4 Steps Essential for Success

1. A definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment.
2. A definite plan, expressed in continuous action.
3. A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences.
4. A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage [you] to follow through with both plan and purpose.

-- Napoleon Hill

The goal, as he says, is to make these four steps habit. No matter what we do on a day-to-day basis, dealing with the humdrum of everyday life, we need to make sure that we have these four elements constantly working for us. We need to take the time to set them in motion and then help them pick up steam.

Jim Collins in "Good to Great" describes a giant flywheel that takes the great effort of a constantly applied "push" to get the flywheel to begin to move. The pushes can't be sporadic or intermittent, the push needs to be constant and continuous. Only then will the flywheel begin to move. And the more pressure is applied continuously the faster the flywheel will turn. Eventually the flywheel will begin to whip around at high speeds based on its own accord and the energy you've invested in to the push.

This same philosophy applies, I believe, to the four steps essential for success. There has to be constant and continuous effort to make the four steps part of the every day. They don't work if you come back to them on the occasion of a burst of energy or epiphany. They need to be part of the fabric of your every day life.

Do not forget them in the din of the everyday - put them at the top of your list of daily activities. Water them and watch them grow in to the success you want.

Desire

"The starting point of all achievement is desire. ... Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat." - Napoleon Hill

When it comes down to difficulties (and successes) there are really only two options: 1. stand up for yourself and what you believe in or 2. pack up and go home. There isn't much else. The desire to choose yourself, to choose your success is the key to success; and it is the key to prevailing over temporary set backs. The desire to succeed, to enjoy the things in life you want to enjoy is the power that keeps the successful moving forward towards their goals in spite of great difficulties.

The weak pack up and go home. They accept what life gives them as their fate. They accept this with out any attempt to change it. The lack of desire to improve their situation is in equal proportion to the lack of power they feel to change it. Weak desires produce weak results.

Without a goal, and with out the burning desire to achieve that goal you are at the whim of the world and nature. You accept what life gives you, good or bad, because you refuse to persist to the end state you desire. Giving up because things get difficult is the surest way to failure. There is hardly a man of wealth that didn't pay for his rewards in sheer persistence in overcoming obstacles along the way.

Desire, coupled with unwavering persistence is the only way to meet your goals.

Procrastination and Persistence

Napoleon Hill's 31 Major Causes of Failure, numbers 8 & 9:

8. Procrastination. This is one of the most common causes of failure. "Old Man Procrastination" stands within the shadow of every human being, waiting his opportunity to spoil one's chances of success. Most of us go through life as failures, because we are waiting for the "time to be right" to start doing something worthwhile. Do not wait. The time will never be "just right." Start where you stand and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.

9. Lack of Persistence. Most of us are good "starters" but poor "finishers" of everything we begin. Moreover, people are more prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute for persistence. The person who makes persistence his watch-word, discovers that "Old Man Failure" finally becomes tired, and makes his departure. Failure cannot cope with persistence.

"Start where you stand" and "Failure cannot cope with persistence" are now two of my favorite quotes and concepts. Finishing is what differentiates success from failure; seeing a project through to its end is the hallmark of a successful individual. That brainstorm, that manuscript, that business idea are nothing without your persistence to finish them. The time "will never be 'just right'" to finish or start; use the tools at your disposal and be confident that your path will lead you to better ones.

Definiteness of Purpose

"Definiteness of purpose is the starting point from which one must begin." - Napoleon Hill

Only is it when we truly decide with a definiteness of purpose what we want to achieve can we begin to achieve it. Random ideas, thoughts that swirl through our brain and tease us with our fleeting desires are no better than other fanciful thoughts of imagination not backed by any purpose or desire.

Until you decide to, with definiteness of purpose, pursue that idea you have no starting point for action, and therefore no ability to get moving towards your goal. You are stuck with great ideas and frustration from having no outlet. Put the purpose with the idea and then you have something powerful. A personal example:

For years I had always wanted to start a business. What type of business? One which I could make lots of money, of course. It didn't matter if it was to be a dot-com, a service business, consulting, or any other manner of enterprise; as long as I was making my fortune. And sure enough, with such a vague goal nothing came of these thoughts.

Then, after years of trying to figure out what type of business to start my brother-in-law came to me. His family said he should start a mortgage company; and he thought I would be a great partner. I agreed. Now my desire to start a business had a definite purpose. The purpose was to start a mortgage company. Now that the type of business was clearly in view I could move forward making it happen.

Within a week I had my best friend from college involved in the idea, ready to commit his money, licensing and time to make the business go with my brother-in-law and myself. And within a short three months we had the plans complete, the financing lined up and the business doors open to the world.

All it took was the definiteness of purpose to spur the action. It was not difficult, it was merely committing to the idea with a definiteness of purpose.

When you have an idea or desire, grab on to it, tie a definiteness of purpose to it and watch it go. With out a definite purpose the ideas have no where to put their creative energy to work. They just sail around with no direction. Once you give those thoughts the direction they need - by being totally committed to bringing an actual event to bear (not just any event, but a very specifically identified event) you can harness the immense power of those thoughts and make what you dream happen.

Pick a purpose based in your desire, and put all of your thought and energy in to bringing about that definite event. That is the only way to achieve.