poverty consciousness will seize the mind that is not occupied with it’s opposite.”
How important is that statement??? If we aren’t out there truly desiring to be a success in life, we will likely die in poverty, because we’ve left our mind open to it. Remember, statements such as this come from 20 years of interviewing some 25,000 people, most of whom achieved very little in life.
There are times that we may slip into mental inertia. The writers of my edition of T&GR, were kind enough to include an excerpt from Napoleon Hill’s biography. Born into poverty in the backwoods of Virginia, Hill was known as a gun-toting troublemaker. The gift of a typewriter, and 7 turning points, would define his life, and set him on a path to success. Hill experienced more discouragement and pitfalls than you can imagine. In fact, he was almost assassinated. By pure luck, he escaped and fled to the Smoky Mountains, where he hid for a year. He lapsed into a state of deep depression …
“Then, in one extra-ordinary night of self-analysis, I willed myself out of my depression, and resolved to finish the challenge Mr. Carnegie has posed almost 20 years earlier.”
Makes me think of the day Spencer got up off the couch and said he would run the 8 Tough Miles! And with persistence, he did !!
Four months later, Hill would publish the results, in his first book entitled “Law of Success”. Then the stock market crash hit, and World War One came to pass. In 1937, Hill saw a glimmer of hope, and convinced his publisher that America now needed a book to help shake off the mental and emotional stigma of those terrible times. “Think and Grow Rich” was released ….
If we don’t have the power to snap ourselves out of this mental inertia, we should have in our Mastermind group at least one person who will aid us in developing it. Choose someone, who out of shear necessity, has overcome obstacles. This person will have developed the habit of persistence and will push you to follow through. They will not let you give up when the going gets rough.
The good news is that persistence is a state of mind, which means it can be cultivated. Here are some of the main causes:
1. Definiteness of Purpose
2. Desire
3. Self-Reliance
4. Definiteness of Plans
5. Accurate Knowledge
6. Cooperation
7. Willpower
8. Habit.
And just as there are causes of persistence, there are real enemies and symptoms of weak willpower. These weakness must be overcome by all who wish to achieve ….
1. Not clearly defining what we want.
2. Procrastinating.
3. Lack of acquiring specialized knowledge.
4. Indecision.
5. Making excuses.
6. Self-satisfaction.
7. Indifference and readiness to compromise.
8. Blaming others for our mistakes.
9. Weak desire caused by choosing the wrong motives.
10. Willingness to quit at the first sign of defeat.
11. Lack of a written, organized plan of attack.
12. The habit of neglecting to act on ideas, or to grasp opportunity when it presents itself.
12. Wishing instead of willing.
14. Compromising with poverty instead of aiming for riches. A general lack of ambition to be, to do, or to own.
15. Searching for shortcuts to riches.
16. Fear of criticism.
The fear of criticism, was I mentioned yesterday, is what kills most ideas before they reach the planning and action stage.
We’ve got to make our own breaks in life.
Riches do not respond to wishes. They only respond to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence.
Yesterday, Hill offered us a 4 Step method by which we can gain persistence if we are lacking in it. It bares repeating …
In order to develop Persistence, we need:
1. A definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment.
2. A definite plan, expressed in continuous action.
3. A mind tightly closed against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends, and acquaintances.
4. A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage you to follow through with both plan and purpose.
To end the Chapter on Persistence, Hill suggests that we read the biography of Mohammed by Essad Bey. It is the story of the last great prophet.
“If we were to make an impartial study of the prophets, philosophers, and religious leaders of the past, you will come to the inevitable conclusion that persistence, concentration of effort, and definiteness of purpose where the major sources of their achievement.”
Buddha sat for days on end under the Bodhi tree, nearly dying of starvation, before gaining enlightenment.
Christ fasted and prayed for 40 days and 40 nights to prepare himself for the mission that God had sent him to accomplish.
It was a very wealthy trader, who took to wandering the desert. The archangel Gabriel would appear to Mohammed, instructing him that he was to be a messenger of God. With no gifts of words or poetry, the verses of the Koran would spring from Mohammed. With persistence, he would fight, hoping to join all who believe in One God under a new, unified world religion.
Tomorrow, we shall Persist onward …. to the power of the Mastermind Group!
Have a great day! With resolve, take each step with tenacity and conviction ….
