The Napoleon Hill Foundation

May 9, 2025 / ISSUE 957
The Napoleon Hill Foundation
Making the world a better place in which to live.

Dear Readers,

In this excerpt from the Magic Ladder to Success Napoleon Hill infers the principle of Going the Extra Mile as “The habit of doing more than you are paid for.”

This is one of the simplest of success principles, yet it is the one that most people do not practice. The extra mile principle does not mean that you have to apply twice as much effort to truly succeed. Let me give you an easy example of what I mean.

In Major League Baseball, a lot of players have long-term contracts that total millions of dollars. Alex Rodriguez has a contract that totals $252 million. A ballplayer who comes to bat 10 times and gets 2 hits has a batting average of .200, and unless he improves, he will, before long, no longer be a major leaguer. But if that same player, by developing his skills and training, approaches the plate 10 times and gets 3 hits, he will increase his average to .300. A .300 hitter in the major leagues can write his own ticket. Just think: in the first example, he got 2 hits in each 10 times at bat and did not succeed, but when he improved and got 3 hits in 10 times, at bat, he embarked on an excellent career.

What changed was only 1 more hit in each 10 times at bat. He improved 10 percent, and that 10 percent improvement will make all the difference in a lifetime in the major leagues.

The same principle can be used in life. Over a period of time, if you improve only a little, the cumulative effect will pay huge rewards. Why would anyone not do a little extra to gain great rewards? Author and speaker Jim Rohn says that the reason can be attributed to the mystery of the mind. We cannot compel others to always go the extra mile, but there is no reason that each of us cannot apply the going the extra mile principle in our daily life, both in our business and in our personal life. The rewards may not be immediate, but the principle works every time.

You simply cannot reap what you have not sown. Going the extra mile entitles you to an increasing return. Try it; you will never regret your action.

I wish you the best,

Don Green
Executive Director
Napoleon Hill Foundation

Something to Look Forward to!:
I hope you can join me for our upcoming Leader Certification here in Wise, Virginia.
We look forward to meeting you!

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The Napoleon Hill Foundation
Leader Certification
JULY 10 -12, 2025!
In person course at Wise Virginia,

TODAY IS THE DAY to start your journey! Attend this year’s Leader Certification in July! Enroll in step one or two to qualify to attend this year’s Leader Certification.

“Embracing this certification means stepping into a transformative role where you elevate your potential and become a beacon for others. If you aspire to lead purposefully and make a meaningful impact, I encourage you to join this exceptional program. If you want to discover the power of Napoleon Hill’s principles in your life, I invite you to participate in this transformative experience. You can illuminate the path for others!”
– Ericka Kelly

Napoleon Hill Foundation Distance Learning

This Distance Learning course is a prerequisite for attending
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This distance learning course prompts new ideas
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Formal education is one essential key to continued success but we also need inspirational instruction to motivate us to our higher goals. I encourage you to attend Napoleon Hill’s Distance Learning course.

– Don Green, Executive Director, Napoleon Hill Foundation

Napoleon Hill’s Distance Learning. Sign up TODAY!

This online distance learning course presents and examines the principles of success researched and developed by Dr. Napoleon Hill and others. It provides a framework for students to better understand life’s opportunities and the need for definiteness of purpose.
The class is based on and structured around Hill’s 17 Principles of Success. Each lesson focuses on one principle and contains online reading assignments, points to ponder, chapter quizzes, Napoleon Hill vintage audio and just released video, articles from the Think and Grow Rich and PMA Adviser newsletters, class discussion questions, journal writing assignments and, other activities that help reinforce the principle being studied. Each student in the class has a personalized relationship with a fully accredited and approved instructor for Napoleon Hill Distance Learning Courses. The class concludes with an assignment dealing with an individualized plan for personal success.

“When I read Think and Grow Rich for the second time so long ago, I realized that I held the recipe for success in my hands. It was the key to everything — financial security, personal relationships, happiness … it could be used to achieve anything of value. It could be done by anybody and it could be done by me. There was just one catch. It’s up to me.”
Dr. J.B. Hill

“I remember the first time we received email correspondence from Dr. JB Hill. We could not believe it was Napoleon Hill’s grandson! He was sincerely interested in going through his Grandfather’s PMA: Science of Success course. He signed up and that began a correspondence that eventually led to him being placed on the board for the Napoleon Hill Foundation. He found great value in the material and he knew that if he was to benefit from it he had to actually go through the process. I know that you will find great value in this pinnacle of Napoleon Hill’s philosophy of success.”
Uriel Martinez, Director of Distance Learning, The Napoleon Hill Foundation

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Every lesson introduces one of Dr. Hill’s success principles, which build on each other as you progress through the course. He clearly explains why and how each step has worked in every generation to help you think and grow rich!
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This law is a stumblingblock on which many a promising career has been shattered. There is a general attitude among people to perform just as little service as they can get by with, but if you will study these people carefully, you will observe that while they may be actually “getting by” temporarily, they are not, however, getting anything else.

There are two major reasons why all successful people must practice this Law, as follows:

1. Just as an arm or a limb of the body grows strong in exact proportion to its use, so does the mind grow strong through use. By rendering the greatest possible amount of service, the faculties through which the service is rendered are put into use and, eventually, become strong and accurate.
2. By rendering more service than that for which you are paid, you are turning the spotlight of favorable attention upon yourself, and it will not be long before you will be sought with fancy offers for your services, and there will be a continuous market for those services.

“Do the thing and you shall have the power,” was the admonition of Emerson, the great modern philosopher.

That is literally true! Practice makes perfect. The better you do your work, the more adept you become at doing it, and this, in time, will lead to such perfection that you will have few, if any equals in your field of endeavor.

…a few months later, I learned that it pays to be on the lookout constantly for the opportunity to perform work which one is not really paid to perform. The auditor’s desk was next to mine. He thought it was a good joke on me because I would come back evenings and perform certain routine work for him, such as checking bills, posting ledgers and the like. This gave him more time to “do society.”

One day he went away or, one night, I believe it was and never showed up again. The payrolls had not been made up and it was almost payday. I knew how to complete his unfinished work on the payrolls because I had been doing this work for him during my spare time, and of evenings when he was out with his best girl, therefore I went ahead, without being invited to do so, and finished his uncompleted work.

Down at the bottom of the payroll sheet was a blank for the auditor to sign his name, certifying that he had checked the payroll extensions and that they were correct. When the payrolls went to the “big chief’s” office my name was on that line, as Auditor, without anyone having given me that title or asked me to perform that work.

My name was on the same line every month thereafter until I was promoted into a better position. I got the auditor’s job by learning how to do his work on my own time without being expected to do it or paid for it.

By rendering more service and better service than that for which you are paid, you thereby take advantage of the Law of Increasing Returns through the operation of which you will eventually be paid, in one way or another, for far more service than you actually perform.

This is no mere finely spun theory. It actually works out in the most practical tests. You must not imagine, however, that the Law always works instantaneously. You may render more service and better service than you are supposed to render for a few days, then discontinue the practice and go back to the old, usual habit of doing as little as can be safely trusted to get you by, and the results will in no way benefit you. But adopt the habit as a part of your life’s philosophy, and let it become well known by all who know you that you render such service out of choice, not as a matter of accident, but by deliberate intent, and soon you will see keen competition for your service.

You may not find very many people rendering such service, which is all the better for you, because you will stand out in bold contrast with practically all others who are engaged in work similar to yours. Contrast is a powerful law, and you may, in this manner, profit by contrast.

Careful study of the lives of successful men has shown that faithfully practicing this one Law alone has brought the usual emoluments in which success is measured in plentiful quantities. If this author of this philosophy has to choose one of the Seventeen Laws of Success as being the most important, he would, without a moment’s hesitation, chose this law of Rendering More Service and Better Service than You are Paid for.

Source: The Magic Ladder to Success by Napoleon Hill

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You May Count That Day
By George Eliot

If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went —
Then you may count that day well spent.

But if, through all the livelong day,
You’ve cheered no heart, by yea or nay —
If, through it all
You’ve nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one face–
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost —
Then count that day as worse than lost.

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Do you have a poem, song, or story that goes well with one of the Principles of Success?
Do you have a list of books that go well with each Principle of Success? Send your suggested selections to Uriel at um17pma@gmail.com

Uriel Martinez
Director of Distance Learning
The Napoleon Hill Foundation
um17pma@gmail.com
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A Millionaire Vision
by Don Green

In A Millionaire Vision, Don Green takes readers on an inspiring journey from humble beginnings to achieving a vision of wealth, not just in material terms, but in richness of life. Raised in a small house without modern conveniences, Green’s story is a testament to the power of vision, goal-setting, and relentless effort. Working for minimal wages, he set his sights high, aiming for no less than a millionaire’s life filled with success symbols like a black Mercedes and a gold Presidential Rolex watch.

Through vivid narratives, Green shares how his early fascination with the biographies of great men and personal development leaders like Napoleon Hill and Brian Tracy laid the foundation for his own path to success. His practical use of a vision board, setting clear and tangible goals, and the profound realization that true success encompasses helping others, frames a blueprint for anyone aspiring to achieve their own dreams.

With contributions from Dr. J.B. Hill, who provides an esoteric perspective on the subconscious mind’s role in creating our reality, the book delves into the historical and psychological underpinnings of success. It explores the power of visualization and positive thinking, backed by stories that affirm the human potential to manifest desires into reality.

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Ninety Days to a Positive Mental Attitude

Transform Your Life in Just 90 Days!

Do you feel stuck in a rut, unable to break free from negative thinking?
Do you want to achieve your goals but can’t seem to find the motivation?
This inspirational 90-day program by author Don Green will help you form empowering habits to create lasting positive change.

With short, daily readings, action steps, and profiles of successful achievers, this book provides a clear roadmap to developing and maintaining a positive mental attitude. Learn how small adjustments in thinking and behavior compound over time to yield dramatic results. Whether you want to advance your career, improve relationships, or simply be happier, this book gives you the tools to realize your full potential.

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If you have been the victim of lost courage, weakened enthusiasm, and lack of self-discipline if you are demoralized and plagued by fear, anxiety, overwhelm, or apathy the seven principles to freedom detailed in this book herald your redemption. You will finally become independent of the causes of failure and misery, break the bonds of destructive habits, and unlock the secret of a natural law as significant as the law of gravity so that you can outwit the devil once and for all.

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